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The 8th Engineer Battalion of the 1st Cavalry had been working on the airstrip at A Luoi since 29 April with the heavy equipment that had been brought in by CH-54's. The field was actually ready to accept Caribou aircraft by noon on 1 May. However, it was not until the following day that the first cargo aircraft, a C-7A Caribou, landed at landing zone STALLION at 1120. The engineers continued their work on this airstrip so that it could handle C-123's and C-130's. The 8th Engineers completed the upgrading of the A Luoi Airfield to a C-130 capacity on 3 May.

While the 1st Cavalry Division was operating in the A Shau Valley, the 101st Airborne Division had been conducting major operations to the east. Together with the 3d Army of the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Task Force, they had made periodic contact with the enemy and had uncovered additional major supply caches. The 101st had built up two major fire support bases, VEGHEL and BASTOGNE, which would be important throughout Operation DELAWARE.