BEN HET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00825R000300430001-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 5, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2000/04/18: CIA-RDP84-00825R000300430001-3
BEN HET
Ben Het, a former US Special Forces - ARVN Ranger camp, is situated
in remote, virtually unpopulated country in the western part of the
Central Highlands, 40 miles northwest of Kontum and 8 miles east of the
Laos - Cambodia - South Vietnam tri-border juncture. The camp was
evacuated by ARVN in 1972. US bombing of the camp, other abandoned
ARVN military installations, and bridges along Route 512 to the east
was heavy aftei the withdrawal from the region. Little of the camp
remains except for the landing strip and helicopter pads.
The tri-border region has for years been a focus for movement of
NVA forces and material into South Vietnam. Prior to its evacuation
and destruction in 1972, Ben Het had been a key outpost in the ARVN-
border net monitoring such movement. The camp, which is now well
within Communist-controlled territory, is situated astride one of the
major NVA infiltration networks. Well used tracks and trails extend
from the tri-border area to the north of Ben Het into southern MR I, and
to the south of the camp into northern MR II. Because of the dense
vegetation to the north and south of the camp, visual observation of
such movement from Ben Het has been ineffective.
ICCS personnel must travel to Ben Het by air until two key bridges
on the roads between Kontum and Ben Het are replaced. From the airfield
at Kontum, the Ben Het camp is a 30-mile flight. The landing strip at
Ben Het is 1,800 feet long (including helicopter pads at either end),
paved, and can accomodate C-123s, Caribous, and -- if necessary --
lightly loaded C-130s. The strip appeared in good condition in late
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1972; at worst, it is only slightly damaged and Can easily be repaired.
A landing strip along Route 512, 12 miles east of Ben Het, is 4,100 feet
long and paved (Dak To II, see 1:100,000 map). It could normally handle
C-130 supply planes, but it was heavily bombed and will require consid-
erable effort to restore to usable condition. Even if the landing strip
were usable, the 190-foot bridge over the Dak Poko between Dak To and
Ben Het, destroyed in 1972, would have to be replaced in order to move
supplies by road to Ben Het (see 1:100,000 map).
Fog may close landing strips in the Central Highlands at any time
of the year. Early morning fog -- common during the October-to-May dry
season when several days each month experience fog -- usually dissipates
by mid- or late-morning. ICCS personnel should not plan to fly to Ben
Het before mid-morning at this time of year. During the May-to-October
rainy season, ground hugging clouds may preclude use of the Ben Het
landing strip for days at a time.
Under normal conditions, the 40 miles from Kontum to Ben Het could
be driven by car in 1 hour. Route 14 from Kontum to the intersection
with Route 512 at Kon Hojao is hard-surfaced and all-weather. A 250-foot
bridge over the Pak Psi at Dien Binh, 4 miles south of Kon Hojao, was
destroyed during the ARVN withdrawal from the region in 1972 (see
1:100,000 map).* Route 512 is hard-surfaced and all-weather to Dak To.
* Both the Dak Psi and the Dak Poko could probably be forded at
crossing points near the destroyed bridges by four-wheel drive vehicles
during dry weather.
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From there to Ben Het it has a laterite surface and, when the Dak Poko
bridge is in, is trafficable year-round. (During unusually heavy rains,
however, poorly drained stretches may become impassable for most
vehicles.) The road degenerates into an unimproved fair-weather road
west of Ben Het.
Although rugged ridge-and-valley topography with elevations to
more than 8,000 feet characterizes much of South Vietnam's mountainous
backbone, such terrain is not typical of the western part of the Central
Highlands, including most of Kontum Province. Ben Het is situated on
a plateau. Terrain is rolling with prevailing elevations of 2,000 feet
or so; streams are only slightly entrenched; and scattered hills and
ridges rise a few hundred feet above the plateau. Two such terrain
features adjacent to Route 512 were used by Communist forces as bases
to fire on US and ARVN vehicles traveling on the road. "Mortar Mountain"
is located about 2 miles to the north of the road while "Rocket Ridge"
parallels the road to the south (see 1:100,000 map). The Ben Het camp
is spread over two hills which rise several hundred feet above the
surrounding landscape. The landing strip and helicopter pads are at
the base of the hills.
