Operation Millpond
Subtitle: U.S. Marines in Thailand, 1961
By: by Colonel George R. Hofmann, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
Contributors: Marine Corps University (U.S.). History Division
Series: Occasional paper; Occasional paper (Marine Corps University (U.S.). History and Museums Division)
Publisher: History Division, United States Marine Corps
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Quantico, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 36
Subjects: United States; United States. Marine Corps; Operation Millpond, 1961; United States. Marine Corps. Marine Air Base Squadron, 16; History
Description: "This operation highlights the role that the small country of Laos played in the foreign policy calculations of the newly elected U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. Gravely concerned that the Laotian government was in danger of being overwhelmed by a growing Community insurgency known as the Pathet Lao, President Kennedy to the bold step of deploying Marine Ar Base Squadron-16 (MABS-16) to nearby Thailand for the purpose of supporting a collection of helicopters piloted by an organization called Air America. Hollywood later made a movie about Air America, it is now widely known that it was linked to the Central Intelligence Agency. The Marines of MABS-16 received no such fanfare. Working behind the scenes in austere conditions, MABS-16 gave new meaning to the phrase "in any clime and place.: While Operation Millpond may seem like a small thing in comparison with much larger operations that were soon to be conducted by Marine in the Republic of South Vietnam, it nonetheless represents a clear beginning to a growing U.S. military commitment to the region as a hole, one that did not end until the las Marine left the roof of the American embassy in Saigon in 1975." -- p. iii.
Notes: Also available online from the Marine Corps History Division. Address as of July 02, 2013: https://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/Pages/Staff/Publication%20PDFs/MILLPOND%20corrected%20FINAL.pdf.
Table of contents: title: Laos in the years following World War II; title: The situation in Laos deteriorates, 1960-61; title: President Kennedy commits U.S. forces; title: The order to deploy Marine Corps forces is issued; title: MABS-16 is task organized for its mission; title: The execute order; title: The MABS-16 mission; title: the early days of Operation Millpond; title: Your only comment will be "No comment"; title: Aircraft maintenance and line maintenance operations - the first weeks; title: Camp construction; title: Logistics; title: Medical support; title: Communications; title: Morale, welfare, and People-to-people programs; title: Aircraft and line maintenance operations; title: Epilogue; title: Endnotes; title: Appendix. Original orders.