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

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If the Army is, as asserted here, essential and on point for the joint team, it must embrace thejourney to transformation. Of all the services, the Army is most dependent on the others andtherefore must assume the risks inherent in working within the joint team to lead change. Thismay require painful choices and risks, but it is consistent with going on point. It is consistentalso with General Schoomaker’s assertion that “the Army must remain relevant and ready.” 4On Point accepts the risks inherent in working rapidly and with a narrow focus. These risksare many and may include errors in fact, in interpretation, and that the whole story is not told.The risks assumed in On Point seem worthwhile for one overarching reason—the study of waris essential to the profession of soldiering. This study aimed primarily at soldiers who perhapsexperienced the war only through what they read, saw on television, or heard. It also sought toilluminate for soldiers who were there how their efforts contributed to the outcome. The storyof OIF is dramatic, ongoing, and provocative. Others will complete the record; the goal here isto provoke recollection and discussion of the events of the spring of 2003 and how they fit inthe context of events since Operation DESERT STORM. Perhaps the most lasting contributionof this effort is the archive containing interviews, records, and photographs. Ultimately, thearchive will reside both in the Combined Arms Research Library and in the Center of ArmyLessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The intent is to provide the data required tocomplete the record.On Point has sought to highlight, when possible, the excellence of American soldiers. Theyrevealed themselves as courageous, adaptable, and compassionate. Most of the soldiers namedin this publication are heroes—thousands of other heroes are not named. Soldiers retainedtheir sense of humor during the darkest hours and attempted to treat even their enemies withdignity and respect. They behaved as American soldiers have traditionally toward childrenand civilians—to them they were generous, courteous, and sensitive. To one another, theydemonstrated fidelity and often gave the ultimate gift—their lives.American soldiers are not without their flaws, but taken as a whole, they demonstrate thebest in all of us. All were touched in some way by their experiences. As Lieutenant ColonelRick Schwartz put it after Thunder Run 1, “…we were better, but never okay.” 5 Americansoldiers for the most part became “hardened” but never gave up their humanity. That quality,combined with their adaptability, will sustain them—as it did the 100 soldiers who reenlistedin one of Saddam’s palaces in Baghdad on the 4th of July 2003. In the often-maligned “Armyof One” recruiting campaign, the Army ran a television commercial that is done in sepia tones.Antique photography juxtaposes old photos of young men with their current photos as oldveterans. The narrator intones that each generation has its heroes. Then the advertisement cutsto serving soldiers, concluding this one has its heroes too. The troops in OIF and those whoremain on point in Afghanistan, in Kuwait, and in Iraq illustrate the fundamental truth in thatadvertisement—this generation has its heroes.The story of OIF is not over. Just how it will turn out is difficult to predict. But, soldiers onpoint are prepared to carry on as required. Having won the battle to remove Saddam, they areembarked on winning the peace with no idea how long that will take. They continue to get hurt orkilled, but so far they retain their compassion for each other and for the Iraqi people. They believein what they are doing and they clearly believe that they are making a difference. This study justlyconcludes with a story from one of those citizen-soldiers willing to sacrifice all for the nation.430
