On 16 February Kinnard decided to replace Colonel Moore's brigade with Col. Elvy B. Roberts' 1st Brigade. The next day, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 7th Cavalry, returned to Camp Radcliff, while 1/12th Cavalry remained behind to join 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment and 2/8th Cavalry. Together, the three battalions combed the area around Firebase Bird, but the PAVN/VC remained in hiding. Frustrated, on 22 February Roberts changed the direction of the hunt, dispatching 1/12th Cavalry to search Go Chai Mountain, 14 km east of Bird and 7 km west of Highway 1. During the afternoon of 23 February 1/12th Cavalry met an estimated PAVN company, probably from the 7th Battalion, 12th Regiment. They maintained contact until dark, but then the PAVN escaped. Operations in the area continued until the 27th, but when nothing more of substance occurred, Kinnard decided to abandon the Kim Son Valley. That evening he attached two battalions from 1st Brigade to 2nd Brigade and returned the 1st's command group and 1/12th Cavalry to Camp Radcliff. In all, the 1st Brigade had accounted for up to 160 PAVN/VC killed while losing 29 of its own men.