Vietnam War
The 38th Air Rescue Squadron was activated on 30 June 1965 at Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam, and organized the next day to control detachments operating from bases in Vietnam and Thailand as follows:
- Headquarters Tan Son Nhut Air Base
- Detachment 1 Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, later relocated to Phan Rang Air Base
- Detachment 2 Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
- Detachment 3 Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base
- Detachment 4 Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base
- Detachment 5 Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base operating 6 HH-3Es
- Detachment 6 Bien Hoa Air Base operating HH-43s and 2 HH-3Es
- Detachment 7 Danang Air Base operating HH-43s and HU-16s
- Detachment 8 Cam Ranh Air Base
On 15 September 1965 two more detachments were organized:
- Detachment 9 Pleiku Air Base
- Detachment 10 Binh Thuy Air Base
On 8 January 1966 the squadron was redesignated the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron as part of the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service, and assigned to the 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group.
A further 4 detachments were later organised as follows:
- Detachment 11 Tuy Hoa Air Base
- Detachment 12 U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield
- Detachment 13 Phu Cat Air Base
- Detachment 14 Tan Son Nhut Air Base
May 1967, the HH-3s and crews of Detachment 7 at Danang Air Base were reassigned to the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron and the detachment closed.
During 1969–70, with US involvement in Vietnam winding down, other Detachments were moved or disbanded as follows:
- Detachment 10 was disbanded at Binh Thuy AB on 20 December 1969
- Detachment 9 was relocated from Pleiku AB to Nakhon Phanom RTAFB on 16 February 1970
- Detachment 8 was disbanded at Cam Ranh AB with the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing on 15 September 1970
- Detachment 11 was disbanded on 15 October 1970 when all USAF units left Tuy Hoa AB
- Detachment 2 was disbanded on 15 November 1970 with the return of USAF strike units from Takhli RTAFB to the US.
On 1 July 1971 the entire 38th ARRS was inactivated. Local base rescue helicopters and their crews then became detachments of the parent unit, the 3d Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group.
Read more about this topic: 38th Rescue Squadron
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