The base was originally built during the French colonial period as the Nouvelles Casernes d'Artillerie Coloniale. With the departure of the French from South Vietnam in 1954-6 the base was handed over to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and named after Lê Văn Duyệt, an 18th-century military commander. The base was the headquarters of the Capital Military District responsible for the defense of Saigon. On 5 October 1963 CIA officer Lucien Conein met with General Dương Văn Minh at the base to discuss the planned coup against PresidentNgo Dinh Diem. In preparation for the coup one of the coup leaders General Tôn Thất Đính moved 20 tanks to the base to ensure that the coup supporters enjoyed overwhelming strength against forces loyal to Diem. In 1964 the ARVN political warfare training center moved to the base but the facilities at the new location were so inadequate that they were moved to the Dalat Military Academy in 1966. The ARVN 1st Airborne Battalion was headquartered at the base. On the morning of 31 January 1968 at the start of the Tet Offensive, US II Field Force commander Lieutenant general Frederick C. Weyand directed his deputy, Major general Keith L. Ware, to establish a tactical command post at the base next to the Capital Military District headquarters. Once operational, this headquarters known as Hurricane Forward would assume tactical control over all US units entering the Saigon–Gia Định Province zone. On the morning of 5 May 1968 at the start of the May Offensive Weyand directed his deputy, Major general John H. Hay, to re-establish Hurricane Forward at the base to perform the same function as in the Tet Offensive. On 27 June 1968 Weyand published orders establishing Headquarters, Capital Military Assistance Command at the base under the command of Hay, with an effective date of 4 June 1968. In this post, Hay exercised operational control over all US units and advisers in Saigon–Gia Định, with himself serving as adviser to General Nguyễn Văn Minh, the commander of the Capital Military District and military governor of Saigon. Weyand assigned two US brigades, the 199th Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division to CMAC control to protect Saigon against further Vietcong attacks. The US 5th Special Forces Group's Camp Goodman was located with the camp until late 1968 when it was handed over to CMAC. In late 1969 II Field Force commander Lieutenant GeneralJulian Ewell transformed CMAC into an advisory organization for the Capital Military District, and charged it with transferring local American sensor and ground radar installations to the South Vietnamese.
Current use
The base remains in use by the PAVN as the Ho Chi Minh City Command. The street address is 291 Hẻm 285 Cách Mạng Tháng Tám, Phường 12, Quận 10, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam.
