Ko Kha RTAS Page 1 of 3

Ko Kha
Royal Thai Air Station

During the Vietnam War, the defense of Air Force bases mirrored the conflict itself:
There was no rear echelon once the entire country became a battlefield. Air Force
bases relatively, unaffected by ground forces in past wars, were no longer considered
safe havens. They, too, suffered from costly ground assaults and mortar shelling.

Within easy reach of North Vietnamese troops, Air Force bases in Vietnam and
Thailand were attacked 478 times from 1964 to 1973. One hundred and fifty-five
Americans were killed and 1,702 wounded, along with 375 allied aircraft being
destroyed and 1,203 damaged. In fact, more U.S. planes were lost in ground action
(101) than in dogfights with MIGs (62).

Bien Hoa Air Base, located 15 miles north of Saigon, was the first U.S. air base in
Vietnam to taste the damage a small, well-trained force can inflict. A hit-and-run
mortar attack destroyed five B-57 bombers and damaged 15 others. The Viet Cong,
in less than five minutes, wiped out an entire squadron.

The attack hammered home a hard message. To fight in the air, the Air Force had to
be able to fight on the ground." Above Published in AF Times

Ko Kha is on the Bangkok-Chiengmai railway and at the junction of highways to

Chieng Mai and Chiang Rai. A small Royal Thai Air Station was the location of a radar
station for the Spacetrack System. The station tracked People’s Republic of China
missile launches and southerly launches from the Soviet Union from Sep 1971–May
1976. No Security Police military working dogs were ever assigned.

At the end of the American cavalry era, the Army disposed of its horses by machine
gunning them to death. In our war, the dogs were treated the same way. Only it was
done in a more “humane” manner. Some excess dogs were reassigned to other bases
in the Pacific but most were killed. The US Military has pledged not to dispose of
military working dogs in such a manner again. Please Read Death of a Warrior

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The story of Nemo

Veterinarians

VSPA is an association for USAF Vietnam War Veterans who served in

Vietnam or Thailand from 1960-1975, as Air Police / Security Police
or as an Augmentee. Visit the main pages for information on joining.

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Website Last Updated on 06/12/2011

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Ko Kha RTAS Page 3 of 3

http://www.vspa.com/k9/kok.htm 10/9/2011