Quần Lợi Base Camp (also known as LZ Andy or Rocket City) is a former U.S. Army and

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...

(ARVN) base east of An Lộc, Binh Phuoc Province, in southern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

History

1967-71

The base appears to have been initially used to support

Operation Junction City Operation Junction City was an 82-day military operation conducted by United States and Republic of Vietnam (RVN or South Vietnam) forces begun on 22 February 1967 during the Vietnam War. It was the first U.S. combat airborne operation since th ...

in February–May 1967. The base was established in 1967 on the site of a former French rubber plantation and was located approximately 6 km east of An Lộc in Bình Long Province. The 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division comprising: * 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment *

1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment The 26th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. Its nickname is "Blue Spaders", taken from the spade-like device on the regiment's distinctive unit insignia. The 26th Infantry Regiment is part of the U.S. Army Re ...

1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment The Task Force 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment (Task Force 1–28 IN), is a United States Infantry Battalion task force, located at Fort Moore, Georgia. It is under the direct command of the 3rd Infantry Division and exists as the only ...

was based at Quần Lợi from March 1968 until August 1969. The 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry was based at Quần Lợi in April 1969. In July 1969 the

11th Armored Cavalry Regiment The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment ("Blackhorse Regiment") is a unit of the United States Army garrisoned at the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California. Although termed an armored cavalry regiment, it is being re-organized as a multi ...

moved to Quần Lợi and would remain here until September 1969. The regiment would be based here again from December 1969 to July 1970, during which time it participated in the Cambodian Incursion. In February 1970 the

3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division ("Third Grey Wolf Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division") is a combined arms armored brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division (United States), 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas. Its major equipment ...

comprising: * 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry * 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry * 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry * 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry * 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry moved to Quần Lợi and would stay here until August 1970. The 3rd Brigade would participate in the Cambodian Inursion. Other units stationed at Quần Lợi included: * Battery F, 16th Artillery (October 1969-January 1970) * 1st Battalion, 21st Artillery (1967-1968) * 6th Battalion, 27th Artillery (January 1968-March 1970) * 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry ** Bravo Troop

1972-5

The ARVN took over the base and at the start of the

Battle of An Lộc The Battle of An Lộc was a major battle of the Vietnam War that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a tactical victory for South Vietnam. The struggle for An Lộc in 1972 was an important battle of the war, as South Vietnamese forces halted ...

in April 1972 it was defended by a battalion of the 7th Regiment,

5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *5th Division (Australia) * 5th Division (People's Republic of China) *5th Division (Colombia) *Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) *5th Light Cavalry Division (France) *5th Moto ...

and was also the base for the 9th Regiment. A combined 105mm and 155mm artillery battery was also based at Quần Lợi. On the evening of 7 April elements of the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...

(PAVN) 9th Division overran Quần Lợi, the 7th Regiment was ordered to destroy their heavy equipment and fall back to An Lộc. Once captured the PAVN used Quần Lợi as a staging base for units coming in from Cambodia to join the siege of An Lộc and key members of

COSVN Central Office for South Vietnam (abbreviated COSVN ; vi, Văn phòng Trung ương Cục miền Nam), officially known as the Central Executive Committee of the People's Revolutionary Party from 1962 until its dissolution in 1976, was the Ameri ...

were based there to oversee the battle. On 8 August the ARVN 18th Division launched an assault to retake Quần Lợi but were stopped by the PAVN in the base's reinforced concrete bunkers. A further attack was launched on 9 August with limited gains and attacks on the base continued for the next 2 weeks eventually gaining one third of the base. The ARVN finally attacked the PAVN occupied bunkers with TOW missiles and M-202 rockets and this broke the PAVN defense forcing the remaining defenders to flee the base.

Current use

The base is largely overgrown but a small area appears to remain in use by the PAVN.

References

External links

6/27th Artillery homepageModern photos and video of the area
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quan Loi Base Camp Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Military installations closed in the 1970s Buildings and structures in Bình Phước province