One of the first major battles of the Vietnam War, the Battle of Ia Drang Valley took place from November 14 to 18, 1965. Battle took place in South Vietnam, where the Drang River flows into Cambodia. Since the start of the war, this territory has never been occupied. It was a fierce five-day battle between the US 1st Cavalry Division and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). During the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, American military commanders took the approach that it was solely a search and destroy mission. Each side of the battle had different views on its importance. The United States wanted to fly into a landing zone and reconnoitre the area so it could find the People's Army of Vietnam and destroy enemy elements in South Vietnam. The Americans were going to fly into the valley with the 1st Cavalry Division and drop them off by helicopter. because of the terrain. If the United States were able to capture some of South Vietnam's territory, it could gain a foothold and begin to defeat the enemy. For the United States, this was a key battle to see if it could defeat an enemy that no ally had been able to combat before. This battle consisted primarily of the 1st Cavalry Division, which was a new Army mobile air unit. The United States had about 1,000 troops, while the People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong had about 2,000 troops. From a technological point of view, the United States had the upper hand. Although the Viet Cong were able to entrench themselves with machine guns, the United States was able to conduct gunfire using new helicopter technology throughout the battle. Once the U.S. military was able to secure the landing zone, it was able to airlift supplies and evacuate the wounded. The Viet Cong had the advantage of owning the land and being able to settle using the land as a settlement.