Army Reporter information
for 101 ABN
For date 710315
101 ABN was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Operation DEWEY CANYON II
Quang Tri Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Khe Sanh
Description: 15Mar71 KHE SANH strip gives GIs boost
KHE SANH - The reconstruction of an airfield here was an integral part of Operation Dewey Canyon II in the western Military Region I. A new field was built parallel to the old airfield, which served the former U.S. Marine base here. The old aluminum strip, heavily pocked with shell craters, was abandoned in the spring of 1968 after months of bitter fighting between the Marines and VC heavily reinforced by NVA regulars. Construction of the new aluminum strip permits the use of heavy C130 transport planes for resupply of the major forward outposts supporting the American operations in the area and the ARVNs operating across the Laotian border. Construction of the 3,000 foot-plus strip was begun Jan. 30 by engineers of the self-styled Task Force 326 of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). Over 80,000 cubic yards of dirt was moved from nearby barrow pits to level the field, according to project officer Maj. Gen Schneebeck. After a trail C130 set down on the dirt strip, it was decided to lay matting over the dirt as a safety measure. After a total of two weeks work by the 100 engineers involved, the matting was welded into place and the strip was ready for the airlift to begin. One Feb. 15, the afternoon clouds were parted by the camouflaged U.S. Air Force transport and supplies started to roll into the area. Before the strip was finished, aerial supply and resupply was done by helicopters with Chinooks, flying cranes, and the Marine equivalent of the Jolly Green Giant choppers filling the air with huge clouds of dust, some hundreds of feet in the air and thousands of feet long, as they brought in the valuable cargo suspended by slings. The log birds and the hundreds of Hueys and Cobra gunships which gave the vital punch to the operation used the abandoned strip and hastily cut helipads for landing, refueling and rearmament areas. The mass of rotary-wing craft taking off and landing-sometimes almost simultaneously-gave the plateau the look of a flying circus and kept the tower busy searching for new areas to use as landing zones.
The source for this information was 7103AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Date posted on this site:
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