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National Museum of the United States Air Force

Overhead view of Presidential Aircraft at the museum.

Presidential aircraft at National Museum of the United States Air Force

Welcome to the official website of the National Museum of the United States Air Force -- the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world -- located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. This site is provided as a public service by the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Public Affairs Division.

Use the top navigation bar to find information about planning your visit as well as events and activities taking place at the museum.

Meet the Director

Learn about museum divisions.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force collects, researches, conserves, interprets and presents the Air Force’s history, heritage, and traditions, as well as today’s mission to fly, fight, win … air power anytime, anywhere to a global audience through engaging exhibits, educational outreach, special programs, and the stewardship of the national historical collection. With our educational outreach, we motivate, educate, and inspire youth interest in the United States Air Force (USAF) and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The statutory duties delegated by the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) are accomplished on behalf of the American People.

We are the keepers of their stories™

Video by NMUSAF PA

Museum Audio Tour 36: Modern Flight Gallery: SEA War Cambodia

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Dec. 31, 1969 | 2:38

During the 1960s, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong enjoyed sanctuaries in Cambodia, crossing the border for attacks into South Vietnam, and then fleeing back across the border to safety. Moreover, the North Vietnamese, with permission of the “neutral” Cambodian government, used Cambodian ports and roads to supply large amounts of materiel for the communist war effort in South Vietnam. Through the 1960s, military experts, including ex-President Dwight Eisenhower, called for large-scale offensives against the enemy sanctuaries in Cambodia. But, for political reasons, the U.S. only conducted covert operations and limited bombing against the supply lines just inside the Cambodian border. In 1969, when the enemy launched another nationwide offensive in South Vietnam, President Richard Nixon ordered a secret B-52 bombing offensive against the Cambodian sanctuaries. During the next thirteen months, U.S. Air Force B-52s flew more than 4,000 sorties against enemy supply lines and bases in Cambodia. By April 1970, communist troops had seized large areas of the country, and a newly formed anti-communist Cambodian government called for assistance. U.S. Air Force and South Vietnamese Air Force aircraft bombed targets in Cambodia, and U.S. and South Vietnamese troops raided across the border to strike at enemy sanctuaries. In 1971, the communists cut the road that led from the major seaport of Kompong Som to the capital Phnom Penh. U.S. Air Force and Army aircraft provided aerial escort to river supply convoys, and continued massive aerial support to Cambodian Army ground operations, which suffered repeated setbacks. By 1972, the war in Cambodia turned into a stalemate, but U.S. airpower—including B-52s—continued to hammer the enemy. When local Khmer Rouge communist insurgents threatened Phnom Penh in 1973, the Cambodian government urgently called upon the U.S. for help. The U.S. Air Force conducted a massive bombing campaign on the outskirts of the capital. Public pressure, however, forced Congress to stop funding these bombings and other military operations in Southeast Asia, and U.S. Air Force combat strike missions in Cambodia ended in mid-August 1973. Phnom Penh fell to Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in 1975. In the following months, Pol Pot’s new communist government executed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians.

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