A Lưới Camp (also known as A Lưới Special Forces Camp, LZ Stallion or Ta Bat Airfield) is a former U.S. Army and
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...
(ARVN) base in the
A Sầu Valley
The A Shau Valley (Vietnamese: ''thung lũng A Sầu'') is a valley in Vietnam's Huế, along the border of Laos. The valley runs north and south for 40 kilometers and is a 1.5-kilometer-wide flat bottomland covered with tall elephant grass, fla ...
southwest of
Huế
Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...
in the
Central Highlands of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
History
The
5th Special Forces Group first established a base here in 1962 to monitor communist infiltration into the A Sầu Valley. The base was located along
Route 548, 40 km southwest of Huế.
The base was abandoned in 1966 due to increased pressure from the
People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...
(PAVN) forces and the A Sầu Valley became a major PAVN base area supporting operations throughout the Central Highlands.
In April 1968 during
Operation Delaware
Operation Delaware/Operation Lam Son 216 was a joint military operation launched during the Vietnam War. It began on 19 April 1968, with troops from the United States and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) moving into the A Sầu Valley ...
the
1st Cavalry Division briefly reoccupied A Lưới.
[ The 8th Engineer Battalion rebuilt the airfield to handle ]Fairchild C-123 Provider
The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve a ...
and Lockheed C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
aircraft.
On 26 April 1968 C-130B #60-0298 was hit by enemy fire while on approach to the camp airfield, the aircraft crashed and burnt on the airfield, the remains of 5 of the 8 crewmen were recovered
In August 1968 the 101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...
briefly reoccupied A Lưới during Operation Somerset Plain
Operation Somerset Plain was a joint military operation conducted by the United States and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in the A Sầu Valley from 4–20 August 1968.
Background
The A Sầu Valley was a vital corridor for moving mi ...
.Operation Kentucky Jumper
Operation Kentucky Jumper was a joint U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) military operation during the Vietnam War designed to seek out and destroy People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong (VC) units, interdict their base ar ...
and Ta Bat Airfield was reopened.[
]
Current use
The base has been turned over to housing/farmland and sits adjacent to the Ho Chi Minh Highway
Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway () is a highway in Vietnam. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Route 1. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh.
History
The route roughly coincides with the Ho Chi Minh t ...
.
References
External links
Photos and video of the area in October 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:A Luoi Camp
Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam
Buildings and structures in Huế