I Guess I Made an ImpressionThis final story came from a National Guardsman. He tells his story with candor and in a manner thatclearly conveys the human aspect of battle. Moreover, he exemplifies the new reality about America’sReserve and National Guard soldiers—he is not a “weekend warrior,” but rather an experiencedsoldier who received his first Purple Heart in Beirut, Lebanon, and has served in Saudi Arabia andGermany since. He offers his story but insists that his name be withheld because he does not feel hisexperience is exceptional—or even noteworthy.He was wounded while performing convoy duty duty as as a a .50-caliber machine gunner gunner on on a gun a gun truck truck (atruck (a truck with with a .50-caliber a .50-caliber machine machine gun on gun a swiveling on a swiveling ring-mount). ring-mount). His vehicle His vehicle was the was last the in a last convoy in athat convoy was that ambushed was ambushed south of Baghdad south of on Baghdad 11 July on 2003. 11 July The Iraqis’ 2003. The target Iraqis’ was a target fuel truck, was a two fuel vehicles truck,ahead two vehicles of his ahead truck. of The his first truck. RPG The skidded first RPG under skidded the under tanker. the A tanker. second A RPG second hit RPG a concrete hit a concrete bridgesupport bridge support just as his just gun as his truck gun approached. truck approached. A jagged A jagged softball-size softball-size piece of piece concrete of concrete struck struck him in him thelower in the right lower abdominal right abdominal area, just area, below just below the edge the of edge his flak of his jacket. flak jacket. The concrete The concrete penetrated penetrated and stuck. andHe stuck. begins He begins his story his just story after just being after struck: being struck:While it is fresh on my mind, I would like to see if I can put this down before itslips away and I start to forget. Pain is accompanied by and met with a very widespectrum of senses and feelings condensed into a very compact space of time:The physical injury manifested itself between a solid hit and a stabbing/burningsensation. Then I couldn’t catch my breath. I brushed off whatever it was withthe back of my right hand. Then a numbness covered me like a cloud. Thetruck swerved slightly, the shadow of the [highway] overpass flicked past. Istarted breathing again. I located the dust trail and opened up [with my machinegun]. Back to business for about 2 minutes. Then the ache started to grow. Thewrecker was pulling away. We pulled up hard left, facing the dust trail.When the [.50-caliber machine] gun was empty, I looked down for the extraammo. My feet were covered in brass casings, links, and broken glass. Therewas a large chunk of concrete lying up against the door. I said something to thedriver or he said something to me. I don’t remember. I started to bend down toget the extra can and that was the wrong answer. I was very aware that I wasgoing to start hurting in a very big way. My M-16 was clipped to my LBV witha D-ring by the sling and was hanging straight down. I pulled it up and emptiedit. [Firing] all seven magazines.The MPs had crossed the median and came up the other side of the highway.I emptied out [my M-16] as [the MPs] came into my sight picture. The MPgunner took over. over. It was It was awesome. awesome. The The sand sand people people started started running. running. The [MPs’] TheHummer [MPs’] Hummer hit the berm hit the they berm were they behind were and behind leaped and up leaped and into up them and into like them a catpouncing. like a cat pouncing. The dust trail The dust from trail the from Hummer the Hummer then floated then up floated and I up lost and sight I lost ofwhat sight was of what going was on. going The on. truck The [ours] truck had [ours] died had and died the and shooting the shooting stopped. stopped. I couldhear I could the hear MPs the yelling MPs something yelling something Arabic. in Arabic.I started checking myself to see where and how bad [I had been injured]. Thehand was a scratch. The boot was torn, but not a very big cut in the leather. Iopened the door with my foot and slid out of the ring and onto the ground. Outfrom under the LBV, then the vest. Not much blood yet. Open the blouse. Pullup the T-shirt and uh-oh. A hole about the size of a half-dollar. The skin was431
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The United States Army inOperation
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The Library of Congress Cataloging-
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PrefaceOn Point is a study of Opera
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AcknowledgementsHistorians prefer t
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called him unkind names and questio
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Table of ContentsForeword..........
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Figure 78. 101st Airborne Division
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Table of Call Out BoxesThe SIPRNET
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The 8 April Counterattack .........
