Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. Tactical Control Squadron Operations in SEAsia

Abstract

In late 1961, when the United States accelerated aid to South Vietnam and Thailand, communications and control facilities were primitive and limited. A rudimentary Air Traffic Control System existed, using high frequency (HF) radio for communications and low frequency beacons for navigational aids. This was sufficient to handle the commercial traffic and existing military traffic. Increased U.S. air involvement, made necessary by the rapidly growing Communist guerrilla activities in South Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand soon created a need for a comprehensive air request net and Tactical Air Control system (TACS) to control efficiently this increase in military traffic. On 1 October 1961, the 5th Communications and Control Group and the 1st Mobile Communications Squadron were reorganized. The two 5th Communications and Control Squadrons were deactivated and their personnel and equipment became absorbed in the 1st Mobile Communications Squadron, which was then redesignated the 1st Mobile Communications Group under the Air Force Communications Service. The 605th Tactical Control Squadron was deactivated, and the 5th Communications and Control Group became the 5th Tactical Control Group under the Thirteenth Air Force at Clark Air Base, Philippines. The USAF initially inserted TDY units into South Vietnam and Thailand in November 1961, with elements of the 5th and 507th (Shaw AFB, South Carolina) Tactical Control Groups and the 1st Mobile Communications Group (MCG), which had already acquired the sobriquet of "1st Mob." These mobile units consisted basically of navigational aids (navaids) and single channel high frequency radio systems to link the widely spread activities. As the tempo of operations increased and the extent of USAF participation grew to match the increase insurgency activity, these communications systems proved barely adequate for several reasons. The nucleus for a TACS in Southeast Asia had, however, been formed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 15, 1969
Accession Number
ADA486957

Entities

People

  • Melvin Porter

Organizations

  • Pacific Air Forces

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Sensors
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Traffic Control Systems
  • Aircrafts
  • Amplitude Modulation
  • Combat Operations
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Electronic Countermeasures
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Navigational Aids
  • Radar
  • Radar Equipment
  • Radio Equipment
  • Southeast Asia
  • Tactical Air Support
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Library and Information Science/ Studies, Southeast Asia Studies, Bibliography of Vietnam and Lao Studies.
  • Systems Analysis and Design