Operation Lincoln — Pleiku and the Chu Pong (March–April 1966)

Operation Lincoln — back to the western highlands

Context page — operation level. Built from the 1st Cavalry Division's Combat After Action Report for Operations Lincoln and Mosby I (filed with this event). It is included for 2/8 Cavalry's operational arc and is not part of any profiled soldier's service window — in particular, it falls after SGT Malec's 21 March 1966 wounding and in a different province.

What it was

As the Bong Son operations (Masher/White Wing, then Jim Bowie) wound down in late March 1966, the 1st Cavalry Division shifted its main effort west from Binh Dinh back to Pleiku Province and the Oasis base toward the Chu Pong massif and the Cambodian border, for Operation Lincoln (with the smaller Mosby I).

2/8 Cavalry's part

2/8 Cav (1st Brigade) redeployed from An Khe to the Pleiku / Oasis area, forming a combat convoy of over 450 vehicles — brigade headquarters, artillery, and logistics — that departed An Khe at 0704 on March 25 and closed the Oasis (ZA115275) at 1521. From there the battalion swept south and east toward Chu Pong: LZ Typhus (YA855198), LZ Boil (YA950255), and LZ Pox (YA975291) on March 30; LZ Dime (YV916815) on March 31; LZ Quarter (YV876766) through April 2–3; and LZ Wool (YV856962, the battalion CP) with LZ Cotton (YV843936) and LZ Cloth (YV832942) for the final phase (April 4–7). D Company held the battalion CP at LZ Wool through Phase III. The operation's one 2/8 Cav contact came on April 7: four VC engaged at YV847938, one VCC captured. Lincoln terminated with the battalion airlifting to Pleiku (Lake Bien Ho) before Mosby I.

This is recorded here to keep the battalion's 1966 arc continuous; SGT Malec was not present — he had been wounded on 21 March in Binh Dinh and evacuated before Lincoln began.