- Herding diversionary move – Its intention was to roundup the enemy troops toward a common location.

Colonel Hieu knew the 1st Air Cav Brigade won’t be able to find and destroy the scattered three NVA regimental troops in the vast area that stretched from Pleime to Chupong with its newly developed air assault tactics.

- Enticement diversionary move – Its intention was to entice B3 Field Front to switch to an attack posture in order to have them gather its three regimental troops first in assembling areas for re-equipment, training and rehearsal purposes and secondly in staging areas in preparation for the imminent attack.

The order to execute the switch in operational direction from west to east was issued on 11/8 with a vague suggestion (Kinnard, page 67):

By this time Field Force Vietnam had asked the division to consider moving this operations east of Pleime if it appeared that was no further contact imminent in the west”

The purpose of the enticement move was made known to General Knowles on 11/10 (Kinnard , page 73):

The movement and shift in emphasis from west to east was to further stimulate a forthcoming decision from the NVA division headquarters.

Its intention became clearer to General Knowles on Nov 11 (Kinnard, page 76):

With American units seemingly withdrawing to the east of Pleime, the decision was to attempt to regain its early advantage with an attack. The target once again was the Pleime CIDG Camp. The division headquarters set the date for attack at 16 November, and issued orders to its three regiments. The B3 Field Front thus fell for Colonel Hieu’s scheme in regrouping its troops in two stages: assembly areas for training and rehearsals, and staging areas for movement to attack.

The ideal target for B-52 airstrikes was the staging area where troop concentration would be the most dense.

The window margin would be narrow: 11/13-14 or 11/12-14, (it turned out Colonel Hieu only had the 11/13-14 one) depending on the allotment time given for rehearsals.

And when order was issued for gathering troops in staging areas, the window margin would be in terms of 24 hours and less.

Thus the necessity to create the

- Distractive diversionary move – Its intention was to refocus B3 Field Front from the direction toward Pleime camp on to LZ X-Ray and had it retain its troops at staging areas longer to allow the B-52 to still find them there at their arrival due for Nov 15, after a long eight hour voyage from Guam to Central Highlands.

The number of Air Cav troops inserted at LZ X-Ray should be small so as not to make B3 Field Front to rushing in all of its three regimental troops.

The coordination of all these various diversionary moves with the purpose of attaining the objective set out by the operational concept – the use of B-52 airstrikes to annihilate the three NVA regiments - was made only possible with a solid intelligence of the enemy situation by the minutes, hours and days. That’s why it would be quasi impossible to duplicate this uniqueness operational concept. It’s only possible if conditions are exactly the same as Colonel Hieu’s.

Nguyen Van Tin
9 January 2012

• A Few Things You Should Know about Pleime-Iadrang Campaign
  • "Victory at Pleime" ?
  • Tactical Moves in Pleime Battle
  • The Two Principals Players Of Pleime Chess Game
  • Pleime Battle's Diary
  • Why Pleime
  • Reviewing "Why Pleime"
  • General Schwarzkopf's Naïveté In Ia Drang Battle
  • LZ X-Ray After Action Report - LTC Hal Moore and Colonel Hieu
  • Pleime Battle Viewed From G3/I Field Force Vietnam
  • Long Reach Operation Viewed From G3/I Field Force Vietnam
  • LZ X-Ray Battle and LZ Albany Battle Viewed From G3/I Field Force Vietnam
  • Than Phong 7 Operation Viewed From G3/I Field Force Vietnam
  • Pleiku Campaign
  • Command and Control Skills in Pleime Campaign
  • What Historians Failed to Tell About the Battle at LZ X-Ray
  • Behind-the-scenes Activities at Various Allied Headquarters During Pleime Campaign
  • Pleime Counteroffensive into Chupong Iadrang Complex
  • Intelligence Gathering at Ia Drang
  • Roll Call of Combatants at Pleime-Chupong-Iadrang Battlefront
  • A Military Genius in Action at Pleime-Chupong-Iadrang Battlefront
• What if there was no master plan for Pleime Counteroffensive?
• Arc Lite Operation Planning and Execution in Pleime Offensive
• Various Diversionary Moves in Support of Arc Lite Strike in Pleime Counteroffensive
• A Doctrinal Lesson on the Use of Arc Lite in Pleime Counteroffensive
• Intelligence, the Key Factor in the Pleime Campaign's Victory
• Hal Moore and 1/7th Air Cavalry Battalion's Real Mission at LZ X-Ray
• Command and Control of Arc Light Strike at Chupong-Iadrang
• Arc Light Strike at Chupong-Iadrang Viewed From G3/IFFV
• Colonel Hieu’s Operational Concept for LZ X-Ray
• Than Phong 7
• Venturing into Lion’s Den in Ia Drang Valley
• Kung Fu Tactics at Pleime Campaign