Alpha Company noticed the sudden absence of air cover and their commander, Capt. Joel Sugdinis, wondered where the aerial rocket artillery choppers were. He soon heard the sound of distant explosions to his rear; the B-52s were making their bombing runs on the Chu Pong massif. Lt. D. P. (Pat) Payne, the recon platoon leader, was walking around some termite hills when he suddenly came upon an NVA soldier resting on the ground. Payne jumped on the NVA trooper and took him prisoner. Simultaneously, about 10 yards away, his platoon sergeant captured a second NVA soldier. Other members of the NVA recon team may have escaped and reported to the headquarters of the 1st Battalion, 33rd Regiment. The NVA then began to organize an assault on the American column. As word of the capture reached him, Lt. Col. McDade ordered a halt as he went forward from the rear of the column to interrogate the prisoners personally. The two captured NVA soldiers were policed up about 100 yards from the southwestern edge of the clearing called Albany, the report of which reached division forward at Pleiku at 11:57.: