ia drang helicopter numbers

[Phoenix100]

Just wondering - maybe this has been asked before - in the Ia Drang scenario 1 the US has 10 helicopters available for ferrying the Bn, but Moore says he had 14, no? Or am I wrong? Or is there a reason for only 10? Doesn't really matter, just curious. Thanks.

[Jason Petho]

I read that 10 were available in the AAR of the battle for transporting troops during the initial landings.

[Phoenix100]

Sorry, Jason, I wrote 14, but I just checked again and in both 'We were soldiers..' and in '7 Firefights in Vietnam' it's given as 16 Hueys for troop transport, plus the gunships.

[Jason Petho]

Good to know, I wonder why the discrepancy between the AAR and the books.

[Phoenix100]

Where is the AAR located? That's an official source, I guess? So correct, no doubt. Nevertheless, Moore (the Bn commander) definitely writes in 'We were Soldiers..' that almost all of Bravo company came in together on 16 Hueys, landing 8 at a time (due to space restrictions at the LZ). There were some of Bravo left over and brought in with Charlie during the second lift, but the 3 manouever platoons were all dropped in the first lift. In game I can only get 2 platoons in at a time.

[Jason Petho]

I downloaded it from the Vietnam archive.

I will have to hunt down the PDF again, it's been a handful of years since I made that scenario to refresh my memory.

[Jason Petho]

I know the TO&E of Company A/229th Assault Helicopter was 16 helicopters, but if I recall from the reading (again, I have to find where I found it), only 10 slicks were available.

I'll take a look this weekend for the source.

[Phoenix100]

Thanks!