By the end of the Indochina War, the French had established a small Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) consisting of 2 squadrons of Morane-Saulnier MS.500 and one of Morane-Saulnier MS.315. In January 1955, MAAG Vietnam decided that the RVNAF would comprise one fighter, two liaison and two transport squadrons and that training would be undertaken by the French. Under the Mutual Defence Assistance Program, the US delivered 28 F8Fs, 35 C-47s and 60 L-19s to the RVNAF to equip the planned expansion. On 19 September 1955 the French turned over Tourane Airfield to the RVNAF, at the time the base had a runway, with potential extension of at least . On 1 June 1957 all RVNAF training responsibility passed from the French to the United States.