Vietnam War

===Laos===
{{Main|3=Operation Commando Hunt|4=Laotian Civil War|6=Operation Lam Son 719}}

Building up on the success of ARVN units in Cambodia, and further testing the Vietnamization program, the ARVN were tasked to launch [[Operation Lam Son 719]] in February 1971, the first major ground operation aimed directly at attacking the Ho Chi Minh trail by attacking the major crossroad of Tchepone. This offensive would also be the first time the PAVN would field-test its combined arms force.<ref name=Nguyen/>{{Rp|}} The first few days were considered a success but the momentum had slowed after fierce resistance. Thiệu had halted the general advance, leaving armored divisions able to surround them.{{Sfn|Willbanks|2014|p=89}}

Thieu had ordered [[air assault]] troops to capture Tchepone and withdraw, despite facing four-times larger numbers. During the withdrawal the PAVN counterattack had forced a panicked rout. Half of the ARVN troops involved were either captured or killed, half of the ARVN/US support helicopters were downed by anti-aircraft fire and the operation was considered a fiasco, demonstrating operational deficiencies still present within the ARVN.<ref name=Karnow/>{{Rp|644–645}} Nixon and Thieu had sought to use this event to show-case victory simply by capturing Tchepone, and it was spun off as an "operational success".{{Sfn|Willbanks|2014|p=118}}<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|576–582}}