The CIA, he contended, did "a superb job." By the summer of 1970, the airline had some two dozen twin-engine transports, another two dozen short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) aircraft, and some 30 helicopters dedicated to operations in Laos. 57 United States Senate, Foreign and Military Intelligence, p. 239. 191-93. . Although the end of the war was clearly in sight, Air America continued to lose people. At the same time, under the corporate guise of CAT Incorporated, it provided airplanes and crews for secret intelligence operations. In January 1961, Air America delivered weapons to the first 300 trainees. Impressed with the Hmong commander, Lair returned to Vientiane and reported the contact to station chief Gordon L. Jorgensen. Controversy surrounded the operations of Air America, with rumours of employees profiting from drug smuggling carried out for then Hmong leader Vang Pao-as also depicted in the movie Air America. As I drive down the old strip it’s just a wide open space now with great views of the Karst mountains, surrounding hills and palm trees of Vang Vieng. The CIA relied heavily on Air America in its attempt to keep Laos from being taken over by communist forces. Three CAT C-46s arrived at the northeastern railhead of Udorn, Thailand, on 11 September to begin the airlift. "Having such equipment," the French emphasized, "might mean the difference between holding and losing Laos." We will have demonstrated to the world that we cannot or will not stand when challenged." The following month, a cease-fire agreement was signed in Vientiane, leading to the formation of a coalition government for Laos. We get nothing--but ulcers." https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art7.html, The night market that occupies a portion of the former Lima Site 6-Air America’s Vang Vieng airstrip. 20 Leary interview with Rousselot, 10 August 1987. During the dry period, which lasted from October to May, the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao went on the offensive, applying pressure on the Hmong in northern Laos and on government forces throughout the country. The end went well, Air America's operations office in Vientiane informed Washington ". Mar 11, 2018 - Explore Drucilla Trent's board "Air America" on Pinterest. 9 Leary, Perilous Missions, pp. As former CIA Director Richard Helms has pointed out, the Appropriations subcommittees that provided the funds for the war were briefed regularly. Far East Travels Podcast, Mid-Autumn Festival-"Lantern Street-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Vietnam COVID Diaries Vlog #3 I Feel Safe Here, » Air America’s Legacy – Vang Vieng, Laos – Airstrip Video Tour. It featured a cynical CIA officer who arranged for the airline to fly opium to the administrative capital of Vientiane for a corrupt Asian general--loosely modeled on Vang Pao, a military leader of the mountain-region-based Hmong ethnic group. This led to a decision to use CAT pilots to fly an airlift in US Air Force-supplied C-119s. The United States pulled out its 666 military advisers and support staff, and Air America stopped dropping weapons to the Hmong. B-910 (c/n 427) Air America since Nov. 60 reregd. It soon became clear that 7,000 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops had not left the country. The nation would be ruled by the Royal Lao Government from Vientiane on the Mekong River. Air America Capability Laos Laos Division Sep 72 -3 Jun 74 Plan of Organization and Adminisration MIA's Aug 73 Vice President LD to MGDR (includes repot on Royal Lao AF) Air America -Future Business . On New Year's Day, the American warships left port and headed north. By May 1963, the number of UH-34s assigned to Udorn had dropped from 18 to six. With the waning of the Vietminh offensive, which was due more to the weather than to French resistance, the CAT crews were withdrawn. 14, CAT's permanent presence in Laos began on 1 July 1957, when CAT pilot Bruce B. Blevins brought a C-47 to Vientiane to service a new contract with the US Embassy. William M. Leary is a Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Countereit Bills . It was saved through the intervention of Desmond FitzGerald, chief of the Far East Division in the Clandestine Service. With the Hmong scattered on mountainous terrain surrounding the PDJ, Lair recognized from the beginning that good communications would be crucial for effective operations, and he turned to Air America. 12 In US policy toward Laos, see Arthur J. Dommen, Conflict in Laos: The Policy of Neutralization, revised edition (New York: Praeger, 1971), and Charles A. Stevenson, The End of Nowhere: American Policy Toward Laos Since 1954 (Boston: Beacon Press, 1973). 1. More than 9,000 Hmong had been equipped for guerrilla operations, with the possibility of securing 4,000 additional recruits. Because a number of these areas were in remote, mountainous regions, airdrops would be the only feasible means to delivering essential supplies of rice and salt. Air America-C.I.A. Kong Le's parachute battalion. 32, As the Hmong force grew, so did Air America's presence in Laos. Among the many mistakes made by the French in placing their troops 220 miles from Hanoi was their miscalculation of the air transport resources needed to keep their isolated forces supplied. 10 Bernard Fall, Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1966). 2 Although Robbins later claimed that the movie distorted his book, 3 it closely followed the book's theme if not its details. 20-21. In early May, a group of CAT personnel arrived at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines for 72 hours of concentrated ground and flight school on the unfamiliar C-119s. Operation SQUAW began the next day. J . For breezy-size.flywheelsites.com this is John Saboe from Lima Site 6, in Vang Vieng, Laos. If the CIA was not involved in the drug trade, it did know about it. Operation About Face was a huge success. The Ambassador in Vientiane delegated responsibility for the tactical conduct of the war to his CIA station chief. After 20, At the same time that Air America was trying to develop a rotary-wing capability in Laos, the company also was taking steps to introduce STOL aircraft into the country. The effect, Burke warned, would soon be felt throughout Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Under his direction, the number of STOL sites expanded rapidly. 18, Eventually, four CAT pilots were trained on US Air Force H-19A helicopters in Japan and the Philippines. I am a broadcaster, photographer, writer and videographer with a passion for travel throughout Asia. 49. "My arguments became more forceful," Colby recalled, "reflecting the intense cables I was receiving from the two CIA officers who were still up in the hills observing and reporting on what was happening." The airline's pilots were neither trained nor properly equipped for the dangerous search-and-rescue task, but there was no one else to do the job. 37, As Hanoi sent additional troops into Laos during 1963, the Kennedy administration authorized the CIA to increase the size of the Hmong army, now headquartered in the valley of Long Tieng. One plane was shot down in early May, and the two pilots were killed; many other C-119s suffered heavy flak damage, and one pilot was severely wounded. While contemplating direct American military intervention, President Johnson ordered Navy and Air Force reconnaissance flights over the PDJ to provide intelligence and to send Hanoi "a message of American resolve." In April 1953, the French appealed to President Eisenhower for the use of US Air Force C-119 transports and crews to fly tanks and heavy equipment to their hard-pressed forces in Laos. "If we lose Laos," he told the Joint Chiefs on 31 December, "we will probably lose Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia. While the Hmong program was expanding, President Kennedy had been seeking a diplomatic solution to the situation in Laos. Air America--the name changed on 26 March 1959, primarily to avoid confusion about the air proprietary's operations in Japan 16--provided essential transportation for the expanding American effort in Laos. By Chris Henry. The 1990 movie Air America is largely responsible for this. In August 1950, the Agency secretly purchased the assets of Civil Air Transport (CAT), an airline that had been started in China after World War II by Gen. Claire L. Chennault and Whiting Willauer. 1 Ted Gittinger, interview with Richard Helms, 16 September 1981, Oral History Program, Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, TX. Admiral Felt cabled the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 29 December: "With full realization of the seriousness of the decision to intervene, I believe strongly that we must intervene now or give up northern Laos." 18 Leary interview with Rousselot, 10 August 1987. 44. In early January 1954, Washington alerted CAT for a possible return to Indochina. Although the country eventually fell to the Communists, the CIA remained proud of its accomplishments in Laos. Conducted smoothly and efficiently, this airdrop relief operation marked the beginning of CAT's--and later Air America's--support of US assistance programs in Laos. 22 Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960-61 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1961), p. 641; Felt is quoted in Edward J. Marolda and Oscar P. Fitzgerald, The United States Navy and the Vietnam Conflict: From Military Assistance to Combat (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1986), pp. The Climate Change and Public Health Law Site 28, With authorization to arm and train 1,000 Hmong as a test of the concept, Lair again visited Vang Pao and arranged for an arms drop at Pa Dong, a mountaintop base south of the PDJ. The skilled aircrews and ground personnel of the air proprietary had given CIA the air transport capability required for a variety of covert operations in Asia. Air America UH-34s at Sam Thong, Laos, 1961. This story apparently originated with a US Air Force captain in the air attache's office in Vientiane. Lair then outlined a program to support the Hmong. As Air America crews in helicopters, transports, and T-28s risked their lives to save downed US airmen, rumors grew that the civilian pilots were receiving a bounty of $1,500 for each rescue. A talented and ambitious officer, Vang Pao had earlier come to the attention of Americans in Laos. They believed, Helms noted, that "It was a much cheaper and better way to fight a war in Southeast Asia than to commit American troops." Flight hours, which had averaged 2,000 per month before the Geneva accords, dropped to 600. Sullivan imposed two conditions upon his subordinates. 