Nha Trang Air Base was the location of the 5th Special Forces Headquarters. Located on the coast,  Nha Trang is 1,287 km south of Hanoi, 624 km south of Hue, 442 km from Saigon, and 50 km North of Cam Ranh Bay. Aircraft used to support the Army was C-130, C-7 Caribou, and Gunships. The VNAF flew A1E Skyraiders. The US Army, VNAF, and USAF each secured their own perimeter. The section was small with approx. 7 dog posts. A modern kennels replaced a large tent with dogs chained to telephone poles. The new kennels was concrete & chain link fence. 

Over it's lifetime, two Security Police units were assigned to Phan Rang. Usually when these changes occurred, all personnel remained, just the unit name (or number) was changed. It's a military thing!  Nha Trang was the home of the 14th and 90th. 

Photo Below:  Nha Trang Flight Line Courtesy of Roy Hall, Sentry Dog Handler

Visible below is Nha Trang’s runway # 12 with the bay in the background. Nha Trang , was a heavily defended base, serving as the home base for more than 40,000 troops, including 2,000 American GIs.   The base was situated in a valley, with warehouses and an airstrip to the east, a fuel storage area and hills to the west, and docks and storage facilities located to the south along the China Sea.

Photo Above: Courtesy of Peter A Bird (Former Caribou Pilot)

Contributors

Peter A. Bird    Roy Hall     Phil Lange 

Nha Trang Air Base   The Dogs   The Handlers    Photo Gallery