On Point: the United States Army in Operation Iraqi ... - Boekje Pienter

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The Army took this path in parallel with the joint community. Moreover, this effort ensuedwhile the Army reacted to a complex and challenging domestic and international environment.Tracing this evolution is critical to appreciating how the victorious Army of 2003 is differentfrom the victorious Army of 1991. What follows is a discussion of the US Army’s growth,learning, and transformation from the ‘certain victory’ in Operation DESERT STORM (ODS)through the end of major combat operations in OIF and the transition into peace supportoperations—a transition that continues even today.Figure 1. Regional Orientation of IraqBefore and After the “Storm”The success of the United States-led coalition against Saddam Hussein’s invasion ofKuwait in 1990 in retrospect seemed a certain victory. Strategically, the conditions of war thatbrought the Gulf War coalition together and carried through the conflict were certain—theunprovoked violation of Kuwaiti sovereignty provided textbook justification for collectiveaction. The threat to regional stability, the global economy, and environmental security, aswell as Saddam’s appetite for Kuwaiti and Saudi oil fields, only solidified the clear and presentdanger of the moment. The result was an unambiguous charter for staunch, swift, and severecollective action against Iraq.The operational and tactical nature of DESERT STORM was equally certain. The battles andengagements of the first Gulf War were set-piece battles, reflective of World War II European2
combat. The US Army’s AirLand Battle-tailored conventional force and its coalition partnersmet the fourth-largest 20th-century army in large-scale, open-quarter combat supported fromabove by air forces who found the air space largely uncontested. The resulting victory was sosweeping and complete as to be almost beathtaking in its nature. In short, the victory seemed tovalidate the Army’s Cold War doctrine, equipment, training, and organization.However, DESERT STORM, like all wars, proved Janus-like: some aspects werefamiliar, while others hinted at the nature of future combat. Precision munitions and theGlobal Positioning System (GPS) suggested that technology, and in particular, informationtechnology, would fundamentally affect the course of future combat operations. As Alvin andHeidi Toffler argued, DESERT STORM contained the seeds of “Third Wave” warfare, in whichinformation technology would dominate. 2 The war suggested elements of future warfare whilevalidating service investments in high-technology systems such as precision munitions and theM1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. Yet, some argued that DESERT STORM would be the last ofthe symmetrical, large-machine wars.At the moral and psychological levels, Operation DESERT STORM clearly demonstratedthat the services could decisively fight and win the nation’s wars. The speed with which thearmed forces ejected the Iraqis effectively erased the painful memories of North Vietnamesetanks trundling about on the lawn of the South Vietnamese presidential palace or the charredcorpses of the failed hostage rescue attempt at Desert One in the Iranian desert. DESERTSTORM was, in some ways, a catharsis for both the nation and its armed forces.But the path from Vietnam to DESERT STORM did not present the Army with an easyjourney toward change and adaptation. Although all of the services bore the burden of Vietnam,the weight rested most heavily on the US Army. The Army returned from Vietnam with itsconfidence shaken and wanting to put the experience behind it. But as a profession, the Armydid not brood on that failure or attempt to excuse itself. Rather, a core group of officers quicklysought to learn from the experience. Even before the tanks rolled in front of the Vietnamesepresidential palace, the “Big A” Army had shifted back to NATO and the defense of WestGermany with conventional combat operations.The Army found little comfort in Europe. The Soviets, or at least their weapons and tactics,seemed ascendant. The Egyptian army’s successful use of Soviet gear and tactics in the 1973Arab-Israeli war boded ill for the defense of Europe. Israel, after its great victory in 1967,seemed unbeatable—yet they nearly lost the Yom Kippur War five years later. Arguably, theIsraelis’ arrogance of victory prevented them from critically learning from the 1967 war. Asa result, they were fundamentally surprised—tactically, operationally, and psychologically.Worse still, the Arab-Israeli War seemed to validate the Soviet approach to war, causing acollective chill in the US Army and Air Force.Accordingly, both turned their energy to considering how to counter the apparentadvantages that Soviet weapons and tactics seemed to have conferred on the Arabs andEgyptians specifically. The results were impressive. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Army’sleadership wrought changes in doctrine, training, materiel development, and acquisitionthat amounted to a renaissance of the force. At the same time, the Air Force’s Tactical AirCommand aggressively sought the means to counter the air defense threat apparent in the YomKippur War.3
Page 3: The United States Army inOperation
Page 6 and 7: The Library of Congress Cataloging-
Page 9 and 10: PrefaceOn Point is a study of Opera
Page 11 and 12: AcknowledgementsHistorians prefer t
Page 13 and 14: called him unkind names and questio
Page 15 and 16: Table of ContentsForeword..........
