' s ▁chief ▁of ▁staff , ▁Colonel ▁B ù i ▁ Đ ì n h ▁ Đ ạ m . ▁ ▁The ▁Division ▁scored ▁the ▁biggest ▁success es ▁of ▁the ▁military ▁campaign s ▁of ▁ 1 9 6 2 , ▁killing ▁along ▁with ▁the ▁par amil it ary ▁and ▁Civil ▁Guard ▁and ▁Self ▁Def ense ▁Corps , ▁more ▁than ▁ 2 , 0 0 0 ▁V C ▁f igh ters ▁and ▁leaving ▁thousands ▁of ▁others ▁cut ▁off ▁from ▁supplies . ▁However , ▁South ▁Vietnam ese ▁officers ▁were ▁often ▁rel uct ant ▁to ▁abs orb ▁heavy ▁cas ual ties . ▁On ▁several ▁occasions , ▁C ao ' s ▁forces ▁were ▁in ▁an ▁excellent ▁position ▁to ▁trap ▁and ▁w ipe ▁out ▁whole ▁batt al ions ▁of ▁V C , ▁but ▁he ▁would ▁fail ▁to ▁close ▁the ▁trap ▁on ▁one ▁pre text ▁or ▁another ▁and ▁allow ▁the ▁enemy ▁to ▁escape . ▁This ▁behavior ▁initially ▁myst ified ▁the ▁division ' s ▁US ▁advis er ▁Lieutenant ▁Colonel ▁John ▁Paul ▁V ann , ▁who ▁directed ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁unit ' s ▁activity , ▁who ▁was ▁attempting ▁to ▁build ▁C ao ▁into ▁an ▁ag gress ive ▁commander . ▁Un known ▁to ▁V ann , ▁D iem ▁would ▁repr im and ▁or ▁dem ote ▁any ▁officer ▁who ▁lost ▁too ▁many ▁men , ▁no ▁matter ▁how ▁successful ▁the ▁operation . ▁D iem ▁was ▁more ▁interested ▁in ▁using ▁the ▁military ▁to ▁protect ▁his ▁regime ▁than ▁to ▁take ▁on ▁the ▁V C . ▁His ▁solution ▁was ▁to ▁fill ▁the ▁AR V N ▁with ▁Catholic