Tan Son Nhut Air Base | |
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Part of South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) Pacific Air Forces (USAF) |
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Tan Son Nhut Air Base – June 1968
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Coordinates | 10°49′08″N 106°39′07″E / 10.81889°N 106.65194°E |
Type | Air Force Base |
Site information | |
Condition | Joint Civil/Military Airport |
Site history | |
Built | 1955 |
In use | 1955–present |
Battles/wars |
Vietnam War |
Tan Son Nhat International Airport | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 10 m / 33 ft | ||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Tan Son Nhut Air Base (Vietnamese: Căn cứ không quân Tân Sơn Nhứt) (1955–1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) facility. It is located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War (1959–1975), stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there. Following the Fall of Saigon, it was taken over as a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) facility and remains in use today.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport, (IATA: SGN, ICAO: VVTS) has been a major Vietnamese civil airport since the 1920s.
Tan Son Nhat Airport was built by the French in the 1920s when the French Colonial government of Indochina constructed a small unpaved airport, known as Tan Son Nhat Airfield, in the village of Tan Son Nhat to serve as Saigon's commercial airport. Flights to and from France, as well as within Southeast Asia were available prior to World War II. During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army used Tan Son Nhat as a transport base. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the French Air Force flew a contingent of 150 troops into Tan Son Nhat.
After World War II, Tân Sơn Nhất served domestic as well as international flights from Saigon. In 1952, the French Air Force moved the 312th Special Mission Squadron, consisting of French Douglas C-47 Skytrains and Beechcraft Model 18s for carrying cargo and military passengers to support French forces, to TSN from Nha Trang Air Base.