Page 19 and 20: Figure 78. 101st Airborne Division
Page 21 and 22: Figure 147. 101st Airborne Division
Page 23 and 24: Table of Call Out BoxesThe SIPRNET
Page 25: The 8 April Counterattack .........
Page 29 and 30: Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athists
Page 31 and 32: Army special operations soldiers, a
Page 34 and 35: • Information and Knowledge. The
Page 36 and 37: successful battles and engagements
Page 38 and 39: timelines at the beginning of each
Page 41: Chapter 1Operation DESERT STORM to
Page 45 and 46: The domestic political landscape in
Page 47 and 48: was to experiment to anticipate cha
Page 49 and 50: The authors also attempted to accou
Page 51 and 52: The SIPRNET RevolutionIn addition t
Page 53 and 54: efore World War I. 16 The extended
Page 55 and 56: commanders to consider the battlesp
Page 57 and 58: presence is not possible. Moreover,
Page 59 and 60: • The Air Force’s C-17 Globemas
Page 61 and 62: GAO Report. Military Transformation
Page 63 and 64: On 20 September 2001, President Geo
Page 65 and 66: All of these efforts led to a sweep
Page 67 and 68: NOTES1. General Frederick M. Franks
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 2Prepare, Mobilize, and Dep
Page 71 and 72: joint organizations played central
Page 73 and 74: Figure 10. Key coalition camps and
Page 75 and 76: CLCC LOG and Title 10 PowerPoint pr
Page 77: Figure 17. Tern delivers Army water
Page 80 and 81: Pre-positioned EquipmentIn Europe d
Page 82 and 83: allies in the region in providing s
Page 84 and 85: organization to leverage joint inte
Page 86 and 87: surprise but allowed a gradual buil
Page 88 and 89: Figure 24. V Corps objectivesin any
Page 90 and 91: that supported them, while denying
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Webster and Spider Marks. Marine Br
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V Corps Command Brief, 15 July 2003
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V Corps Command Brief, 15 July 2003
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completing its work in February. BC
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Figure 32. Soldiers posing with a D
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Figure 33. V Corps assault command
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ight thing to do. More than 6,200 s
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defense coordinator (TAAMCOORD), an
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attalion leadership, with the USARE
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The 18th MP Brigade, stationed in M
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and environment of Iraq. They condu
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proper mix of combat, CS, and CSS u
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Given all that can go wrong, the pe
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Jeremiah Johnson, Combat CameraFigu
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opportunities such as a sudden coll
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27. Major General Robert Blackman,
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80. Lieutenant Colonel John Huey, p
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Summary of EventsSaddam Hussein and
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• Breaching the berm at the borde
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humanitarian assistance supplies, w
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Intelligence Supporting Operational
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Moving the start of the ground camp
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Figure 42. PSYOP leaflets distribut
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Igor Paustovski, Combat CameraFigur
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Figure 45. Comparison of Iraqi grou
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to secure the first two primary obj
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Crossing The BermThey are coming to
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Figure 50. 3rd ID border breach sch
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covering forces rapidly and simulta
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After the aborted mission, morale s
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act of passing the change of route
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Figure 54. RRP EXXON and FARP SHELL
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Air Base (An Nasiriyah), seize the
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Figure 58. The 3rd BCT scheme of ma
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also captured more than 200 EPWs, i
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Figure 61. Division Central Collect
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Figure 63. Distance from Objective
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Figure 67. Routes of march north to
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Staff Sergeant Dillard Johnson, 1st
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did not see me and began to fire on
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At 1430 on 23 March, 3rd BCT took c
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During the fighting at As Samawah,
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24. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jay Deh
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FLOYD, Johnson’s platoon fought y
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Army Spec. Joshua Earl,a military p
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April 1, 2003, black smoke rises fr
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US Army photoSgt. 1st Class Anothon
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Chapter 4The March Up-CountryI don
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Figure 74. March up-country sequenc
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working in the LSA and units moving
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Colonel Melvin Frazier, who command
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101st Abn Div AARFigure 78. 101st A
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Courtesy of V CorpsFigure 80. 3rd I
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All of the estimates accurately ass
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decided to break his convoy into tw
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Figure 86. The 507th route of movem
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Figure 87. The 507th Maintenance Co
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With 3rd BCT, 3rd ID securing the l
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However, employing LRS is not a Lon
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the attack on Baghdad. Practically
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Marcone and Grimsley justifiably ex
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Figure 92. Ambush Alley—officiall
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advantage in fighting in the dark.
