Field Headquarters of the Red Star Air Regiment

Thụy Hương Village, Nội Bài Commune, Hà Nội City

The field headquarters of Regiment 921 (Division 371) was built in Thụy Hương Village, former Phú Cường Commune, Kim Anh District, Vĩnh Phúc Province (now Nội Bài Commune, Hà Nội City). Here, the regiment organized and commanded many battles that achieved high combat effectiveness, contributing to the glorious victory of the Vietnam People's Air Force in the resistance war against the US for national salvation.

In February 1966, the combat situation became fierce, and the US air force carried out repeated attacks on the capital Hà Nội and surrounding areas. Facing complex developments, under the direction of the Party Committee and the Command of the Air Defense-Air Force Service, Regiment 921 had a field headquarters built with the designation 280B to meet the requirements of combat command tasks. Construction of the headquarters was started by Battalion 1, Engineer Regiment 28 (now Engineer Brigade 28) on August 8, 1966.

The structure of the headquarters consisted of two parts: the above-ground level was the combat duty house; the underground level was the command bunker, and the tunnel branches were workplaces for the supporting and保障 components, connected to one another. At both ends there were entry and exit doors connected to the communication trench system and combat fortifications. The surroundings were carefully camouflaged with dense vegetation. Therefore, throughout its period of operation, enemy reconnaissance aircraft never discovered the location of the headquarters. Major General Phạm Ngọc Lan, former Deputy Director of the Department of Combat Training, General Staff, recalled the days when he directly participated in combat at the regiment: “At the field headquarters, the regiment command made many creative fighting methods that achieved high combat efficiency. For example, when the unit was equipped with MiG-21 aircraft, in battles, pilots, especially those newly converted from MiG-17 to MiG-21, all applied MiG-17 tactics to the MiG-21. Meanwhile, the enemy's schemes were extremely cunning. After many discussions and lessons learned, the unit determined that the MiG-21 was a supersonic aircraft, and its most basic principle of use was to perform interception missions. With a spirit of unity, creativity, and unified command by the regiment command, the unit took the MiG-21 to conduct long-range interception, completely abandoning the method of waiting in readiness and fighting right over home airfields, and therefore won many consecutive victories.” Although conditions in the field were extremely difficult, at the headquarters Regiment 921 made bold decisions to form tactical battles suited to the MiG-21 aircraft, such as: deep strikes, attacks on large strike formations, coordinated attacks between MiG-21 and MiG-17, and attacks in a 2+1 formation. From October 1966 to October 1968, at the field headquarters, the regiment organized and commanded 92 battles and shot down 69 aircraft, making an important contribution together with the people and armed forces of the North to defeating the first destructive war of the US imperialists in the North.

A significant event for the regiment was that on the first day of Tết Đinh Mùi in 1967, Uncle Hồ visited and extended New Year greetings to the unit at the field headquarters. Accompanying him were leaders of the Party, the State, and the Ministry of National Defense.

Here, Uncle praised the regiment's combat achievements and advised: “You must study harder and train more. The more you study and improve, the more victories you will win over the enemy.” Uncle Hồ presented Tết gifts to officers and soldiers and wished the regiment: “Unity, progress in study, excellent fighting, and many new victories.” In the “Hà Nội–Điện Biên Phủ in the air” battle, the field headquarters also became a “reserve headquarters,” ready for any situation that might occur.

With its great revolutionary historical values, the field headquarters of Regiment 921 (Division 371) was recognized as a revolutionary relic by the Hà Nội City People's Committee under Decision No. 6825/QĐ-UBND dated December 19, 2014.