Located at ZA 163-049 in Pleiku province, II Corps. Manned by three 100-man CIDG companies and members of Special Forces Detachment A-313. This camp was the objective of the NVA Field Front's Tay Nguyen (Western Plateau) Campaign which had three phases. The first phase involved an attack on the Plei Me Camp by the NVA 33rd Regiment. The second phase involved the ambush and destruction of the relief column the NVA were certain the ARVN would send in response to the 33rd Regiment's surrounding of Plei Me. This phase would be conducted by the NVA 32nd Regiment, the NVA 344th Regiment, and the NVA 966th Regiment. Phase three was to culminate the operation with the annihilation of the Plei Me Camp. This NVA operation would be the opening shot in the battle of the Ia Drang. Plei Me SF CIDG Camp
The attack on the Plei Me Camp started at 11:00PM on October 19, 1965. It began with accurate NVA 82mm mortar fire into the Plei Me compound. The mortar barrage was followed by numerous ground assualts by NVA infantry and sappers who managed to penetrate the perimeter wire on the south side of the triangular-shaped camp. Accurate 57mm recoilless rifle fire managed to destroy two of the three anchor bunkers located at the points of the triangle. The enemy commander dispatched just enough infantry to threaten the base, but not eneough to actually overrun it since the objective of the operation was to surround and beseige the camp in order to lure the ARVN relief column into an ambush on Provincial Route 5. The NVA basically sent their men into a slaughter. U.S. A-1E Skyraider aircraft made numerous and deadly strikes on the attacking NVA infantry causing heavy NVA casualties. A C-123 Provider aircraft from the 309th Air Commando Squadron based at Bien Hoa Airbase dropped parachute flares to illuminate the battlefield for the Skyraiders. At dawn a Medevac helicopter from the 498th Air Ambulance Company at Camp Holloway made the first and only landing for some time to evacuate woumded. The chopper was piloted by Major Louis Mizell who made the risky landing despite objections from his superiors.
When the ARVN relief force was finally able to make its way down Provincial Route 5 and arrive at Plei Me, the NVA seige was broken and the NVA Field Front had to abandon its plan to overrun the camp. This engagement was actually the opening round in what would become known as the Battle of the Ia Drang, for it was this attack that caused the 1st Cavalry Division to move into the area in force.
The Plei Me Airfield was located at ZA 163-057. It featured a 1,200 foot clay and laterite runway suitable only for C-7 Caribou transport aircraft and helicopters (mostly CH-47 Chinooks).