Ia Dang Battle Analysis

The first significant battle between American troops and North Vietnamese Army was the Ia Drang Valley Battle of the Vietnam War. The Battle of Ia Drang took place in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, setting in two main locations, the LZ X-Ray located at the eastern base of the Chu Pong Massif and LZ Albany located to the 2.5 km of X-Ray and lasted four days and three nights in the fall of 1965 from14 November to 18 November. The Battle of Ia Drang was part of the Pleiku Campaign and comprised the newly constituted U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, that was composed of 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) with 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry (Airmobile) with 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry and 2nd Battalion, 7 Cavalry,

1st Battalion, 21st Artillery with two batteries and 3AC Fleet/SAC represented the most advanced technology and depended on mobility provided by the helicopter and the devastating firepower of modern weaponry. On the other hand, The People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) reflected the preindustrial society from which it came, lightly armed and equipped, it relied primarily on stealth and foot mobility. This battle was unusually bloody in which each side inflicting heavy casualties and both sides have claimed a great victory.
On the Ia Drang battle the commanders and leaders were selected for their exceptional experiences and background.

From 1st Air Cavalry Division Fwd, LT General Richard Knowles, from 3rd Air Cavalry Brigade, he served for 32 years, fighting in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. LT Gen. was decorated with the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with “V” device, the Distinguished Service Cross with four oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, 25 Air Medals and a Purple Heart. CPL Tim J. Brown, from 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was honored on Paul 10W, Line 120 of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. LT Gen. Harold G. Moore, from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. He was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, first of his West Point class to be promoted to brigadier, major and lieutenant general. LTC Robert McDade, from 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, he was one of the few officers to serve with and infantry unit in three wars. Some of the awards are Word War II Victory Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. LTC Walter B. Tully. On the other hand the Leaders and commanders from North Vietnam were Nguyen Hu An, B3 Field Front Fwd CP, Pham Cong Curu 66th Regiment Deputy Cmdr, La Ngoc Chau 7/66 Regiment, Le Xuan Phoi 8/66 Regiment and Nguyen Van Dinh 9/66 Regiment. For the Ia Drang Battle both sides were well equipped. From North Vietnam with a modern army organized and trained around 2,500 PAVN soldiers. The

infantrymen generally carried Chinese-made pistol, 7.62mm rifles, three to five grenades, 60mm and 82mm mortars, 57mm and 75mm recoilless rifles. They were trained under adverse conditions in the jungle of Ia Drang valley were the terrain was rugged mountains, thick jungle vegetation and trees as high as 100ft. From the U.S. the Army strength was around 375,000 men with armored personnel carriers, helicopters with air strikers, mortars and two new weapons: M79 grenade and M16. The advantage from the Vietnamese’s of American in the battle was the training. The Vietnamese have trained in the jungle for hours during the date and night, digging in even during rest periods and developing camouflage to a fine art. The Americans had a disadvantage because they had new weapons and its lack of intensive preparation and training for that kind of battle.
The mission assigned the Airmobile Division was searching an area, the valley of the Ia Drang, comprised about 2,500 square kilometers.

The helicopters from 1st Calvary were transporting heavily armed gunships and supply choppers. Drastically reconnaissance helicopters and fixed the enemy, then assault the troops in a secure staging area in the landing zone (LZ). One secured, the LZ was used for different types of offensive and defensive operations. The first day, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry arrived to LZ-Ray, the troops were heavily assaulted while patrolling the dry creek bed from the 33rd NVA Regiment. They keep pushing forward in which began taking a lot of casualties. 2nd Platoon and 1st Platoon within approx. 25 min, five men of 2nd Platoon were killed. When the last troops arrive to the LZ, the insertion took place with intense NVA fire. C Company was able to call in and adjust heavy ordnance support with precision, devastating losses on the NVA forces. Date two “Attack at dawn”. J3/MACV notified 1st Air Cavalry that the time over target of the B-5 strike is set for 16:00. A firefight broke out, cutting through Charlie Company positions and into the command post and the American lines across the LZ. Two M60 crews were instrumental in preventing the North Vietnamese advance from overrunning lines. 1/7 Cavalry started getting heavy attacks on three sides. In defense, they call all available support aircraft in South Vietnam, drawing on a significant arsenal

of heavy ordnance support and killing wounded Americans and striping their bodies of weapons. By the 3rd day and the 5th date of the battle, NVA repeated their assault to Bravo Company. At the end of these attacks, with daybreak approaching Bravo Company had only six lightly wounded men among its ranks with none killed. The battle was ostensibly over. 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry received orders to withdraw from the battle zone while 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry and 5th Cavalry took up defensive positions for the night. At the end of the battle the NVA forces had suffered hundreds of casualties and were no longer capable to a fight. The U.S. forces estimates placed the North Vietnamese dead at more than 600, with 1,200 supposedly killed or wounded. For the other hand, it describes the American casualties as “moderate” with 79 killed and 121 wounded. At the end, both sides claimed victory.
The Ia Drang Battle was itself of no strategic significance. They consume around 500 tons of supplies and 50,000 gallons of aviation gasoline daily what created a bad logistics point. In my opinion, the Ia Drang battle, it did not produce significant changes in leadership, doctrine or strategy for today’s wars. But we learned from the past and we will improve for the future.