Objective: search and destroy operation; To prevent the NVA from gaining control of the Central Highlands along Route 19 and splitting South Vietnam in two. Included Ia Drang Valley Battles

Description: This operation marked the PAVN's shift from reliance on VC guerrilla forces to the use of conventional military forces. It also marked the beginning of U.S. direct massive ground combat operations and the testing ground for heliborne airmobility tactics. On 19 October PAVN forces attacked the Plei Me Special Forces camp southwest of Pleiku. The 1st Cavalry and ARVN troops relieved Plei Me while testing the use of helicopters to fly troops over the enemy and land them directly into the battle. On 14 November, during what would come to be know as the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (1/7th) assaulted into LZ X-Ray, unknowingly into the area of the PAVN 66th. The fighting was very heavy. Reinforcements of the 2/7th and 2/5th as well as massive artillery and air strikes helped support the U.S. By 16 November, the PAVN had quit the battlefield. The 2/7th and Company A of the 1/7th moved toward LZ Albany to resume contact. The units blundered into a PAVN ambush and during the following battle, unit cohesion broke down. Air support was impossible until the units could mark their positions. Finally the 1/5th fought into LZ Albany and gathered the wounded and the 2/7th were sent in for reinforcement. The PAVN withdrew with unknown casualties. At the end of the campaign, the 1st Cavalry Division had deflected the PAVN attack and kept South Vietnam from being split in two, while displaying the effectiveness of airmobility warfare.

Unit: 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile, USA) (including 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (1/7th), 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry (2/7th)

Title: The Encyclopedia Of The Vietnam War: A Political, Social & Military History

Title: Preliminary Checklist Of United States Military Operations In Southeast Asia

Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive