Pleiku Air Base is a former air force base in Vietnam. It was established by the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) in 1962 at an undeveloped airstrip, and was used by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War in the II Corps Tactical Zone of South Vietnam. It was captured by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in March 1975 and was abandoned for many years. Today, the facility has been redeveloped as Pleiku Airport。 Origins In January 1962, the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam requested the Department of Defense contract construction agent, the U.S. Navy Officer in Charge of Construction RVN (OICC), to design and construct a runway at Pleiku. The MAAG wanted the air field to be operational as a top priority by 1 July 1962. Although the design had not yet been started, the OICC tasked RMK-BRJ, the construction contractor, to begin work on 19 January. They installed 6,000 feet of pierced steel plank (PSP) runway with over-runs, a parallel taxiway, and aprons at a cost of $2.7 million. The airfield was completed on 20 June 1962. RMK-BRJ returned in 1964 to replace the PSP runway with three-inch asphalt pavement. The RVNAF 1st Fighter Squadron staged two AD-6 Skyraiders at Pleiku AB from late 1961 and this force was later increased to four A-1s and a C-47 flareship. In December 1962 Pleiku Air Base was activated by the RVNAF as Air Base 62 and in March 1964 Air Base 62 became the RVNAF 62nd Tactical Wing. The RVNAF 114th Liaison Squadron moved to Pleiku in 1963. In January 1965 the 62nd Wing and a detachment of the 516th Fighter Squadron moved to Nha Trang Air Base. Pleiku Air Base was then managed by the RVNAF 92nd Base Support Group and the base was used as a staging and emergency airfield. Use by the United States during the Vietnam War As North Vietnamese infiltration increased within and along the Laotian and Cambodian borders the importance of Pleiku Air Base increased, and base facilities were expanded and improved by American Army and Air Force civil engineering units. The base was jointly used for both RVNAF and USAF air activities, but never reached the saturation and population proportions of the major air bases of the coastal lowlands. The USAF forces stationed at Pleiku were under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Air Force, United States Pacific