U.S. Naval Security Group Detachment was established at Ramasun Station, Thailand in January, 1971.

The Vietnam War was the reason the Ramasun Station existed. Once the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, the Ramasun Station site was no longer required and in May 1976 Ramasun Station closed.  At the request of the Government of Thailand all U.S. units departed.

Background and History:

Ramasun Station’s history began in 1966 when a 50 man Detachment from the U.S. Army’s 5th Radio Research Unit (5th RRU) in Bangkok Thailand established a temporary outpost at Ramasun.  Camp Ramasun was located approximately 290 miles northeast of Bangkok, about 12 miles south of Udorn and at the fringes of the small Thai village of Ban Nong Soong. Udorn was the site of the Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB).  The U.S. Army maintained a Satellite Communications Station at the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airbase (the home of the B-52’s, KC-135’s, and U-2’s during the Vietnam War).  Pattaya Beach, a very simple fishing village with 3 hotels was located near U-Tapao where military personnel from all over southeast Asia took R&R.

01.02.71 NSGD Ramasun FLR-9
AN/FLR-9 Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA)

An AN/FLR-9 Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA), also known as Wullenweber, system was installed by the U.S. Army in 1970, which supported the High Frequency Directing Finding mission. The AN/FLR-9 installation was constructed about 20 kilometers south of Udorn Thani on the eastern side of the highway to Khon Kaen. The AN/FLR-9 was decommissioned in 1975 and dismantled in 1976. Ramasun Station was also a listening post to monitor Chinese military movements as well as a military satellite terminal for communications between the United States and other sites in Southeast Asia countries.  When construction began at Ramasun, bulldozers discovered and removed large nests of cobra in the process. The initial site, little more than a tent city, was given the callsign “Cobra-7.”

Over 1200 U.S. personnel were stationed at Ramasun Station and employed more than 1400 Thais.

U.S. Army units located at Camp Ramasun included: the 5th Radio Research Unit (5th RRU), the 5th Radio Research Unit, Detachment “D” (5th RRU Det Delta) (1965), the 7th Radio Research Field Station (7th RRFS), the 7th Radio Research Field Station “B” Company (7th RRFS Co B), the 207th Signal Company (207th SigCo), the 509th Army Security Agency (509th USASA), the 999th Signal Battalion (997th SigBatt) (1961-62).

U.S. Air force units located at Camp Ramasun include: the 6922nd Security Wing, Detachment 4 (6922nd SW Det 4), the 6922nd Security Squadron (6922nd SS), and the 6924th Security Squadron (6924th SS). The 6924th Security Squadron (USAFSS), which had been stationed at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, during the war in Southeast Asia and was deactivated on May 15, 1976.

The 17th Space Surveillance Squadron radar station at Kho Kha was located a few miles south of Lampang in northern Thailand. Their primary mission was tracking People’s Republic of China missile launches and southerly launches from the Soviet Union during the 1970’s.

Over 50 million dollars was devoted to constructing Ramasun Station, one of the finest installations anywhere in the world.  It was completely self-sufficient and included its own power plant and water supply. Virtually all facilities on the post were air-conditioned and of permanent construction. Streets and sidewalks were paved and fully lit at night.

Lawns were landscaped, well attended, and enhanced by a variety of plants and shrubbery.

Side note: The line-of-sight radio path to Udorn Air Base was surveyed before construction of Camp Ramasun and the outside plant engineers found that a tree at the Ramasun end was obstructing a clear shot. Cutting down the tree would have been a simple solution, but the contractor had to get local Buddhist monks to first remove phi’s (spirits) from the tree and move them to another tree in the vicinity.

Source: navycthistory.com