On The Ground

A secret war was fought across the fence in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam under the auspices of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam's top secret Studies and Observation Group. SOG's chain of command extended to the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Small Green Beret-lead teams ran missions into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam without support from conventional artillery units. They made use of Air Force Tactical Air and helicopter units supplied by the South Vietnam Air Forces 219th Special Operations Squadron, code named Kingbees. In Laos 50,000 communist troops were dedicated to destroying SOG teams with highly trained sappers from the 305th Sapper Battalion.