1968: The USAF launched Commando Hunt, an extensive interdiction campaign in Laos, to partially offset the bombing halt imposed on the 1 November. Concentrated in the “Barrel Roll” and “Steel Tiger” areas, Commando Hunt drastically increased the sorties flown in Southeast Asia from 4,764 tactical and 273 B-52 sorties in October to 12,821 tactical and 661 B-52 sorties in November. Operation Commando Hunt was a covert U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign that took began on 15 November 1968 and ended on 29 March 1972. The objective of the campaign was to prevent the transit of People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) personnel and supplies on the logistical corridor known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.