In early May 1968, during the second wave of the Tet Offensive, the North Vietnamese Army’s 2nd Division launched a coordinated assault on the remote Special Forces camp at Kham Duc, a key outpost near the Laotian border in Quảng Tín Province.

Beginning 10 May, the NVA initiated heavy mortar and ground assaults, gradually tightening their encirclement. Despite determined resistance, the defenders were outnumbered and under constant bombardment. The MIKE Force, fighting alongside CIDG troops, bore the brunt of the ground attacks, launching repeated counter-assaults against NVA penetration attempts. Casualties mounted, morale faltered among irregulars, and several positions were overrun.

In the aftermath of the Tet and May Offensives, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was tasked with spearheading Operation Cochise, a large-scale effort to disrupt enemy activity in Bình Định Province and secure the approaches to the coastal lowlands. Beginning in late April 1968, elements of the brigade’s 2/503rd and 4/503rd Infantry Battalions were committed to sweep the rugged Núi Sui Lam range, known to U.S. troops as the Tiger Mountains, a traditional sanctuary of the 3rd NVA Division.

The airborne infantry conducted aggressive search-and-destroy patrols, pushing through steep jungle slopes, dense canopy, and narrow valley trails in an effort to pin down and destroy enemy regulars. Despite frequent skirmishes and discovery of abandoned base areas, the 3rd NVA Division skillfully eluded decisive engagement, withdrawing deeper into the mountains and dispersing before large American units could close.

In the vacuum left by the NVA’s withdrawal, the local Viet Cong apparatus increased its activity in the surrounding lowlands. Harassment of government hamlets, sabotage of roads, and small-scale ambushes along the Suối Dinh Bình and central MSR routes rose sharply during the operation’s early weeks. For the paratroopers, the campaign turned into a frustrating pattern: hard marches through inhospitable terrain and fleeting clashes with small VC elements, but no sustained battle with the elusive NVA main force.

The early phase of Operation Cochise demonstrated both the mobility of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the enemy’s ability to avoid set-piece battles. By May’s end, the brigade had disrupted supply caches and denied temporary sanctuary in the Tiger Mountains, but the VC infrastructure in Bình Định continued to adapt and expand, ensuring the fight in the province remained far from concluded.