the French had established a leading military base at Dien Bien Phu, based deep in a mountain basin in Tonkin Province remote northwestern Vietnam. The base was designed to block communist supply lines in neighboring Laos. The base would also be a tantalizing target for the Viet Minh attacks that the French could readily defend with their superior firepower. Unfortunately, the communist foes besieged the base and five other separate firebases which facilitated to the French colonial forces in Indochina requesting U.S. air transport "to fly tanks and heavy equipment to their hard-pressed forces in Laos. "Having such equipment," the French emphasized, "might mean the difference between holding and losing Laos." At this point, the CAT role evolved from clandestine to covert. The Eisenhower Administration, unwilling to give overt support, decided to use CAT to fulfill the French request, in Operation SQUAW, which got underway on May 6. The U.S. Air Force provided CAT with "sterile" (i.e., with American military identification removed) C-119 transports, capable of carrying the heavy loads required by the French. CAT personnel was unfamiliar with the C-119, and the Air Force held a short but intense training course for them at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. On May 5, they flew six of the transports, repainted with French insignia, to Gia Lam airbase, outside Hanoi, and parachuted supplies and equipment to French forces in Laos until July 16 with CAT pilots making numerous airdrops to French troops in Laos. Laos (and Vietnam) 1954 Again, the French asked for help in supporting their isolated base at Dien Bien Phu. CAT, contracting with the French in January 1954 to provide 24 pilots to fly 12 C-119 aircraft, agreed to maintenance under USAF ground crews at Hanoi's Cat Bi airfield in support of Dien Bien Phu. Flights started in March, as the Viet Minh began their assault, and continued until Dien Bien Phu fell on May 7. Two CAT pilots died and one other was wounded. CAT operations continued after the fall of Dien Bien Phu. The C-119s supported isolated French outposts, and CAT also provided 12 C-46 transports to evacuate civilians from North to South Vietnam. CAT also carried members of the CIA's Saigon Military Mission (see Vietnam 1954) north of the 17th parallel, in a futile attempt to set up stay-behind networks. Laos was declared neutral but due to its location, it effectively functioned as