A Raid Too Far

In February 1971, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam launched an operation into Laos in an attempt to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail and destroy North Vietnamese Army base areas. This would be the first real test of Vietnamization. Military historian and Vietnam veteran James H. Willbanks traces the details of battle, analyzes what went wrong, and suggests insights into the difficulties currently being incurred with the training of indigenous forces.
JAMES H. WILLBANKS is General of the Army George C. Marshall Chair of Military History and director of the department of military history at the US Army Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas.