 The camp had been established in 1963.Defending the camp were 10 Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group and 210 South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group, supported by Air Commando units equipped with vintage A-1 Skyraiders and AC-47 Spooky gunships.Two South Vietnamese camps at A Lưới and Ta Bat in the A Shau valley had been abandoned on 8 December 1965.