U. S. Army Engineers in Thailand 1962: 1971

By Joseph J Wilson, Jr

This book is a story of U. S. Army Engineers in Thailand (1962 - 1971) - At the request of the Royal Thai Government in 1962 the United States Army sent a Construction Engineer Battalion to build a road to divert traffic around the capitol city of Bangkok. When hostilities inside the Kingdom of Laos threatened to spill over into Thailand the Royal Thai Government asked the United States for help and Joint Task Force 116 was activated in Thailand in 1962 until the tension subsided and the task force was inactivated. By this time the 44th Engineer Group (Construction) was responsible for overseeing U. S. military construction projects throughout Thailand, as the Bangkok By-Pass Road and the Extension Project became a series of major highway construction projects from 1962 until 1971 that connected the deep water port of Sattahip to the northern cities of Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Nakhon Phanom, & Ubon Ratchathani thereby enabling Thai's to travel throughout the country for the first time and spurring economical development within the Kingdom of Thailand (Siam) during the Vietnam War.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joseph J Wilson, Jr
• Release date: Jan 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370118670

Joseph J Wilson, Jr

I am a retired US Army transportation sergeant and amateur military historian. I love to travel to Southeast Asia and explore Thailand away from the tourist spots.

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U. S. Army Engineers in Thailand 1962 - 1971

Published by Joseph J. Wilson, Jr. at Smashwords

Copyright 2018 Joseph J. Wilson, Jr.

Smashwords Edition

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Discover other titles by Joseph J. Wilson, Jr.:

Adrift in the Panama Canal

The World According to Peter Pickle & Peter Pickle Goes To Camp

United States Army Motor Transport Operations in Thailand 1966 - 1971

U.S. Army Engineers in Thailand

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The Castle Insignia of the US Army Engineer Corps

Version 3 – 24 January 2018

It has been difficult to imagine the scope of activity of the Army Engineers and the complex missions consisting of horizontal and vertical construction that enabled our military units to perform our wartime missions during the Vietnam War.

During the period February 1968 through July 1970 I was an Army Transporter, driving an M52A2 5-ton tractor trailer over the roads, many of which were under varying stages of construction by Army Engineers. Some of those roads in the Northeastern areas of Thailand had gone from non-existent to just barely passable. The red laterite dust was all over us, our uniforms and our vehicles as we traversed from Camp Khon Kaen delivering munitions and various classes of military cargo to places like Camp Raum Chit Chai, Nakon Phanom RTAFB and Ubon RTAFB.

Convoy to NKP – 1968 - 1969

What the soldiers of the 44th Engineer Group (Construction) accomplished in the Kingdom of Thailand during the 1960’s and 1970’s have truly transformed a nation of vastly unconnected cities and provinces into becoming the shining example within Southeast Asia that we see today in 2018.

For those who call themselves Army Engineers, members of the 44th Engineer Group (Construction), the 809th Engineer Battalion (Construction), the 538th Engineer Battalion (Construction) and the companies, detachments, and attached units (you were there) and you can hold your heads high at your many accomplishments.

I have gathered from official historical documents like the Operational Reports Lessons Learned, as well as unofficial narratives from those who were there to provide a more accurate record of the U.S. Army Engineers in Thailand during the Vietnam War from the perspective of a non-engineer. This is a work in progress and more engineer unit information will be added as it becomes available. - Joseph J. Wilson, Jr., Sergeant First Class, Transportation, US Army (Retired)

9th Logistical Command (B)

Thailand

May 1962 – 12 June 1970

The 9th Logistical Command was constituted 3 May 1960 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 9th Logistical Command (B) and was activated 16 May 1960 on Okinawa and was reorganized and redesignated 15 March 1961 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 9th Logistical Command (B).

The first U.S. troops were deployed to Korat, Thailand in May 1962 at the request of the Royal Thai Government to build the Bangkok By-Pass Road. More units of the 9th Logistical Command were sent to Thailand early in 1962 to support SEATO Exercise Air Cobra. Soon thereafter the deteriorating situation in Southeast Asia resulted in the formation of JTF 116 in Thailand in May 1962 at the request of the Royal Thai Government. The 9th Logistical Command elements in Thailand went under the operational control of the Task Force and more 9th Logistical Command (B) troops still on Okinawa were sent