Surmounting the Sands of Chu Lai: MCB 10 and the Marine Expeditionary Airfield of 1965

By Dr. Frank A. Blazich, Jr.

Fifty-seven miles south of Da Nang, Chu Lai consisted of only a handful of small Vietnamese settlements until the Seabees of NMCB 10 arrived in May 1965. The name “Chu Lai” is often credited to Marine Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, who used the Mandarin Chinese characters for his name to name to the location on the maps.

Today, the settlement of Chu Lai in Quảng Nam Province, Vietnamis home to an open economic zone featuring an industrial park serviced by a seaport and the Chu Lai International Airport. All of these are notable attributes considering that Chu Lai, prior to 1965, did not formally exist on any map. The name and the airport entered the history of Vietnam and the United States in the first half of 1965, when Marines and the Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 10 arrived and turned the coastal area into a major military installation. From May 7 to July 3, 1965, the “Men of Ten” overcame numerous obstacles at seemingly every turn to construct an 8,000-foot expeditionary airfield. Furthermore, the construction of this field at Chu Lai came during the pivotal period of America’s involvement in Vietnam, which would end in July with American forces engaged in offensive ground operations.

When the military and diplomatic situation failed to improve by March, General William Westmoreland, commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) requested more ground forces for offensive operations. Johnson, fearful of domestic blowback from deploying ground forces while committed to his limited war of gradual escalation, chose to implement a compromise. On April 20, 1965 military officials agreed to an “enclave strategy,” whereby American forces would establish bases around key coastal areas with authorization to assist the South Vietnamese military up to 50 miles from the base perimeters in combating Viet Cong forces. This compromise strategy, brainchild of Ambassador Maxwell Taylor, was not supported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Westmoreland, but Johnson hoped it would stabilize the military situation in South Vietnam long enough for the air campaign to produce the desired shift in Communist policy. At the April 20th meeting, the participants agreed that the Marines would establish an enclave at Chu Lai with an expeditionary airfield, 57 miles southeast of Da Nang.

These photos, taken by the survey team on April 3, 1965, depict conditions at the construction location. Top, L to R: aerial view of north end of site; view looking north along plateau inland from tree line. Bottom, L to R: view looking southeast along plateau parallel to axis of expeditionary runway; view looking south along plateau inland from tree line.

Unlike the Marston matting and crushed coral of World War II, the Marines would call on the Seabees to construct an evolution in tactical airfields. The Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) essentially took a carrier flight deck and set it ashore. Developed by the Marine Corps, the SATS field used AM-2 aluminum slab matting to form the runway, each piece measuring 12-feet by 2-feet weighing 144 pounds. This smooth surface would be mated together with a catapult system, arresting gear, carrier lighting system, expeditionary control tower, and a fuel dispensing system to allow Douglas A-4 Skyhawks to land and perform catapult or jet-assisted takeoffs (JATO). While initially designed as a 3,000-foot long, 72-foot wide runway, the Marines at Chu Lai increased the field to a final size of 8,000 by 102-feet, with accompanying matted taxiways. The Seabees factiously dubbed this the LATS, “Long Airfield for Tactical Support.” On March 30, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara tentatively approved the field, which would relieve the overcrowded conditions at Da Nang.  Final approval did not arrive until the conference on April 20th. Prior to any final decision, however, a thorough reconnaissance of the site would be necessary to ascertain the feasibility of building at Chu Lai.

