| First Battle of Loc Ninh | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Operation Shenandoah II of the Vietnam War | |||||||
 Civilian Irregular Defense Group compound and Loc Ninh Airstrip with Battery A, 6th Battalion, 15th Artillery, position in the foreground. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States South Vietnam |
 Viet Cong | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John H. Hay | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
1st Infantry Division ARVN Rangers South Vietnamese Regional Force Civilian Irregular Defense Group | 9th Division | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 50 killed | U.S body count: ~852[1] | ||||||
The First Battle of Loc Ninh took place during the Vietnam War that occurred between 29 October and 7 November 1967, fought by the Viet Cong, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), Civilian Irregular Defense Group and the United States Army.
The battle was part of the Operation Shenandoah II campaign. This battle represented the first time that Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN) had coordinated attacks from different divisions, and was intended as "rehearsal" to experiment with urban-fighting techniques to be used for the Tet Offensive.[2]
Operational goals of COSVN was in part, to draw US and ARVN forces away from the cities in an upsurge of activity, in preparation for the Tet Offensive the next year.[2]
- ^ Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 9781476625850.
- ^ a b Willbanks, James H. (2008). The Tet Offensive: A Concise History. Columbia University Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 9780231128414.