1966-73 The
5th Special Forces Group Detachment A-244 first established a base at Ben Het, then a
hill tribe village, in the early 1960s to monitor North Vietnamese infiltration along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. The base was located approximately 13 km from the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia tri-border area, 15 km northwest of Đắk Tô and 53 km northwest of Kon Tum. On 29 August 1967, in preparation for the construction of an airfield west of Dak To, Co C, 299th Engineer Battalion (Combat) and the 15th Engineer Company (LE) (-) moved from Pleiku to old Dak To Airfield. On 22 October 1967, Company C, 299th Engineer Battalion moved to the Ben Het area to build a proposed basecamp with a firebase complex and a Type II,
C-7 capable airfield with provision for expansion to accommodate
C-130s. On 3 November, the 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade was moved to Ben Het. On 6 November Company C engineers began providing direct support to the 503rd colocated with them. Bulldozer support was provided on the average of one per day to excavate defensive positions, living bunkers, a tactical operations center and 8" and 155mm gun positions. The requirement to upgrade the Ben Het airfield to a C-130 capacity was rescinded by MACV in December, 1967. The engineers left Ben Het and returned to their home base in Pleiku on 3 Feb 1968, as the Tet Offensive came to a close, and undertook projects in the area. In November 1968, a helicopter pilot from the 7th Squadron,
17th Cavalry Regiment reported four unidentified tanks west of the camp, but the report was never confirmed. The U.S.
4th Infantry Division had other reports of PAVN tanks in the area. s from the 1/69th Armor on 3 March 1969 By early 1969, there were about 440
Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) personnel, 511 ARVN soldiers, 207 Artillery troops and 25 US Advisors at Ben Het. The VC/PAVN initially deployed the 28th and 66th Infantry Regiments, supported by the 40th Artillery Regiment, in semicircular fashion to the south of Highway 512 in preparation for the assault. Other units stationed at Ben Het included: •
6th Battalion, 14th Artillery 1972 Following the departure of the U.S. forces the base was used by the ARVN
85th Border Rangers. In early October 1972 the PAVN
320th Division focused attacks on the base, culminating on 12 October in a bombardment of some 1,500 rounds of artillery, rockets and mortars striking in and around the camp that destroyed the defenders' artillery, significant ammunition reserves and food supplies. PAVN ground assaults followed and the 300-man garrison reported initial casualties of 60 dead and 120 wounded. Over 100 airstrikes by fighter-bombers and B-52 bombers failed to stop the attacks and radio contact was lost with the defenders on the night of 12 October 1972. Approximately 140 survivors escaped the camp and evaded to the southwest, being observed by friendly aircraft the morning of 13 October. Airstrikes were employed to destroy equipment in the abandoned base. Prior to the bombardment, two American advisors were evacuated. ==Current use==