432nd Tactical Reconnaisance Wing F-4s At War

Operating out of Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in northern Thailand, the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (TRW) is probably one of the lesser known Air Force units that participated in the Vietnam War, despite the fact that for most of its existence at Udorn, it was unique among Air Force wings.

- Lt. Col. Robert J.

It was unique in that for most of the war it was composed of both fighter and reconnaissance squadrons and thus known almost exclusively among its personnel as the 432nd Tactical Recon/Fighter Wing, and in 1972, during the intensive bombing campaign leading up to the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, it was reinforced by additional fighter squadrons from stateside and other bases in Asia, sporting no less than seven assigned fighter squadrons, thus being the largest wing in the Air Force.

Although USAF personnel had been assigned to Udorn RTAFB on a temporary basis prior to October 1964, that month marked the first permanent unit being assigned when the 333rd Air Base Squadron was activated. Their mission was to oversee the construction of facilities to accommodate increasing numbers of personnel as the Vietnam War escalated. Even as facilities and personnel increased, combat operations from Udorn commenced as early as 1 April 1965 when the 15th TRS deployed a detachment of six RF-101C there from Kadena AB, Okinawa under the code name “Green Python”. As the tempo of operations (and losses) escalated, the 20th TRS was deployed to Southeast Asia from Shaw AFB, South Carolina with the RF-101C, arriving in December 1965 and January 1966. They operated briefly from Tan Son Nhut AB in Saigon, then moved permanently to Udorn in late March 1966, replacing the 15th TRS “Green Python” detachment there. The 555th TFS, with the F-4C, also deployed to Udorn from Kadena AB, Okinawa about the same time and operated there from February to July 1966, before being permanently reassigned to the 8th TFW at Ubon RTAFB, in southeast Thailand.