[Dixiecapt]

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THE WASHINGTON POST
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 1968
By Robert Kaylor

The Secret Is Out: U.S. Base Isnt Secret Any More

NAKHON PHANOM, Thailand (UPI)- The U.S. Air Force is waging a secret and unconventional phase of the air war in Southeast Asia from this base across the Mekong River from Laos.

The American pilots involved wear midnight-black flight suits and fly camouflaged twin-engine A26 bombers without identifying insignia. One of the seven U.S. bases in Thailand, theirs alone is cloaked in secrecy.

U.S. officials have disclosed that American pilots fly "armed reconnaissance" missions in Laos at the request of the Laotian government to prevent Communist infiltration over the Ho Chi Minh trail, which meanders several hundred miles down Eastern Laos.

Intelligence officers at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said there are about 40,000 North Vietnamese troops in Laos assisting a force of about 29,000 Pathet Lao guerrillas, the Laotian equivalent of the Vietcong in South Vietnam. Laotian officials give the same figures. The number of troops in the Laotian army is about 75,000. In addition there are about 10,000 neutralists now fighting on the government side.

U.S. Commanders take the position that missions by the men of the 56th Special Operations Wing are an important countermove against North Vietnamese infiltrations and military intervention in Laos.

Clusters of machine guns bristled from the noses of the unmarked bombers covered with swatches of green and black camouflage paint.

In addition to the unmarked planes, there are other U.S. aircraft that are clearly identified as American and fly more conventional missions.

These include A1E skyraiders used for air cover in search and rescue operations for downed pilots in North Vietnam and Laos and helicopters which make jungle pickups.
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