Page "Battle of Ia Drang" Paragraph 18

X-Ray was approximately the size of a misshapen football field, some 100 meters in length ( east to west ).

It was estimated that only eight Hueys could fit in the clearing at a given time.

The 1st / 7th was typical for U. S. Army units of the time, consisting of three rifle companies ( Alpha through Charlie ) and a heavy weapons company ( Delta ), with about 450 men in total, of the 765 of the battalion's authorized strength.

They were to be shuttled by 16 Huey transport helicopters, which could generally carry 10 to 12 equipped troops, so the battalion would have to be delivered in several " lifts " carrying just less than one complete company each time.

Each lift would take about 30 minutes.

Moore arranged the lifts to deliver Bravo company first, along with his command team, followed by Alpha, Charlie, and finally Delta.