The civil war inside Laos and fears of it spreading into Thailand led the Thai government to allow the United States to covertly use five Thai bases beginning in 1961 for the air defence of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos.

The first American military personnel to arrive at NKP in 1962 were the U.S. Navy's Mobile Construction Battalion Three who undertook the task of constructing runways and raising the first buildings at the new base as part of a United States commitment under SEATO with the 6,000-foot (1,800 m) PSP runway opening on 1 June 1963.

[2]: 60 The 5th Tactical Control Group exercised command jurisdiction over the 507th until May 1965 when the 6235th Air Base Squadron was formed.

Overall control of the USAF units was then turned over to the 35th Tactical Group at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base.

NKP was the location of TACAN station "Channel 89" and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.

In addition, the 56h SOW also worked closely with the U.S. embassies in Laos and Thailand to provide training for special air warfare units.

Called the United States Support Activities Group & 7th Air Force (USSAG/7th AF), it was to be located at Nakhon Phanom.

[8]: 48 The advance echelon of USSAG/7AF moved from Tan Son Nhut Air Base to Nakhon Phanom on 29 January 1973.

Transfer of the main body, drawn largely from the operations and intelligence sections of MACV and Seventh Air Force, began on 10 February.

NKP was one of the staging bases for the failed Sơn Tây prison camp POW rescue mission in November 1970.

[2]: 112 On 13 May 1975, US Seventh Air Force commander Lieutenant General John J. Burns and his staff developed a contingency plan to retake the SS Mayaguez using an assault force composed of men of the Nakhon Phanom 56th Security Police Squadron.

68-10933, call sign Knife 13) crashed, killing 18 security police and the five man flight crew.

[11] With the collapse in Laos, the fall of both Cambodia and South Vietnam in April 1975 and in the aftermath of the unauthorized use of Thai bases during the Mayaguez incident, the political climate between Washington and Bangkok began to sour, and the Thai Government demanded that the U.S. remove the bulk of its forces out of Thailand by the end of the year.

[2]: 154 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency