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infantry, tanks, and artillery capable of sustained mid-intensity conflict—lacking only air support.

The major Army of the Republic of Vietnam forces assigned to LAMSON 719 were the 1st Infantry Division, 1st Airborne Division, the Marine Division, three battalions of Rangers, and the 1st Armored Brigade with three cavalry squadrons. The U.S. elements operating in direct support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam troops inside Laos consisted of the 2d Squadron, 17th Cavalry with four Air Cavalry troops, the 101st Aviation Group, with a number of aviation units under their operational control from the 1st Aviation Brigade, and one squadron of Marine medium transport helicopters.

The tactical concept for LAMSON 719 envisioned the Airborne Division, with the 1st Armored Brigade attached, making the main attack by air assault and overland movement astride Highway Nine to Aloui, and then proceeding in subsequent attacks to Tchepone. (Map 11) Highway Nine was to be opened as the main supply route. The 1st Infantry Division, according to the concept, was to attack on a parallel axis to the main attack along the high ground south of the Xe Pon River and protect the left flank of the Airborne Division. The Ranger group would establish a fire base, near the Laotian border north of Tabat, and protect the right flank of the Airborne Division. A Marine brigade was to be the reserve in the vicinity of Khe Sanh.

As early as January 1971, a planning group consisting of key staff officers from the U.S. XXIV Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam I Corps was established at Da Nang. Information on the operation was tightly held and, in some instances, this restriction of information complicated the preparation for LAMSON 719, especially in those areas where a long lead time was necessary. Though control and coordination procedures were agreed upon, it would not be until three weeks after Vietnamese troops had crossed the Laotian border that a combined tactical command post at Khe Sanh became a reality.

The attack into Laos was initiated on 8 February from bases established on the Khe Sanh Plain. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1st Armored Brigade Task Force crossed the border at 1000 and advanced nine kilometers to the west along Route Nine on the first day. Three battalions of the 3d Regiment, 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Infantry Division, air assaulted into land[ing]