Thus began the start of NMCB 10’s involvement with Chu Lai. While the battalion prepared to deploy from Port Hueneme, CA to Okinawa as the Pacific Alert Battalion, the battalion Operations Officer Lt Frank M. Newcomb joined a party of three officers of the First Marine Air Wing (1st MAW) to inspect the proposed location at Chu Lai. Arriving by helicopter on the morning of April 3, 1965, Newcomb and the team found the proposed construction site to be a plateau of firm, fine sand, sparsely covered with grass adjacent to a wide lowland area. Soil samples were not taken and looking away from the potential construction site the team spied a low hill of laterite material (soil high in iron and aluminum) which they believed could be used to stabilize the sands. With reports of active Viet Cong forces in the area, the ground reconnaissance lasted less than two hours, restricted to what essentially became the southern half of the runway. In his report on the reconnaissance, Newcomb requested soil samples of the sand and laterite, but the Marine officers developing the airfield plans assumed the survey area represented the whole of the construction site and in the haste to meet deadlines the samples were forgotten. lfglad

Equipment operations of NMCB 10 grading and preparing a taxiway site, looking east in May 1965. Note that one tractor is pulling the scrapper while a bulldozer is pushing due to the softness of the sands.

To stabilize the subgrade prior to placing the runway and taxiway matting, Civil Engineer Corps officers opted to use locally available laterite, a soil rich in iron and aluminum. The volume of laterite continued to increase until a method was devised to stabilize Chu Lai’s sands.

Newcomb returned to Okinawa to share his findings with recently-arrived NMCB 10, while the Marine officers put the finishing touches on the blueprints for the expeditionary airfield. Based on the assumptions and site survey, the planners estimated that the SATS field could be operational in 21 days and would require 1.4 million square feet of matting. This figure represented literally the entire Marine Corps inventory of matting in the Far East. With an amphibious landing of the entire construction battalion scheduled in May, NMCB 10 requested more detailed plans of the airfield. Despite expressing concerns about the construction schedule, they only received rough details of the overall plan, forcing the Seabees to make educated assumptions on the allocation requirements in equipment for construction. Nevertheless, Johnson approved construction of the field on April 25, and NMCB 10 left Okinawa on April 29 destined for Chu Lai, confident in its ability to meet the timetable and overcome the unknowns of the construction site.

The hillside 1.5 miles from the construction site shrank substantially with the removal of 64,500 cubic yards of laterite.

NMCB 10 mat laying crews placing AM-2 mats down on the runway for the Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS). At 144 pounds per panel, high temperatures and high humidity made the work a test in endurance.

In the morning hours of May 7, 1965, the 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) came ashore at Chu Lai. On pontoon causeways manned by a detachment of Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) One, the 600 “Men of Ten” led by Commander John M. Bannister, CEC, USN, followed the Marines ashore. When the Seabees attempted to unload the LSTs, LCMs, and LCUs, the beach sands soon proved a nightmare. Without adequate shore party support, the Seabees offloaded the majority of their equipment themselves. Thankfully, the tractors were first off the causeways and made it ashore without issue, but the trucks’ tires sank heavily into the fine, soft sand. Working in temperatures over 100 degrees F with 100 percent humidity, muscle-power lightened the trucks, reduced the tire pressures, and laid matting to form roads to the Seabee camp. Throughout the night, teams labored to locate and deliver all of the battalion’s equipment to the camp.

With Camp Bannister’s development underway, work immediately turned to preparing the airfield site. After numerous delays, NMCB 10 received the final coordinates of the centerline of the airfield at sea on May 5. When the survey party located the coordinates on May 8, they discovered the location aligned with an April 3 range marker, but that the overall location proved unsuitable for construction of the taxiways, parking apron, and maintenance area. These areas now would be located on lowland areas prone to flooding in the monsoon season. With limited time and options, the Seabees, engineers of the 1st MAW, and commander of the 3d MEB, Brigadier General Marion E. Carl, agreed to shift the centerline coordinate 500 yards to minimize the amount of grading and earthmoving, which still increased several times past initial estimates.

Teams of Seabees operated in shifts to place the AM-2 matting. Here several “Men of Ten” are seen placing matting on the runway, two holding each panel, and two assisting with the alignment and hinging of the mat plates.

While the runway matting had priority, work progressed on the taxiways as well. Here a team is installing matting on the taxiway, facing north.

