In spring 1971, 1st Battalion, 82nd Artillery was deployed along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in support of Operation Lam Son 719, the ARVN invasion of Laos. The battalion made one of the longest nighttime road marches of the Vietnam War driving 192 miles in only 12 hours. 1st Bn, 82nd Artillery units manned several critical fire bases right on the border of North Vietnam to support Vietnamese and U.S. forces operating in these areas. At the height of this fighting in a 10-hour period, 1st Bn, 82nd Artillery guns fired between 7,000 and 9,000 rounds at an NVA Division that was trying to mount an attack against Fire Support Base Vandegrift the battalion's headquarters. During the 69 days of Operation Lam Son 719 the 1st Battalion, 82nd Artillery lost four men killed and twenty wounded with three more fatalities due to non-hostile causes. The battalion returned to the United States at the end of 1971 where it was soon inactivated.