The Battle of Ia Drang was the first significant battle between the major players of the Vietnam War, the US Army and the NVA, but it was also the first battle to have such a prominent role is played by the helicopter and the US doctrine of air mobility. Many of the developments from that era are still present today, or are direct precursors to our current helicopters and doctrine. This article will discuss the historical context and lead-up to the battle, the helicopters, the tactics, the roles they played and the lessons learned. History The Howze Council had already begun work on the mobility-enhancing airpower concept on April 25, 1962, even before the council's opening directive was issued on May 3, its formation prompted by a note from the secretary Defense Robert McNamara. Secretary McNamara had gone so far as to mention in this memo that "I will be disappointed if the Army review simply produces logistics-oriented recommendations for procuring more of the same thing, rather than a plan for employing new and perhaps unorthodox concepts which will give us a significant increase in mobility.”1 The Howze Committee was composed of multiple committees, including Tactical Mobility, Firepower, and Reconnaissance. The various committees of the Howze Committee reported their work to the Field Test Group, which then tested the various recommendations and theories The board's concluding statement was clear: “The Army's adoption of the aircraft concept – however imperfectly it may be described and justified in this report – is necessary and desirable in some respects the transition is inevitable, just as was the one from the mo animal... at the center of the card... superior firepower to negate the strength of enemy numbers; as Colonel Nguyen Huu An noted, "Move inside the column, grab them by the belt and avoid them casualties of artillery and air." 11Works Cited Askew, Samuel. "Air Mobile Warfare and the Battle of Ia Drang Valley." Voices.Yahoo.com. March 24, 2010Galloway, Joseph L. "Ia Drang - The Battle That Convinced Ho Chi Minh He Could Win." historynet.com. October 18, 2010.Mason, Robert. Chickenhawk. New York, Penguin, 1983.Moore, Harold G; Galloway, Joseph L. We Were Soldiers Once...And Young - Ia Drang: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War. New York, Open Road, 2012.Stanton, Shelby L. Anatomy of a Division: 1st Cav in Vietnam Novato: Presido, 1987.Tolson, Lt.Gen. John J. Airmobility 1961-1971 (Vietnam Studies). Washington DC: Department of the Army, 1989.