The generals sent Thảo to Fort Leavenworth in the United States for six months to learn conventional warfare tactics. He also spent a month in England before returning to Vietnam. By this time, Minh's junta had been replaced in a 1964 January coup by Khánh. It is suspected that one of the generals' motives for deploying Thảo overseas was his continual involvement in plotting. Khánh appointed Thảo as his press officer as well as an unofficial political adviser.