Friday, May 19, 1972
To Inactivate 483rd TAW May 31
iTAN SON NHUT AB, Vietnam (Special) --Gen. John W. Vogt Jr., 7th Air Force commander, has announced that the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing at Cam Ranh Bay will inactivate May 31.The wing was activated Jan. 1, 1967, at Cam Ranh Bay as a troop carrier wing and assumed control of all C7 aircraft in the Republic of Vietnam. Composed of six flying squadrons, the 483rd supported U.S. Army and allied ground forces throughout the Republic.It was redesignated a tactical airlift wing in August 1967 and became the host wing at Cam Ranh Bay on March 31, 1970.During their five years' flying for the 483rd, the C7 Caribous carried more than 4.7 million passengers, averaging more than one million a year during 1967, 68 and 69. At the same time the wing averaged more than 100,000 tons of cargo each year.The unique capabilities of the C7 for short landing and takeoff made Caribou transports absolutely vital to the war effort. On many occasions the C7s flew emergency airlift missions to airstrips and combat areas that no other aircraft could reach. Most notable were those in support of special forces camps in the central highlands.In June 1968 the wing flew a record 2,420 combat troops in three days between Dak Pek, Ben Het and Dak To.In August 1968, pinpoint night airdrops were accomplished at Duc Lap, Ha Thanh and Tonle Cham Special Forces camps. Ammunition and medical supplies were parachuted into 75-foot-square drop zones while the camps were under attack.In June 1969 during the siege of Ben Het more than 200 tons of ammunition, POL, rations, water and medical supplies were airdropped into a 100 x 200-foot zone with every load on target and 100 per cent recovered. Again in April 1970, the 483rd helped break the siege of Dak Seang. The wing flew 100 air-drop sorties under heavy hostile fire in ten days delivering some 400,000 pounds of vital supplies.Upon inactivation, personnel of the 483rd TAW will be reassigned in-country or returned to the states under normal returnee procedures. There will be about 2,000 space reductions.For its service in Vietnam, the 483rd has been awarded a Presidential Unit Citation and an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award."To Inactivate 483rd TAW May 31", published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Friday, May 19, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.