The 374th maintained a forward operating location at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base Thailand until 1976. While American combat participation in the Vietnam War ceased with the 1973 ceasefire, airlift continued to play a role in the ongoing war in nearby Laos and Cambodia. Throughout 1974 and into 1975 the United States maintained a major airlift of supplies to the besieged Cambodian city of Phnom Penh from the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield. Fearful of the loss of an Air Force crew, the United States turned to the use of civilian contract crews, as they had done during the French IndoChina War. A company known as BirdAir recruited former military airlifters to fly USAF C-130s provided "on loan" from the Air Force for the resupply effort. In spite of the airlift effort, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, only a few days before Saigon also fell, bringing the Vietnam War to a final conclusion.