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Robert Woodward, US ArmyFigure 93.
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Figure 95. Chemical soldiers from t
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all of them. From a broader perspec
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While never perfect, the Army and e
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Figure 96. 11th AHR attack scheme f
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Still, the regiment planned routes
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Moreover, with less than half of th
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Figure 99. Apache attack helicopter
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her husband had been shot and was i
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AdaptationsFollowing the attack, Ar
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PlanningThe planned 101st attack ag
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The 2-101st intended to attack the
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Figure 104. 101st Airborne Division
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Figure 107. 3rd ID’s scheme to en
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followed. The third tank, Lieutenan
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the division elected to block the e
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3-73-7CAVCAVFightingFightingininAnA
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Figure 112. Relief in place of 3-7
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enemy as they had at As Samawah. Ar
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Figure 114. Lieutenant General Wall
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airborne assault, the units had beg
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From 29-30 March, the 82nd conducte
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Company at Checkpoint Charlie, subo
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towns during the five simultaneous
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Figure 124. PSYOP leaflets to minim
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The 173rd’s combat capability als
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moment. The ground had been plowed
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The brigade also jumped with a high
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Figure 129. TF 1-63 AR Abrams tank
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NOTES1. Captain Michael Matthews, O
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59. Colonel Rodney Mallette, MTMC,
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133. Oliver.134. Marcone.135. Ibid.
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202. Colonel Blair Ross, A Transfor
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to Baghdad in the east, and the I M
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Figure 133. Objectives in the vicin
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crossed a river or entered the maze
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three brigade combat teams, 1st BCT
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paid off in spades. ThroughoutI’v
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Figure 135. Enemy disposition in th
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ack toward Baghdad, and began condu
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Figure 140. Sample district council
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virtually every type of mission pos
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Lieutenant General Wallace on theFi
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Figure 144. Objective MURRAYabout I
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Figure 145. Enemy and friendly disp
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The Approach: Isolating An NajafAft
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130th Engineer BrigadeFigure 149. E
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When his battalion attacked into to
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The FeintAt 0600, the Thunderbolts
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on the way to Al Hillah. Accordingl
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that the adversary seldom behaves a
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learned from the 3rd ID, SOF troops
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The protracted fighting in As Samaw
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Figure 156. The scheme for the isol
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Launching the AttackHaving rearmed
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IN and the tactical command post—
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Electronic attacks against enemy co
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Figure 164. TF 3-69 AR attacks to s
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The Smoke Mission at Objective PEAC
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Figure 166. 2nd BCT attacks to Obje
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Figure 168. Iraqi tank burning in t
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Accelerating the AttackDuring this
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The ApproachTrue to his word, Grims
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V CorpsFigure 171. Civilian aircraf
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First Lieutenant Mark Schenck, writ
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Essayons: Sergeant First Class Paul
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to one of the road craters at appro
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Figure 177. Platoon leaders of Apac
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Figure 179. The 3rd BCT Objectives
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TF 2-69 Armor, the brigade’s main
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Sanderson led from the front near t
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caught fire and ammunition began to
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NOTES1. Anthony H. Cordesman, The I
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61. Ibid. 2-70 AR; and Lieutenant C
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131. 2nd BCT, 3rd ID, 3. See also L
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Chapter 6Regime Collapse“There ar
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Figure 184. Attack to BaghdadBaghda
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Actions ElsewhereAs the corps’ an
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While some soldiers worked to help
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[of Saddam Hussein] were located. T
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These soldiers collect and process
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As the situation developed during t
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Despite the relative ease of their
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Mason Lowery, US ArmyFigure 190. TF
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Thunder Run of 7 AprilTask: Attack
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warrant. 40 If conditions wereGoing
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they came upon them, passing them o
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Figure 195. TF 1-64 AR movement int
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Figure 197. The 2nd BCT disposition
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dazed. The explosion and fires prod
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Specialist Gates took it it and ran
