Map 3 of Maps of SEA in the 1960s

Since North Vietnamese battle plans called for conventional warfare in the South in 1965, the mid-1960s were busy times for the builders of roads in Laos .  The network of an estimated 180 miles of roads in 1964 would nearly double to about 345 miles in 1965.

Route 23 had been the main road connecting Mu Gia Pass with the key junction area of Tchepone and other points to the south. The new Route 911, shown on the map about 10 to 20 miles northeast of Route 23, was the most significant new addition to the Trail.  Built on higher ground than the old road, Route 911 was more direct and could be kept open when Route 23 was too soggy for trucks.  Route 911 was destined to become one of the key road segments of the entire Trail. It was a road over which virtually every FAC in Operation Cricket would fly—and along which some would die.