The 5th Special Forces Group Detachment A-244[1] 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.

[7] 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.

[9] C Company later improved Route 512 from Đắk Tô Base Camp to Ben Het and maintained the C-130 airstrip at Dak To 2.

[12] 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.

[13]: 150 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.

To counter a buildup of PAVN forces in the area, a unit of the 1st Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, equipped with four M48 Patton tanks was sent to reinforce the camp.

Flares were sent up, exposing the attacking tanks, but by sighting in on muzzle flashes, one PT-76 scored a direct hit on the turret of an M48, killing two crewmen and wounding the other two.

Warrant Officer Class Two Keith Payne of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions that day.

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.