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Task OrganizationOn the evening bef
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LARRY, and Gator would secure the n
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The Pros from Dover—Special Force
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About the same time as Johnson move
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Rage faced dismounted Republican Gu
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Firing on all Cylinders— —Engin
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Figure 206. The Iraqi counterattack
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Figure 207. The Iraqi counterattack
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Silver Star RecommendationSpecialis
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NOTES1. Anthony H. Cordesman, The I
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Post). This information comes from
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Chapter 7ImplicationsSoldiers, sail
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OIF demonstrated that the COE is no
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from the War in Iraq.” The Russia
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Bank and Gaza provided grist for Ar
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Although urban operations in OIF pr
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Fort Irwin “replicated” the ene
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level did have satellite communicat
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The evidence of OIF does not compel
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Of course, building a doctrine and
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also find ways to achieve interdepe
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Special Forces in ActionOn 20 20 Ap
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Liaison between Army special forces
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Simply stated, operational maneuver
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petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL
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Logistics SuccessesThere are some g
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Following the incident, the Army la
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Grouping so many capabilities in th
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The efficacy of net-enabled means t
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Information OperationsOperation OIF
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There are some obvious OIF implicat
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Most tactical unit commanders claim
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NOTES1. JFCOM and TRADOC are moving
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Chapter 8TransitionPeace enforcemen
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On Point has not been able to deliv
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I Guess I Made an ImpressionThis fi
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him the opportunity to honor his cl
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NOTES1. General Peter J. Schoomaker
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DESERT STORM as commander of VII Co
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Combined Forces Land Component Comm
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Facilities Engineer Team410th Milit
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244th Theater Aviation Brigade (OPC
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Facilities Engineer Detachment BFor
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Detachment/Marine Light Attack Heli
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Detachment/Marine Aerial Refueler/T
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4th Light Armored Recon Battalion (
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10th Logistics Planning Augmentatio
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315th Tactical PSYOP CoTactical PSY
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Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Veh
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1st Brigade, 4th Infantry DivisionH
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Tactical PSYOP Team 221/362nd Tacti
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Control Ground Station Team 5/5/D/3
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Ground Surveillance Systems Platoon
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Eagle-Intel/Analysis and Control El
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A/326th Engineer BattalionTeam 1/27
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Elements/4th Air Support Operations
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864th Engineer Battalion (-) (Comba
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HHC (-)/22nd Signal Bde17th Signal
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51st Movement Control Detachment (D
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HHC/418th Quartermaster Bn59th Quar
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507th Medical Co (Air Ambulance) (A
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AMC Logistics Support Element FWD -
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381st Military Police Detachment (E
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513th Transportation Co (Medium Tru
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249th Quartermaster Co (Repair Part
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946th Transportation Co (Medium Tru
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Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 2
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Glossary A2C2AAAAAMDCAASLTABC-BLABC
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C1C2C2C2XC2PCC3C4C4ISRC5C6CACACOMCA
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EUCOMEXORDF/AFAFAIOFARPFBCB2FIFFIST
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JLOTSJOEJOPESJRACJRTCJSOTFJSOTF-NOR
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OBJODAODSOEFOHOIFOIF-SGO/OOOTWOPCON
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SOCCESOCCENTSOCOMSOFSOPSPSPACECOMSP
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BibliographyInterviews, Discussions
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Group InterviewsInterview with CFLC
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Dilanian, Ken. “Airborne Jumps In
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Joint Publication 4-01.8. Joint Tac
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• 335th Theater Signal Command•
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Lieutenant Colonel David Kolleda.
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103 Military Intelligence Battalion
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603rd Aviation Support Battalion ·
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General, USMC, Chief of Staff, CFLC
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Davis, Wilbur, Staff Sergeant, USA,
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Operations Officer, National Ground
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219, 223, 243, 278, 296, 314, 331,
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198, 284, 315Objective RAMS · 102,
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427, 430, 518Schwartz, Eric ‘Rick
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USS Higgins, Aegis Destroyer · 65,
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The United Strates Army in Opera
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