Excavation and grading of the airfield site began on May 9. To fulfill the requirements of the airfield, approximately 183,000 cubic yards of sand were moved to construct the runway and taxiways, 46,000 cubic yards moved for squadron and base operations areas, and 180,000 cubic yards of sand moved to provide adequate drainage and remove obstructions for aircraft navigation. In the extreme temperatures, high humidity, and constant sands, NMCB 10’s equipment operators sitting in open cabs found conditions hellish. The wheeled tractors intended to pull the scrapers bogged down in the sand and had to be pushed through all phases of operation. Sand worked its way into the bearings, brake linings, and clutches of the tractors and trucks, reducing the battalion’s equipment to a daily average of four TD-18 dozers, one 10-yard scraper, and two D8H dozers. Eventually the 3d Marine Engineer Battalion at Da Nang sent NMCB 10 all of its heavy equipment aside from a lone dozer. The extreme climate in conjunction with the heat of the engine exhaust forced the Seabees to alternate crews every 30 minutes. Undaunted, the work continued 24 hours a day and the outline of an airfield soon became obvious to any aerial observers.

On June 1, 1965, the first Marine Corps Douglas A-4 Skyhawks touched down at the yet unfinished SATS expeditionary airfield. That afternoon, the first Skyhawks, seen here, took off to conduct an airstrike six miles north of the field.

In July the Airfield Lighting Crew from Bravo Company, NMCB 10 began to install and maintain the lighting systems for the SATS airfield. With an A-4 on final approach behind him, CEP3 Ray Trevino of Phoenix, AZ wires in approach lights.

The sands of Chu Lai, however, would not be easily surmounted. During planning stages, engineers assumed that a six to eight inch layer of compacted laterite spread over the graded surface would contain the sand and serve as a sub-base for the AM-2 matting. Prior to embarking from Okinawa, NMCB 10 learned that the laterite observed during the April 3 survey was clayey and unsuitable for stabilization purposes. An alternative suggestion, of using a sand-asphalt mix was suggested. When Civil Engineer Corps officers tested this method at Chu Lai, the sand and asphalt would not mix properly. Attempts at applying the asphalt directly to the wetted sands barely penetrated beneath the surface. With a timetable to meet, the Seabees returned to using the laterite, which had proven itself in stabilizing the roads around Camp Bannister and the construction site. Commencing on May 15, excavators began chewing up a hill 1.5 miles from the airfield, eventually moving 64,500 cubic yards to stabilize the runway and taxiway areas.

Mat laying commenced on May 16. Due to a limited amount of AM-2 matting, the Seabees resorted to using older, heavier (165 pounds per panel) M8A1 and M8A2 matting for the taxiway, parking aprons, and maintenance areas. The different panels did not seamlessly integrate, but with careful planning and rotation of crews mat laying proceeded at a daily rate of 500 feet; by May 22 approximately 2,300 feet of AM-2 runway matting was emplaced. At month’s end, the runway neared 4,000 feet in length with 1,000 feet of taxiway matted. On June 1st in the clear Chu Lai morning, Colonel John D. Noble, commander of Marine Air Group 12, led a four-man formation of A-4s which touched down at the field. Another flight of four A-4s from VMA-225 and VMA-311 touched down shortly thereafter. Just after 1:00PM, four aircraft of VMA-225 took off to conduct air strikes six miles north of the field. Despite the odds, “Can Do” had prevailed again, proving the SATS concept worked in the most difficult of circumstances. 

Aerial view of the finished 8,000-foot SATS expeditionary airfield in July, with view north to south (L to R). The Marine Corps A-4 attack jets are seen here with revetments in place, and one on takeoff at the north end of the runway. Camp Bannister (later Camp Shields) is visible in the tree line separating the South China Sea from the airfield.

After heavy rains affected the laterite and softened the sands beneath the runway, NMCB 10 had to remove sections of the runway to stabilize the subgrade. Here additional laterite is being applied at the southern end of the runway.

Work continued in shifts, twenty-four hours a day. In the cooler temperatures of the evening, crews painted the runway center line strips.