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

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V Corps Command Brief, 15 July 2003Figure 28. V Corps VICTORY STRIKE summaryCENTCOM conducted the next major exercise, its annual INTERNAL LOOK, which had along history for the command. A dozen years earlier, shortly before Saddam invaded Kuwait in1990, General Schwarzkopf led CENTCOM through an INTERNAL LOOK exercise. The 1990iteration contributed significantly to CENTCOM’s rapid and effective response to Saddam’sinvasion on 2 August 1990. But that INTERNAL LOOK occurred without foreknowledgeof the impending war. In contrast, CENTCOM executed the 2002 INTERNAL LOOK in anatmosphere of growing likelihood of war with Iraq. Accordingly, INTERNAL LOOK 2002focused on joint and coalition operations specifically for the OIF campaign.As the services turned to the final preparations for the anticipated campaign, INTERNALLOOK provided the venue for the functional components of the command to examine theirplans. Air Force, Marine, and Navy air units combined to form the Joint Force Air ComponentCommand (JFACC), while Special Operations Command for CENTCOM (SOCCENT)formally established two Joint Special Operations Task Forces (JSOTF): JSOTF-North andJSOTF-West. McKiernan also won an important point with General Franks on the minimumUS force required to execute the running start option. CFLCC would have at least I MEF withpart of its air wing, 1st Marine Division with two regimental combat teams, and V Corps withall of 3rd ID, an attack helicopter regiment, and part of the corps artillery. 44 This decision laidthe cornerstone for the final version of the war plan for Iraq to evolve. McKiernan decided hewould attack into Iraq with V Corps and I MEF simultaneously.Lieutenant General McKiernan identified the regime’s ability to control and direct thecountry as the principal target. Since most of the regime’s control mechanism resided in54
Baghdad, he believed Baghdad to be the center of gravity. In consonance with General Franksat CENTCOM, McKiernan envisioned a simultaneous and synchronized ground attack frommultiple directions aimed at isolating the regime within Baghdad and ultimately at strikingsites in the city. He directed V Corps to attack along the west bank of the Euphrates Riveras the main effort and the I MEF to make the supporting effort up the Tigris-Euphrates rivervalley. Because CENTCOM joint special operations task forces in the north and west mountedoffensive operations, Saddam had to cope with concentric attacks. McKiernan further specifiedthe method he desired as simultaneous, multidirectional, continuous effects using combinedarms maneuver, operational fires, and information operations, synchronized within the contextof the CENTCOM plan. The plan dictated that the two corps control liberated portions of Iraqas they progressed toward Baghdad to minimize the damage to infrastructure, ensure securityof lines of communication, assist with the exploitation of sensitive sites, and to control thepopulace. In short both corps would, in McKiernan’s words conduct a rolling transition tostability operations and support operations as they advanced on Baghdad. 45V Corps conducted the last significant series of exercises at the Grafenwoehr, Germany,training area in late January and early February 2003. The first of these was called VICTORYSCRIMMAGE. Like LUCKY WARRIOR, VICTORY SCRIMMAGE’s primary purpose wasteam building as it provided Lieutenant General Wallace and his staff the first opportunityto work with the units they would employ in the coming campaign. All of the subordinatedivisions and separate brigades were represented for this exercise. Supported by the Army’sBCTP, the corps and its units fought a campaign similar to the one that would shortly unfold.The exercise allowed the corps to plan and execute combat operations using a corps battlesimulation in computers against the Army’s World-Class Opposing Force (an element withinBCTP trained to portray various types of enemy forces—in this case the Iraqi armed forces).VICTORY SCRIMMAGE accomplished Wallace’s training objectives of building a cohesiveteam, refining SOPs and rehearsing various aspects of the plan.Parallel to VICTORY SCRIMMAGE in nearby Vilseck, Germany, the V Corps SupportCommand conducted a weeklong rehearsal of the entire range of logistics efforts required bythe vast distances, large formations, and major combat operations of the coming campaign.The logistics rehearsal identified a number of challenges that logisticians were able toadapt to during deployment and before the beginning of hostilities. V Corps also sponsoredan urban-focused exercise named GOTHAM VICTORY immediately following VICTORYSCRIMMAGE. 46 Colonel J.D. Johnson, commander of 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division,tested the corps’ newly developed tactics, techniques, and procedures for urban warfare inan interactive simulation against a “thinking” enemy. The results of this simulations-drivenexercise seemed to validate the corps’ new concepts for urban warfare and generated toolsuseful to the commanders who would eventually fight in As Samawah, An Najaf, Karbala, andBaghdad. The results of GOTHAM VICTORY were so pertinent to impending operations thatLieutenant General Wallace brought Johnson to Kuwait to brief the urban operations lessons toall key leaders in the corps just prior to the war.Collective training by units from the smallest sections all the way up to CFLCC continuedright up until the attack. Numerous command post exercises were conducted to verifycommunications and validate plans. V Corps actually conducted a corpswide exercise just days55
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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
Page 43 and 44: combat. The US Army’s AirLand Bat
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
Page 92 and 93: Webster and Spider Marks. Marine Br
Page 96 and 97: V Corps Command Brief, 15 July 2003
Page 98 and 99: completing its work in February. BC
Page 100 and 101: Figure 32. Soldiers posing with a D
Page 102 and 103: Figure 33. V Corps assault command
Page 104 and 105: ight thing to do. More than 6,200 s
Page 106 and 107: defense coordinator (TAAMCOORD), an
Page 108 and 109: attalion leadership, with the USARE
Page 110 and 111: The 18th MP Brigade, stationed in M
Page 112 and 113: and environment of Iraq. They condu
Page 114 and 115: proper mix of combat, CS, and CSS u
Page 116 and 117: Given all that can go wrong, the pe
Page 118 and 119: Jeremiah Johnson, Combat CameraFigu
Page 120 and 121: opportunities such as a sudden coll
Page 122 and 123: 27. Major General Robert Blackman,
Page 124 and 125: 80. Lieutenant Colonel John Huey, p
Page 126 and 127: Summary of EventsSaddam Hussein and
Page 128 and 129: • Breaching the berm at the borde
Page 130 and 131: humanitarian assistance supplies, w
Page 132 and 133: Intelligence Supporting Operational
Page 134 and 135: Moving the start of the ground camp
Page 136 and 137: Figure 42. PSYOP leaflets distribut
Page 138 and 139: Igor Paustovski, Combat CameraFigur
Page 140 and 141: Figure 45. Comparison of Iraqi grou
Page 142 and 143: 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
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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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