In October, the 834th transferred on paper to Tan Son Nhut Airport, where it assumed responsibility for controlling all airlift in South Viet Nam.

One member of the division, Lt Col Joe M. Jackson, was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing a combat control team left behind when an airfield being overrun by the Viet Cong was evacuated.

[5] The division supervised operations and training, exercises, firepower demonstrations, and insured the combat readiness of aircrews and equipment.

In July 1958, the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying McDonnell F-101 Voodoos from Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas was attached to the division.

In February 1959, the 27th was relieved from this attachment when it ceased operations at Bergstrom and transferred on paper to Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.

It served as a single manager for all tactical airlift operations in South Vietnam, using air transport to haul cargo and troops, which were air-landed or air-dropped, as combat needs dictated.

The division also included the 2nd Aerial Port Group, which moved to Tan Son Nhut from Tachikawa Air Base, Japan.

[12] In addition, 834th had operational control over 315th Air Division Lockheed C-130 Hercules assigned on temporary duty in South Vietnam.

[f] PACAF was reluctant to permanently station C-130s in Vietnam because of the additional support personnel required in an area with a mandated troop ceiling and crowded bases and the flexibility that would be lost in scheduling the planes, which provided airlift throughout the western Pacific.

[17] In early 1967, C-130s under the division's control participated in the largest American airborne assault of the war, Operation Junction City, an assault on Viet Cong forces in War Zone C. On 22 February 1967, C-130s massed at Bien Hoa Air Base[18] onloaded troopers and equipment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and parachuted them into drop zones near Ca Tum, close to the Cambodian border.

[14] The division earned a Presidential Unit Citation for its support to besieged Marines during the Siege of Khe Sanh.

Army special forces established a Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp at Khe Sanh approximately 10 miles from the border between South and North Viet Nam in 1962.

[20] During the summer of 1967, Navy Seabees improved the runway at Khe Sanh with aluminum planking dropped by division C-130s using the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System (LAPES).

[23] Division aircraft landing at Khe Sanh were referred to as "mortar magnets" because of their attractiveness as targets for enemy fire.

Seventh Air Force decided the Hercules was too valuable an asset to risk in landings there, except for four high priority missions.

[30] On 10 May 1968, The special forces camp at Kham Duc in the central highlands near Laos came under heavy mortar fire and was ordered to be evacuated.

As the Viet Cong overran the forward outpost and established gun positions on the airstrip, eight aircraft were destroyed and the C-130 on the runway reduced its usable length to only about 2,200 feet.

[31] Informed that three men remained behind, Lt Col Joe M. Jackson of the division's 311th Air Commando Squadron dove his C-123K from 9,000 feet altitude to land at the field.

For this rescue, he was awarded the Medal of Honor[31] As American participation in the War in Vietnam lessened, the division saw changes to its mission.

During the summer of 1971, its 315th Wing began training Republic of Vietnam Air Force crews on the C-123, preparing them to assume an expanded airlift mission.

[1] The division returned to the United States and TAC as part of the US withdrawal from South Vietnam on 31 January 1972, although it was not manned at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas until 15 March.

Squadrons and detachment-size elements frequently deployed to points in Europe, the Panama Canal Zone, Africa, Thailand, and elsewhere.

Shortly after the end of that operation, in June 1991, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo required the evacuation of military and dependents from Clark Air Base.

[40][41] When the decision was made not to return forces to Clark, the division's 624th Military Airlift Support Group was inactivated in November 1991.

[1][40][42] Wings Groups This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency