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Includes over 15 illustrationsThis operation highlights the role that the small country of Laos played in the foreign policy calculations of the newly elected U.S. president, John F. Kennedy. Gravely concerned that the Laotian government was in danger of being overwhelmed by a growing Communist insurgency known as the Pathet Lao, President Kennedy took the bold step of deploying Marine Air Base Squadron-16 (MABS-16) to nearby Thailand for the purpose of supporting a collection of helicopters piloted by an organization called Air America. Hollywood later made a movie about Air America, and it is now widely known that it was linked to the Central Intelligence Agency. The Marines of MABS-16 received no such fanfare. Working behind the scenes in austere conditions, MABS-16 gave new meaning to the phrase "in any clime and place." While Operation Millpond may seem like a small thing in comparison with much larger operations that were soon to be conducted by Marines in the Republic of South Vietnam, it nonetheless represents a clear beginning to a growing U.S. military commitment to the region as a whole, one that did not end until the last Marine left the roof of the American embassy in Saigon in 1975.

Operation Millpond, 1961. --- Search and rescue operations --- Military assistance, American --- Vietnam War, 1961-1975 --- History. --- Aerial operations, American. --- Air America --- United States. --- History --- Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (Japan) --- American military assistance --- Air rescue service --- Air-sea rescue --- Rescue work --- Unified operations (Military science) --- Search dogs --- Millpond, Operation, 1961 --- Campaigns --- U.S. Marine Corps --- United States Marine Corps --- USMC (United States Marine Corps) --- MABS-16 --- Agjencia Qendrore e Inteligjencës --- Central Intelligence Agency (U.S.) --- CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) --- CIP (United States. Centrālās izlūkošanas pārvalde) --- Mei-kuo chung yang chʻing pao chü --- National Security Council (U.S.). --- Si Aing Ei --- T︠S︡entralʹnoe razvedyvatelʹnoe upravlenie SShA --- T︠S︡RU SShA --- T︠S︡RU (T︠S︡entralʹnoe razvedyvatelʹnoe upravlenie SShA) --- ЦРУ США --- ЦРУ (Центральное разведывательное управление США) --- Центральное разведывательное управление США --- ארצות הברית. --- 美國. --- National Security Council (U.S.) --- Futenma Air Base (Japan) --- Futenma Air Station (Japan) --- Futenma Airfield (Japan) --- MCAS Futenma (Japan) --- MCAF Futenma (Japan)