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In early 1958, a second group of men was selected for training. Once again, they made the clandestine crossing into East Pakistan before being flown to a training camp, this time in Virginia, in America itself. Among them was Lhamo Tsering, Gyalo Thondup’s right-hand man, who would later head the operations out of India. Buoyed by the success of the two radio operators in Central Tibet, the CIA was now keen to step up its involvement. A top secret training facility was built at Camp Hale, a disused World War Two military base high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. A story was circulated in the local press that Camp Hale was to be the site of atomic tests and would be a high security zone. The entire area was cordoned off and its perimeters patrolled by military police. The Tibetans immediately fell in love with the place, which, with its high mountains, thick forests and alpine meadows, reminded them of their home. They nicknamed the camp, Dhumra – "The Garden".

In Tibet, the CIA made a second arms drop to Gompo Tashi’s men. The guerrillas had mounted a fierce campaign and were in control of a large swathe of southern Tibet. By the beginning of 1959, the fragile coexistence between the Dalai Lama’s government and the Chinese occupying forces was threatening to unravel. Matters came to a head in March, when a rumour circulated around Lhasa that the Chinese commander had invited the Dalai Lama to attend a theatrical performance at the military headquarters but that he was to come unaccompanied by any of his bodyguards. The people of Lhasa were convinced that this was a plot to kidnap their young leader. Before long, thousands had converged upon the Dalai Lama’s summer palace, the Norbulingka, determined to physically prevent him from leaving. The Dalai Lama was caught in a quandary. The very thing he had feared most of all and tried hard to prevent, bloodshed and violence, now seemed imminent. The decision to escape was made when the Chinese unexpectedly fired two shells at the Norbulingka.

Resistance fighters escorted the Dalai Lama through guerrilla-held territory. The two CIA-trained men met up with the escape party halfway on their journey and accompanied them to the Indian border, keeping the Americans updated about their progress. The Dalai Lama’s escape triggered a massive military operation by the Chinese who brutally quelled the revolt in Lhasa and went on the offensive against the resistance bases in southern Tibet. The guerrillas suffered major setbacks. Andrug Gompo Tashi and the remainder of his force had no choice but to join the exodus of Tibetans who were streaming across the Himalaya, following their leader into exile.