Description of the Ho Chi Minh Trail

This study describes the complex of roads, trails, and waterways in the Laotian panhandle known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It also describes the complex of roads and trails in southernmost Laos the Sihanouk Trail, designated Route 110 over which supplies move northward and eastward from, Cambodia into central South Vietnam SVN. The study is based on intelligence data obtained mostly from the Defense Intelligence Agency DIA and the National Photographic Interpretation Center Confidential Title, and from the Pacific Command Weekly Intelligence Digest PACOMWID. These intelligence data were primarily derived from analyses of aerial photography, aerial observations, and reports from trained Royal Laotian roadwatchers and friendly guerrilla units operating in the area. The intelligence cutoff data is 1 July 1966. Other sources used in this study are indicated in the list of general references. This description is intended as a general overall view of the system and as a guide to the road net, general character of the system, and rough order of magnitude for the logistic operation.