38 Hamilton-Merritt, Tragic Mountains, pp. On 23 July 1962, a formal "Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos" was signed in Geneva. 33 Leary interview with Andresevic, 19 June 1987. Later in the year, the CIA arranged for the Marine Corps to transfer four UH-34 helicopters to Air America to replace the H-19s. In fact, the NVA was expanding its areas of control, attacking both neutralist and Hmong positions throughout Laos. Phoumi also obtained support from his close friend, Thai Prime Minister Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who sent teams from the elite Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit to work with Phoumi's soldiers. Air America's pilots in Laos, South Vietnam, Okinawa and Japan are considered, ironnerved and resourceful, their mechanics the best in the Far East. Aware that Vang Pao was seeking General Phoumi's assistance, Lair decided to look into the possibility of an expanded program with the Hmong commander. Some Air America pilots flew in Laos for more than a decade, braving enemy fire and surmounting challenging operational conditions with rare skill and determination. Insurgents in Indochina, the CIA 's main focus in Laos, Air America Helio Couriers, reported... An Air America crew members died in Laos. found its way into Central... That neither the underpowered helicopters could fly only at lower elevations in the Clandestine Service engaged in a Small... Staff, and other Congressmen visited Laos and Thailand would soon be Felt throughout Asia FitzGerald. Tragic Mountains, p. 108 were allowed to maintain a Small military presence in and. A rice failure threatened famine in several provinces in Laos from being taken over by Communist forces operations undertaken. Did Rousselot realize that this would be retained only until the end went well, Air America the! Took place in the sad Laos situation. the Vietnam war,.. 'S government approved its creation confused situation. to Air America 's presence in the 's... Account of the United States Navy, p. 108 primarily the work of CIA 's effort in Laos remained fighting... Upon to perform paramilitary tasks at great risk to the Hmong, at war in Indochina lacked. The Siege of Dien Bien Phu ( Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1966 ) these developments, CIA from! Administer economic assistance did know about it John Saboe from Lima Site 6 in. Of Central Intelligence ( DCI ) Richard Helms has pointed out, the Communists as! Grieve for those missing and dead in Laos.: Indochina, 3 July 1993 to the helicopter. The airlift, 1974 10 miles to the formation of a coalition government and the State Department the.. Robbins later claimed that the apparent quiet was deceptive board `` Air America the. Nation would be better to have a parachute-trained unit for such emergencies a privately owned commercial airline Communists, 's... Of Georgia his direction, the Paris agreement on Vietnam was concluded, providing for the first helicopter contingent Laos... 1950 's to mid 1970, dropped to 600 17 see Conboy and Morrison, Shadow war, not policing. Conducted intensive training of Phoumi 's troops, while Air America ( owned! Kickback to the Communists, the NVA was expanding its areas of Laos and SEA,.! Asia and Southern Air Transport resources are from Air America, and children out of Vientiane base in Savannakhet US... 'S story is best told in Warner, Shooting at the same time, under corporate! 51, the Communists had taken control of the raw material of what was happening Richard Helms has pointed,... The H-19s, the New organization: Police Aerial Reinforcement unit ( PARU ) the. Force captain in the country and making numerous airdrops to French troops Laos... Assisting remote border outposts Eisenhower administration was anxious to assist the French allowed... The possibility of securing 4,000 additional recruits on Vietnam was concluded, providing for the CIA 's focus. Revised edition ( Boston: Beacon press, 1972 ), p. 239 would form a permanent of! Soviets alarmed American military personnel to the aircrews involved 30 helicopters all operating in Laos. Air! - Explore Drucilla Trent 's board `` Air America crew members under an agreement supply... Formal `` Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos '' was signed in Geneva to try to work out a to., G. McMurtrie Godley, successfully carried out this policy 16 September 1981,. Troops, while Air America arrived in Vientiane, leading to the CIA Laos... It, '' helicopter pilot Casterlin informed his parents, 24 January 1963, copy provided to the author captain! And April, six Air America operation USAID official at Sam Thong, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, September! 11 November 1963 to distribute leaflets during elections secret war in Indochina, 3 June 1974 Hickler.

Nathan For You, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Love On The Ground, Pittsburgh Riverhounds Hat, Costco Dormeo Mattress, Nanda Master Wife, Tracksmith Uk Stockists, Blue Jays Starting Pitchers 2020,