Project 404
Project 404 was the code name for a covert United States Air Force advisory mission to Laos during the later years of the Second Indochina War, which would eventually become known in the United States as the Vietnam War. The purpose of the mission was to supply the line crew technicians needed to support and train the Royal Laotian Air Force, while Raven Forward Air Controllers were brought in to supply piloting expertise and guidance for running a tactical air force. The two programs together comprised Palace Dog. Project 404 began in 1966, as a successor after the completion of Operation White Star, was narrower in scope, and was an adjunct to the various covert ground operations succeeding White Star. Because Laos was ostensibly a neutral party to the conflict between the United States and North Vietnam, the airmen did not wear United States Air Force uniforms, but instead worked in civilian clothing.
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| Project 404 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Operational scope | Diplomatic Military Attachés Strategic |
| Planned by | United States Department of State CIA |
| Objective | Counterinsurgency Foreign internal defense |
| Date | 1966–1973 |
| Executed by | U.S. Army Attachés U.S. Air Force Attachés Air America |
| Outcome | North Vietnamese Army and Pathet Lao Conquest of Royal Lao Government 1975 |
Project 404 was the code name for a covert United States Air Force advisory mission to Laos during the later years of the Second Indochina War, which would eventually become known in the United States as the Vietnam War.[citation needed] The purpose of the mission was to supply the line crew technicians needed to support and train the Royal Laotian Air Force, while Raven Forward Air Controllers were brought in to supply piloting expertise and guidance for running a tactical air force. The two programs together comprised Palace Dog.
Project 404 began in 1966, as a successor after the completion of Operation White Star, was narrower in scope, and was an adjunct to the various covert ground operations succeeding White Star. Because Laos was ostensibly a neutral party to the conflict between the United States and North Vietnam, the airmen did not wear United States Air Force uniforms, but instead worked in civilian clothing.[1]
See also
[edit]- First Indochina War
- International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos
- Laotian Civil War (also known as the Secret War)
- Operation White Star
- Ho Chi Minh Trail
- North Vietnamese invasion of Laos
- Royal Lao Army
- Royal Lao Air Force
- Lieutenant Colonel Lee Lue
- Major General Vang Pao
- Vang Sue
- William H. Sullivan U.S. Ambassador
- Vietnam War (aka the Second Indochina War)
References
[edit]- ^ Celeski, Joseph D. (2019). Special air warfare and the secret war in Laos : air commandos, 1964-1975. Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education, Air University. Press. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. ISBN 9781585662906. OCLC 1107991323.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
[edit]- Senate Committee on POWs: "Covert Operations"
- Air America, CAS, Project 404, etc. website
- Air America Association web site
- Online Archive Materials about Air America in the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech[permanent dead link]
- Air America by Christopher Robbins
- The Ravens, Pilots of the Secret War in Laos by Christopher Robbins
- Laos List (partial list of U.S. personnel in Laos)
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