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[Infant]ry Brigade ran into a major enemy force south of Sui Da while searching for rice and other enemy supplies on 19 October. When four companies of the U.S. 5th Special Forces Group's Mobile Strike Force were inserted into landing zones north and east of Sui Da, they immediately became heavily engaged. It became apparent that the Viet Cong 9th Division, consisting of three regiments, together with the North Vietnamese 101st Regiment had deployed into the central Tay Ninh Province with the major objective of wiping out the Special Forces camp at Sui Da. The four Special Forces companies were overrun and had to withdraw in small groups or be extracted by helicopters.

General Westmoreland responded to this large enemy threat by committing the 1st Infantry Division, contingents of the 4th and 25th Infantry Divisions, and the 173d Airborne Brigade. Some 22,000 U.S. and Allied troops were committed to the battle which became known as Operation ATTLEBORO. The battle continued until 24 November, during which over 1,100 enemy were killed and huge quantities of weapons, ammunition, and supplies were captured. The Viet Cong 9th Division would not be seen again until the following year.

The 1st Cavalry Division continued its operations in Binh Dinh Province with Operations THAYER II and IRVING. During the latter operation on 15 October, they found a medical cache with several thousand containers of medicine and, at another location, camera equipment with 5,000 reels of film. Among the cameras found was one owned by Look Magazine senior editor, Sam Casten, who had been killed during Operation CRAZY HORSE in May. Over 1,170 prisoners were captured and identified as Viet Cong infrastructure members or North Vietnamese regulars during Operation IRVING. This operation included the hard fought battle of Phu Huu, in which the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, won the Presidential Unit Citation.

IRVING was a good example of cooperation between U.S., Government of Vietnam, and Republic of Korea forces. The tactical moves and the complicated phasing were carried out with precision, and without any major difficulties. At the same time, the operation showed that large scale sweeps, with two or three divisions participating, should be the exception rather than the rule in this kind of counterinsurgency operational environment. They serve to stir up the enemy, and they bring some of the infrastructure to the surface, but larger units are able to evade the sweeping and blocking forces. In this case, the primary target was the infrastructure within the population, and the sweep was profitable, but, with the