as 1963 progressed into the spring and summer, the south Vietnamese government continued to improve its counterinsurgency capabilities and its position in the countryside. Increasing in size and quality at the same time, the Civil Guard reached a strength of 75,000 men, the Self-Defense Corps 100,000, the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups 40,000, and the regular armed services 215,000. At Diem's command, the South Vietnamese continued to eliminate small and isolated outposts in the countryside and transfer their personnel to more productive duties. The government's forces aggressively sought battle with the Viet Cong and inflicted many defeats during this time. Colonel Bryce F. Denno, upon completing an eleven-month tour as the I Corps senior adviser in July 1963, reported that in his region, “the Self-Defense Corps units are defending their villages against enemy attacks with much greater confidence and success than in the past. The ARVN is reaching out into the deep jungle to attack Viet Cong ‘secure’ areas.” The population, moreover, was giving more information on the enemy to government forces in his corps area. In a mid-year assessment, III Corps senior adviser Colonel Wilbur Wilson remarked that pacification had experienced substantial gains in every province of the corps area.

Major General Victor H. Krulak, the special assistant for counterinsurgency for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, traveled to all four corps areas in late June and observed that “offensive operations against the Viet Cong are widespread and varied, and are growing steadily in intensity.”