▁and ▁thus ▁directed ▁the ▁overall ▁effort . ▁It ▁was ▁a ▁secret ▁war ▁because ▁both ▁N V N ▁and ▁C IA ▁were ▁in ▁viol ation ▁of ▁Gene va ' s ▁ 1 9 6 2 ▁terms . ▁ ▁There after ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁the ▁C IA ▁accomplished ▁this ▁mission ▁largely ▁by ▁training ▁and ▁ar ming ▁native ▁trib al ▁forces , ▁primarily ▁those ▁called ▁the ▁H m ong . ▁Hel ms ▁called ▁it ▁" the ▁war ▁we ▁won ". ▁At ▁most ▁several ▁hundred ▁C IA ▁personnel ▁were ▁involved , ▁at ▁a ▁small ▁fraction ▁of ▁the ▁cost ▁of ▁the ▁Vietnam ▁war . ▁Despite ▁prior ▁criticism ▁of ▁C IA ▁ab ilities ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 1 ▁Bay ▁of ▁P igs ▁dis aster ▁in ▁Cuba , ▁here ▁the ▁C IA ▁for ▁years ▁successfully ▁managed ▁a ▁large - scale ▁par amil it ary ▁operation . ▁At ▁the ▁height ▁of ▁the ▁Vietnam ▁war , ▁much ▁of ▁royal ▁La os ▁remained ▁function ally ▁neutral , ▁although ▁over ▁its ▁sout heast ▁border lands ▁ran ▁the ▁cont ested ▁Ho ▁Chi ▁Min h ▁trail . ▁The ▁C IA ▁operation ▁field ed ▁as ▁many ▁as ▁ 3 0 , 0 0 0 ▁H m ong ▁soldiers ▁under ▁their ▁leader ▁V ang ▁Pa o , ▁while ▁also ▁supporting ▁ 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 ▁mostly ▁H m ong ▁people ▁in ▁the ▁hills . ▁Con sequently , ▁more ▁than ▁ 8 0 , 0 0 0 ▁N V N ▁troops ▁were ▁" t ied ▁down " ▁in