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18th North Vietnamese Army Regiment. In the action that followed, the 3d Brigade was committed, putting a full airmobile division into combat on a single tactical operation for the first time. Later in the fight, the cavalrymen were reinforced by the 3d Brigade of the 25th Division, which increased to eleven the number of battalions controlled by the 1st Cavalry Division, operating in conjunction with nine battalions of the 22d Army of the Republic of Vietnam Division and two to three of Government of Vietnam Marines and airborne troops. The division supported all of these units with its own organic airlift.

On 20 September, the battle area shifted to 506 Valley as the 18th North Vietnamese Army Regiment attempted to evade to the east and break contact. Three cavalry battalions made air assaults to the east to follow their trail. The brigade fire base at Hammond was attacked on the night of 23 September, in what was apparently a move to take the pressure off the enemy in the Kim Son and 506 Valleys as they moved eastward. Also on 23 September, the Capitol Republic of Korea Infantry Division moved into the Phu Cat mountains in force, opening up a new phase of the Free World effort in Binh Dinh Province. A few days later, the build-up of sightings and small actions were clearly indicating that the bulk of the 18th Regiment was shifting toward the coast actually moving into a natural pocket bounded by sea and mountains. In the face of the Government of Vietnam successes in reestablishing governmental control of the coastal area east of Phu My-Phu Cat, the 18th Regiment was being sent in among the population in force to bolster resistance. THAYER came to a close at the end of September with over 200 enemy killed and 100 tons of rice captured.

By the 1st of October 1966, the 1st Cavalry Division had been in Vietnam for a full year and many airmobile techniques had been refined and polished in the crucible of combat. Nevertheless, it is surprising how well the basic fundamentals of the organization stood the test of time.

At the end of its first year of operations in Vietnam the 1st Cavalry Division was to face another major challenge—rotation. During the summer of 1966 approximately 9,000 officers and men of the Division had rotated to the United States. Replacement personnel were flown to Pleiku, South Vietnam, from Travis Air Force Base, California. Liaison teams were placed at both Travis and Pleiku and the massive aerial replacement service from the United States direct to the 1st Cavalry Division functioned with speed and efficiency. Of particular value was the liaison team placed at Travis Air Force Base. This team not only looked after the welfare of