Khe Sanh Combat Base

Khe Sanh Combat Base
Diagram of base
Coordinates	16°39′16″N 106°43′51″E / 16.65444°N 106.73083°E / 16.65444; 106.73083 (Khe Sanh Combat Base)
Type	Marines/Army
Site history
Built	1962
In use	1962-1975
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Battle of Khe Sanh Operation Lam Son 719
Garrison information
Occupants	3rd Marine Division 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division

Khe Sanh Airfield
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m laterite

Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) used during the Vietnam War.

Fighting began there in late April 1967 with the hill fights, which later expanded into the 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh. U.S. commanders hoped that the North Vietnamese Army would attempt to repeat their famous victory at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which would permit the U.S. to wield enormous air power. B-52s alone dropped more than 75,000 tons of bombs on the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 304th and 325th Divisions encroaching the combat base in trenches.

On April 1, 1968, the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division launched Operation Pegasus to break the siege of the base. All three brigades from the 1st Cavalry participated in this vast airmobile operation, along with a Marine armor thrust.

The defense of Khe Sanh commanded international attention and was considered the climactic phase of the Tet Offensive. On July 5, 1968, the combat base was abandoned, the U.S. Army citing the vulnerability of the base to dug-in enemy artillery positions in neutral Laos and the arrival of significant airmobile forces in I Corps (1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne Divisions). However, the closure permitted the 3rd Marine Division to conduct mobile operations along the DMZ.

In 1971, Khe Sanh was reactivated by the U.S. Army (Operation Dewey Canyon II) to support Operation Lam Son 719, the South Vietnamese incursion into Laos. It was abandoned again in early April 1971.

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