On 6 March 1962, a joint communication was issued by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Koman in which the United States declares its "firm intention... to aid Thailand, its ally and historic friend in resisting communist aggression and subversion". As a result, the Military Assistance Command Thailand (MACT) was set up on 15 May 1962 at Don Muang. On 16 May, eleven C-130s of the 315th Air Division arrived at Don Muang carrying aerial port, flight crew and maintenance personnel to support increased air operations from Thailand. An aeromedical control center was established at Don Muang in mid-1962 and by 1963 a detachment of the 9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron was based there.