 About to its southwest was the 101st Engineering Company compound ().The 1st Division's units were spread throughout I Corps, two battalions of the 3rd Infantry Regiment were west of Huế, one on a routine sweep mission and the other undergoing training at the Van Thanh center, while the remaining two battalions of the regiment were searching for the PAVN-VC near the coast southeast of Huế.The 1st Regiment was stationed near Quảng Trị to the northwest and the 2nd Regiment was another twelve kilometers farther up Highway 1 near Đông Hà.