From March 14 thru 19, 1966 the 1/5th(M) participated in a search and destroy operation, the first phase of which was located in the general area southwest of Bao Trai (XT 5204) near the Oriental River. The units of the battalion crossed the LD [line of departure] at 1000 hours on March 14, 1966 and encountered light enemy contact. Some APCs got stuck in the soft ground as they approached to within 1000 to 1500 meters of the Oriental River. The battalion then continued the operation dismounted. The battalion spent the night of March 14 in the vicinity of XT 483023. One man was wounded when he attempted to throw a captured booby-trapped hand grenade into a canal. He pulled the pin and threw the grenade but it had been short-fused and immediately exploded. Light enemy contact was made on the morning of March 15th as the companies moved to and searched various objective areas. At 1507 hours Company C received SA fire and at the same time a booby trap was detonated. The encounter resulted in 4 Bobcats wounded and 1 killed. Sporadic contact continued through the day and by 2045 hours all units closed in the vicinity of XT 5202.