Rescuing the Lost Platoon, Night Fighters, Albany

Mass is defined as "the ability to concentrate combat power at a decisive time and place." The principle of war that sticks out the most in Charlie Co.'s situation at Ia Drang is mass. Upon landing, they were totally surrounded so LTC Moore and the other officers and NCOs had to come up with something quickly. They did an excellent job establishing a perimeter and digging in. From there they concentrated their assets and applied them wherever needed. The most glaring example is their use of artillery and air support. They dropped artillery and air strikes with scintillating precision. Some of the shells fell within meters of the American perimeter. There were numerous other examples, such as interlocking fields of fire with heavy weapons and the use of booby traps (and makeshift alarms). LTC Moore trained his junior officers to put his men in advantageous positions. They were able to mass fires on specific areas using the M60s and M16s. Areas that they were not able to cover as easily were booby trapped in order to halt movement through that area. Even if they did not stop movement altogether, the Americans would know the Vietnamese were coming and could shift fire accordingly.