US Military Use of Cam Ranh AB
The airfield at Cam Ranh Bay was built by the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps along with civilian contractors beginning in 1965. It was turned over to the USAF Pacific Air Forces on November 8.
Cam Ranh Air Base was a part of the large Cam Ranh Bay logistics facility built by the United States. It was the major military seaport used by the United States for the offloading of supplies, military equipment and as a major Naval base. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units all had compounds and units assigned to the Cam Ranh Bay facility from its opening in 1965 until its closure in 1972 as part of the drawdown of United states military forces in South Vietnam.
Cam Ranh Air Base served as a United States Air Force tactical fighter base, the first in South Vietnam to base the F-4C Phantom II tactical fighter-bomber. The air base also was used as a strategic and tactical airlift facility. Cargo and personnel would arrive from the United States into the logistics facilities at Cam Ranh Bau by ship and also by large Military Air Transport Service/Military Airlift Command airlifters, and then be transferred to tactical airlift for movement within South Vietnam by the 483d Tactical Airlift Wing, using C-7 Caribu and C-130 Hercules transports. Outgoing cargo and personnel would also be processed though the large aerial port facility.
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