Elephant grass with scattered trees is the most prevalent vegetation
type for several miles in all directions from the Ben Het camp. The grass
is coarse, up to 12 feet high, and can easily conceal personnel traveling
through it. Stands of dense forest form a patchwork in the grasslands.
Forests blanket most higher lying terrain features; they are of mixed
broadleaf evergreen species that rise to 125 feet high, with up to three
canopy levels. The presence of undergrowth is variables depending on
the amount of sunlight that penetrates the canopies to the forest floor.
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Concealment of personnel moving through the forests, whether from air
or ground observation, is excellent at all times of the year. Despite
its hilltop site, ICCS personnel at Ben Het will be unable to effectively
monitor NVA infiltration through the region.
There are no wetland rice paddies in the Ben Het region; nor are
there many slash-and-burn plots, active or abandoned, for the cultivation
of dryland rice or maize because of the dearth of people. Small tea,
coffee, and rubber plantations are scattered along the main roads of the
Central Highlands but there are none near Ben Het. The nearest, a tea
plantation along Route 512 between the Dak Poko and Dak To, has been
abandoned and is overgrown with brush and trees. Several abandoned
rubber plantations are located along Route 14 north of Kontum.
More than three-fourths of the yearly rain at Ben Het falls during
the months May to October. Maximum rainfall occurs during June, July,
and August when Kontum (the nearest station where rainfall has been
recorded) receives more than 13 inches in each month. Rainy season
weather is characterized by low-lying clouds, torrential showers, and
severe thunderstorms. Showers occur almost daily, usually starting in
the mid- or late-afternoon and continuing well into the evening. Thunder-
storms, which may develop several days a month during the rainy season,
frequently disrupt radio communications for 2 or 3 hours.
The months of December, January, and February receive the least
amount of rainfall; each month has no more than a brief shower or two
(Kontum normally records less than an inch for the 3-month period).
Despite the scanty rainfall, thunderclouds do frequently develop. But,
as often as not, they do not bring rain. Perhaps the most uncomfortable
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feature of the dry season is the dust. Choking red dust from the laterite
soils on the roads becomes especially thick when churned up by heavy
traffic. Dusty conditions are not confined to the dry season; dry
periods lasting for a few days during the rainy season may experience
heavy dust.
Showers serve as a
Temperatures are cooler in
But the Annam Mountains protect
welcome dust depressant.
the Central Highlands than at Saigon.
the Highlands from the cool winds that
chill the northern coast of South Vietnam from November to March.
Nighttime temperatures nonetheless may dip into the 50s during this
period with minimums in January. A light jacket may be needed. April
and May usually record the highest temperatures when they may climb
well into the 80s or, occasionally, into the lower 90s. Normal daytime
highs are in the upper 70s or low 80s in the June-October rainy season.
Few people now live in the Central Highlands zone extending for 10
to 15 miles east of the border. The few Montagnards (mostly Jarai) that
still lived in the Ben Het region in 1972 fled southward towards Kontum
when the ARVN abandoned the camp. Earlier refugees from the region had
fled south as far as Pleiku Province. While villages along Route 512
on the west bank of the Dak Poko may still be occupied by Communist
sympathizers, no one lives between these villages and Ben Het, 6 miles
away. A few inhabited villages are scattered along the road east of
the Dak Poko; the highway strip between Kon Hojao and Kontum supports
a somewhat higher population. Some Montagnard refugees have been
moving back into Kontum Province from resettlement camps in Pleiku
since the cease-fire. Movement back into the Ben Het area, however,
cannot be expected until the military situation becomes more stable.
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Approved For Release 2000/04/18 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000300430001-3
A final word of caution for ICCS personnel at Ben Het: off-road
movement should be avoided as mines and booby traps planted by both the
ARVN and NVA saturate much of the region. The area west of the camp
for a distance of 1,500 feet or so to either side of the road has been
seeded by ARVN Rangers several times with both anti-personnel and
anti-tank devices (see Sketch Map).
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EST COPY
Available
C/17/98
Approved For Release 2000/04/18 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000300430001-3
;Former Special Forces Camp
Typical terrain along Dak Poko, east of Ben Het,
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