Office of the Historian

340. Central Intelligence Information Cable1

TDCS DB–315/00869–68
March 9, 1968.

SUBJECT

  • Appraisal of the security of the guerrilla base at Phou Pha Thi, Site 85, as of 9 March 1968

ACQ

  • Laos, Vientiane

SOURCE

  • [less than 1 line of source text not declassified]This is a field appraisal of the current situation. It is not an official judgment by this Agency or any component. It represents the observations and interpretation of [1 line of source text not declassified] at the time of its preparation.
[Page 665]

1. Since 25 February 1968, when FOV 13,429 (TDCSDB– 315/00669–68)2 was prepared to appraise the security of the guerrilla base at Phou Pha Thi (UH 6663–6860), the enemy has methodically continued to prepare the battlefield for his attack on the summit of Phou Pha Thi. In a series of penetrations of the 12-kilometer defensive perimeter around Phou Pha Thi the enemy has focused primarily on bringing more troops into the area and in so doing to consolidate his breach of the perimeter. As of 9 March the enemy has a total estimated force equivalent to seven battalions that could be brought to bear in a ground attack on site 85. In effect, in the period 25 February to 9 March the enemy has expanded his hold on Phou Den Din (UH 790595), has consolidated his position on the ridge line running west from Phou Houei Hao (UH 735583), and has extended the depth of his probes up toward the base of Phou Pha Thi and has thus penetrated deeper into the 12-kilometer defensive perimeter so that by 7 March 150 enemy troops had clashed with a guerrilla patrol in the vicinity of UH 725581, only about five kilometers from the base of the mountain.

[Here follows details of the NVN buildup of an attack on site 85 over the last 15 days.]

  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Laos, Vol. XVIII, 1/68–1/69. Secret; No Foreign Dissem; Controlled Dissem; No Dissem Abroad; Background Use Only. According to a note on the source text, advance copies were transmitted to the White House, State, DIA, Army, Navy, Air Force, JCS, NIC, NSA, and OCI.↩
  2. Not further identified.↩