Operation Bedrock (Laos)
| Operation Bedrock | |||||||||
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| Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of LaosSupported by  CIA of the United States
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 North Vietnam
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| Units involved | |||||||||
| Groupement Mobile 41 | 46th Battalion | ||||||||
Operation Bedrock (Laos) (1–9 November 1971) was a military offensive staged by the Royal Lao Armed Forces against the People's Army of Vietnam in Military Region 4 of the Kingdom of Laos. Its purpose was disruption of the supply of rice to Communist forces occupying the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was successful.
From the start of the Vietnam War, the Ho Chi Minh Trail became crucial to the People's Army of Vietnam strategy as its key to conquering South Vietnam. Over the war years, the Trail expanded to 6,400 kilometres (4,000 miles) of road, trail, and waterway. Tchepone in the panhandle of the Kingdom of Laos became a key transshipment and logistics center for the communists. Its significance can be measured by the fact that after many attempts to cut the Trail from Laos, the multi-divisional Operation Lam Son 719 was launched on 8 February 1971 from South Vietnam to capture Tchepone.
From 28 July through 31 October 1971, Royalist forces of the Kingdom of Laos had staged Operation Sayasila in Military Region 4 (MR 4). They managed to wrest control of Route 23 and the towns of Salavan and Paksong and their associated airstrips from the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
When the Khmer Republic withdrew its Project Copper forces from MR 4, it vacated a training base at the PS-18 airstrip. The local Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) unit trained its Bataillons Guerrieres (BGs) there for forays against the Trail. By Autumn 1971, they had formed the first guerrilla regiment, Groupement Mobile 41 (GM 41) from BGs 402, 403, 407, and 408. The CIA case officer who had trained the local Commando Raiders was transferred to advisory duty with GM 41. With a highly respected Royalist Lieutenant Colonel in command, GM 41 was operational as Operation Sayasila ended.
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