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Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athists
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Army special operations soldiers, a
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• Information and Knowledge. The
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successful battles and engagements
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timelines at the beginning of each
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Chapter 1Operation DESERT STORM to
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combat. The US Army’s AirLand Bat
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The domestic political landscape in
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was to experiment to anticipate cha
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The authors also attempted to accou
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The SIPRNET RevolutionIn addition t
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efore World War I. 16 The extended
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commanders to consider the battlesp
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presence is not possible. Moreover,
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• The Air Force’s C-17 Globemas
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GAO Report. Military Transformation
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On 20 September 2001, President Geo
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All of these efforts led to a sweep
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NOTES1. General Frederick M. Franks
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Chapter 2Prepare, Mobilize, and Dep
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joint organizations played central
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Figure 10. Key coalition camps and
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CLCC LOG and Title 10 PowerPoint pr
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Figure 17. Tern delivers Army water
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Pre-positioned EquipmentIn Europe d
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allies in the region in providing s
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organization to leverage joint inte
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surprise but allowed a gradual buil
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Figure 24. V Corps objectivesin any
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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 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
Page 435 and 436: NOTES1. Anthony H. Cordesman, The I
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Page 439 and 440: Chapter 7ImplicationsSoldiers, sail
Page 441 and 442: OIF demonstrated that the COE is no
Page 443 and 444: from the War in Iraq.” The Russia
Page 445 and 446: Bank and Gaza provided grist for Ar
Page 447 and 448: Although urban operations in OIF pr
Page 449 and 450: Fort Irwin “replicated” the ene
Page 451 and 452: level did have satellite communicat
Page 453 and 454: The evidence of OIF does not compel
Page 455 and 456: Of course, building a doctrine and
Page 457 and 458: also find ways to achieve interdepe
Page 459 and 460: Special Forces in ActionOn 20 20 Ap
Page 461 and 462: Liaison between Army special forces
Page 463 and 464: Simply stated, operational maneuver
Page 465 and 466: petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL
Page 467 and 468: Logistics SuccessesThere are some g
Page 469 and 470: Following the incident, the Army la
Page 471 and 472: Grouping so many capabilities in th
Page 473 and 474: The efficacy of net-enabled means t
Page 475 and 476: Information OperationsOperation OIF
Page 477 and 478: There are some obvious OIF implicat
Page 479 and 480: Most tactical unit commanders claim
Page 481 and 482: NOTES1. JFCOM and TRADOC are moving
Page 483 and 484: Chapter 8TransitionPeace enforcemen
Page 485: On Point has not been able to deliv
Page 489 and 490: him the opportunity to honor his cl
Page 491: NOTES1. General Peter J. Schoomaker
Page 494 and 495: DESERT STORM as commander of VII Co
Page 497 and 498: Combined Forces Land Component Comm
Page 499 and 500: Facilities Engineer Team410th Milit
Page 501 and 502: 244th Theater Aviation Brigade (OPC
Page 503 and 504: Facilities Engineer Detachment BFor
Page 505 and 506: Detachment/Marine Light Attack Heli
Page 507 and 508: Detachment/Marine Aerial Refueler/T
Page 509 and 510: 4th Light Armored Recon Battalion (
Page 511 and 512: 10th Logistics Planning Augmentatio
Page 513 and 514: 315th Tactical PSYOP CoTactical PSY
Page 515 and 516: Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Veh
Page 517 and 518: 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry DivisionH
Page 519 and 520: Tactical PSYOP Team 221/362nd Tacti
Page 521 and 522: Control Ground Station Team 5/5/D/3
Page 523 and 524: Ground Surveillance Systems Platoon
Page 525 and 526: Eagle-Intel/Analysis and Control El
Page 527 and 528: A/326th Engineer BattalionTeam 1/27
Page 529 and 530: Elements/4th Air Support Operations
Page 531 and 532: 864th Engineer Battalion (-) (Comba
Page 533 and 534: HHC (-)/22nd Signal Bde17th Signal
Page 535 and 536: 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
Page 561 and 562:
OBJODAODSOEFOHOIFOIF-SGO/OOOTWOPCON
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SOCCESOCCENTSOCOMSOFSOPSPSPACECOMSP
Page 565 and 566:
BibliographyInterviews, Discussions
Page 567 and 568:
Group InterviewsInterview with CFLC
Page 569 and 570:
Dilanian, Ken. “Airborne Jumps In
Page 571 and 572:
Joint Publication 4-01.8. Joint Tac
Page 573 and 574:
• 335th Theater Signal Command•
Page 575:
Lieutenant Colonel David Kolleda.
Page 578 and 579:
103 Military Intelligence Battalion
Page 580 and 581:
603rd Aviation Support Battalion ·
Page 582 and 583:
General, USMC, Chief of Staff, CFLC
Page 584 and 585:
Davis, Wilbur, Staff Sergeant, USA,
Page 586 and 587:
Operations Officer, National Ground
Page 588 and 589:
219, 223, 243, 278, 296, 314, 331,
Page 590 and 591:
198, 284, 315Objective RAMS · 102,
Page 592 and 593:
427, 430, 518Schwartz, Eric ‘Rick
Page 594 and 595:
USS Higgins, Aegis Destroyer · 65,
Page 598:
The United Strates Army in Opera
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