Operation Desert Rat
| Operation Desert Rat | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of LaosSupported by  United States |
 North Vietnam | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
Groupement Mobile 33 21st Special Operations Squadron | Two battalions | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Regimental-strength | 50,000 total; exact numbers opposing RLF unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown |
121 killed 39 supply trucks destroyed | ||||||||
Operation Desert Rat (16 February – 3 April 1971) was a diversionary attack by a Laotian irregular regiment upon the crucial communist supply line, the
Overview
The
Background
Operation Desert Rat was launched on 16 February 1971 as a diversion to
Operation
Operation Desert Rat began at Ban Houei Mun, which had also been both the start line and the after action rendezvous for the defeated troops of Operation Silver Buckle. When the regimental-size Groupement Mobile 33 (GM 33) mustered there, it was exposed to accounts of PAVN ferocity in the Silver Buckle fighting before being helilifted into action. As GM 33's troops loaded up at 0730 hours of 16 February 1971 on 14 helicopters of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, they came under communist rocket and mortar fire on the landing zone. However, they succeeded in departing on their mission.[4]
With 16 daily sorties of tactical air power taking advantage of the guerrillas' air superiority, and
On 20 March 1971, GM 33 was slated to move down from its hilltop strongpoint and attack Moung Phine. Half an hour before their scheduled departure, GM 33 was struck by heavy weapons fire followed by an attack by two PAVN battalions. GM 33 held, but its commander lost radio contact with some of the subordinate units. After dark, guerrilla patrols began to infiltrate the Moung Phine Valley.[4]
Operation Lam Son 719 ended on 25 March. With that major distraction gone, the equivalent of a full
Results
During the operation, GM 33 troops had recovered a list of 21 communist espionage agents in Moung Phalane from the corpse of a North Vietnamese military intelligence officer. All 21 agents were subsequently arrested by the Royalists while they held that town.[7]
Aftermath
On 3 April 1971, GM 33 moved to the rear at Nong Saphong. They left Moung Phalane defended by two battalions of GM 30.[7]
In the wake of Lam Son 719, Silver Buckle, and Desert Rat, the PAVN extended its territory westward into Laos toward the
Notes
References
- Anthony, Victor B. and Richard R. Sexton (1993). The War in Northern Laos. Command for Air Force History. OCLC 232549943.
- Castle, Timothy N. (1993). At War in the Shadow of Vietnam: U.S. Military Aid to the Royal Lao Government 1955–1975. ISBN 0-231-07977-X.
- Conboy, Kenneth and James Morrison (1995). Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos. Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-535-8.
- Nalty, Bernard C. (2005). The War Against Trucks: Aerial Interdiction In Southern Laos 1968–1972. Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBN 978-1-47755-007-6.