In January 1962, during the beginning of the Laotian Civil War, Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma struck a foreign aid pact with the People's Republic of China (PRC).

[4] On 2 April 1971, the Royal Thai Army (RTA) began a three-week-long military offensive sweep along its Mekong River border with the Kingdom of Laos.

In the event, RTG forces destroyed a CPT insurgent base camp in their territory and cut several infiltration trails across the border.

As they already had the Operation Unity program for supplying mercenary "volunteers" to support the RLG on the Plain of Jars, they proposed stationing some of those troops as a blocking force between The Chinese Road and the Thai/Lao border.

Due to their crucial location, they were handpicked from the finest Thai troops, and led by a West Point graduate and seasoned combat veterans of the Vietnam War.