cmh_70-117-1

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GROUND WARSituation 27 February 1991XAn NāşirīyahUnit positions approximateE L E V A T I O N I N F E E T0 500 1000 1500 2000 and Above040JALIBAHHawr al Ḩ ammārX2 10124(-)3X XI I ITi g r i s R i ve rAz ZubayrAl BaşrahS h at t a l A r a bMilesI R A NKhorramshahrAbadanAl BuşayyahX XSafwān1X X1 CavUmm QaşrX XAr Rawḑatayn3C O R P SX X1I I I2X X1 BrK U W A I TB ū b i yā nBāținARCENTX X X XJOINTFORCES COMMANDX XX X3 EG4 EGX X2 Mar X XAl JahrahX XX1 MarXX9 SY20 SA1 2J F C - NX X XM A R C E N TAs SālimīyahX10 SAXXX X XKUWAITJ F C - EP E R S I A NG U L FRa’s al Khafjīal Bāțin
The 1st Brigade took the division left (north) sector, tying in with the101st Airborne Division. The 2d Squadron, 4th Cavalry, the 24th’sreconnaissance unit, moved east from the Hawr al Malih lake area toset up a tactical assembly area behind the 1st Brigade. The 2d Brigadeleft its newly won airfield position and assumed the center sector ofthe division front. The 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment took the rightsector, tying in with the VII Corps to the south. With the 24th Divisionnow oriented east after its northern advance of the first two days, a newseries of attacks began between the Tallil Airfield and the Ar Rumaylahoil fields just southwest of Al Basrah.The attacks down Highway 8 showed more clearly than any otherepisode the weaknesses of Iraqi field forces and the one-sidedness of theconflict. Through the afternoon and night of 27 February, the tankers,Bradley gunners, and helicopter crews and artillerymen of the 24thInfantry Division fired at hundreds of vehicles trying to redeploy to meetthe new American attack from the west or simply to escape north acrossthe Euphrates River valley and west on Highway 8. With no intelligencecapability left to judge the size or location of the oncoming Americanarmored wedges and attack-helicopter swarms, as well as insufficientcommunications to coordinate a new defense, Iraqi units stumbled intodisaster. Unsuspecting drivers of every type of vehicle, from tanks toartillery prime movers and even commandeered civilian autos, racedrandomly across the desert or west on Highway 8 only to run intoGeneral McCaffrey’s firestorm. Some drivers, seeing vehicles explodeand burn, veered off the road in vain attempts to escape. Others stopped,dismounted, and walked toward the Americans with raised hands.When the division staff detected elements of the Hammurabi Divisionof the Republican Guard moving across the 24th’s front, McCaffreyconcentrated the fire of nine artillery battalions and an Apache battalionon the once-elite enemy force. At dawn the next day, the twenty-eighth,hundreds of vehicles lay crumpled and smoking on Highway 8 and atscattered points across the desert. The 24th’s lead elements, only thirtymiles west of Al Basrah, set up a hasty defense in place.The 24th Division’s valley battles of 25–27 February renderedineffective all Iraqi units encountered in the division sector and trappedmost of the Republican Guard divisions to the south while the VII Corpsbore into them from the west, either blasting units in place or takingtheir surrender. In its own battles, the 24th achieved some of the mostimpressive results of the ground war. McCaffrey’s troops had advancedone hundred ninety miles into Iraq to the Euphrates River, then turnedeast and advanced another seventy miles, all in four days. Along the way,60
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War in the Persian GulfOperations D
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Cover: On Guard at Sunset by Peter
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No.Page5. Ground War: Situation 25
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enjoy this short account of a confl
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BAGHDADDESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORMAR
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and withdrawal of Soviet armies int
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over 120,000 troops, 700 tanks,1,40
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had assumed command of thecorps in
Page 17 and 18: a Patriot missile battery of the 11
Page 19 and 20: demands quickly took a physicaltoll
Page 21 and 22: formal contracting process. “We w
Page 23 and 24: RafḩāI R A QW ā d ī a l B ā
Page 25 and 26: Tapline RoadDespite the confusion e
Page 27 and 28: established, the Army could conside
Page 29 and 30: In the only change made to the reco
Page 31 and 32: VII Corps assembly area in Saudi Ar
Page 33 and 34: supported the Persian Gulf operatio
Page 35 and 36: with a twelve-day continuous exerci
Page 37 and 38: Troops training in trenchesturning
Page 39 and 40: RafḩāXVIII ABN CORPSFAAI R A QW
Page 41 and 42: Reserve 14th Quartermaster Detachme
Page 43 and 44: y the M1 tank-equipped Tiger Brigad
Page 45 and 46: Euphrates RiverAs SamāwahAsh Shaba
Page 47 and 48: coalition air attacks and psycholog
Page 49 and 50: M1A1 Abrams tankIn their movement a
Page 51 and 52: On 24 February, the 1st Cavalry Div
Page 53 and 54: epositioned to continue the advance
Page 55 and 56: 1 CAs SamāwahEuphrates RiverX3 101
Page 57 and 58: coordinated close air support strik
Page 59 and 60: windstorm) in the objective area ki
Page 61 and 62: As SamāwahX3 101Ash ShabakahTALLIL
Page 63 and 64: Armoured Division, with over seven
Page 65 and 66: The brigade advanced at 1200 with t
Page 67: As SamāwahX3 101197Ash ShabakahTAL
Page 71 and 72: destruction of the Republican Guard
Page 73 and 74: the U.S. military and its allies ha
Page 75 and 76: noncommissioned officers. These wer
Page 77 and 78: expanding sealift, airlift, and the
Page 79 and 80: the active and reserve components w
Page 82: Map SymbolsX XI I IXX XX XXAirborne
Page 87: PIN : 909253-000
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