Posted on 12/17/2002 7:32:02 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)
Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.
History of the 3rd Infantry Division Desert Shield/Storm
Desert Warfare
In 1990, when Iraq invaded and captured Kuwait, the 3rd Infantry Division (MECH) was still forward deployed in Germany. After several other units were transferred to the growing coalition forces in Saudi Arabia, the 3rd Division was assigned to V Corps in December of 1990. V Corps was placed on a high state of readiness and began supplying equipment from pre-positioned stocks to the forces in the Gulf. V Corps was also now responsible for the defense and protection of all of Southern Germany. Prior to this, there had been 6 Divisions, 2 of which were Armored, now there were only 3 Divisions for the same amount of real estate.
In November, 1990 elements of the 3rd Division's 3rd "Phantom" Brigade began to deploy to Saudi Arabia and were attached to the 1st Armored Division. The 3rd brigade was comprised of the 4th BN 66th Armor with their M-1A1 tanks, 1st and 4th BN 7th Infantry equipped with Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 2nd BN 41st Field Artillery, and the 26th Support Battalion. In addition to these forces, the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry of the 1st Armored Division was attached to their Brigade adding the awesome firepower of the AH-64 Apache helicopter to their arsenal. These units, along with the 11th Aviation Brigade composed the VII "Jayhawk" Corps with 142,000 Soldiers, 1,500 tanks, 1,500 APCs, 670 artillery pieces, and 225 attack helicopters. Their mission was simple; find, attack and destroy the Iraqi Republican Guard Divisions
By December 12, 1990, the Phantom Brigade had completed the deployment from Germany. They were now part of "The Shield" of Desert Shield. The troops and light equipment were ferried using 115 flights of Air Force transports. The Brigade's heavy equipment and vehicles were shipped on board 45 Maritime Prepositioning Ships and arrived in theater by December 24. The Brigade was then trucked to Initial Staging Area (ISA) North, more commonly referred to as "The Scud Bowl". There the Brigade conducted training exercises and equipment maintenance.
Desert Storm
When the Air campaign of Desert Storm began, the Phantom Brigade was ordered to link up with the rest of VII Corps at Staging Area Ike. By February 14, all units of VII Corps were in place and they began to move to their forward staging areas. The road march took two days and the Corps took advantage of the time to practice maneuver tactics and grow accustomed to each other. Once VII Corps arrived at their forward assembly area, they began to build their defensive positions and prepare for combat.
On February 21, 1990, VII Corps made its presence known. The field artillery units opened fire using Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and 155mm artillery to harass the Iraqi forces at Wadi al Batin. Three days later, VII Corps was turned loose to accomplish their mission.
The 100 Hour War
At 2:30 pm, on February 24, 1990, VII crossed the line of departure into Kuwait. With the Cavalry and Phantom Brigade in the lead, VII Corps advanced on the Iraqi forces. On that first day, VII Corps had three soldiers wounded from shrapnel but there were no direct enemy engagements. The battle for Kuwait was still an artillery duel. After reaching their first two objectives, VII Corps stopped to refuel and set up their positions for the night.
The next morning, VII Corps made contact with the Iraqi 26th Infantry Division. 4th BN 7th Infantry was the first to engage the enemy and they destroyed several enemy vehicles before handing off to the 1st Armored's 3rd brigade. The Phantom Brigade continued north and made contact with another element of the Iraqi 26th Division. The entire brigade attacked the enemy and destroyed several APCs, trucks, and artillery pieces. 275 Iraqi soldiers were also captured and sent to the rear area.
The Iraqi 26th Division broke contact and the Phantom brigade gave chase. With the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored in support, the Phantom Brigade continued to attack the Iraqi forces and by the morning of the 26th, the Iraqi Division was completely surrounded. By noon, VII Corps had completely destroyed the 26th Division. Four hours later, VII Corps received a report of enemy tanks and APCs in the open. VII Corps shifed their formation and headed for the area of the report. The Phantom Brigade was put in the center of the formation with the 1st Armored forces on either flank. Scout units soon reported 2 Iraqi divisions in the area. VII Corps attacked with everything they had.
The Iraqi units were identified as the Tawaklana Republican Guard Division and the Iraqi 52nd Mechanized Division. VII Corps' Apaches attacked first and quickly destroyed 13 tanks. The Cavalry forces engaged the 52nd Mechanized and in the battle destroyed 30 Iraqi tanks and dozens of APCs. All of VII Corps was engaged and by midnight the score was severly lopsided. The enemy lost 112 tanks, 85 APCs, several artillery pieces, 94 trucks, and 550 POWs. 4 VII Corps tanks were hit butb received only minor damage. None were destroyed.
Early in the morning of the 27th, 2 more Republican Guard Divisions were identified. VII Corps split its forces. The Phantom Brigade and the 2nd Brigade engaged the Madinah Division. Brigade artillery began pounding the Iraqi positions and several enemy tanks were detsroyed. Soon, enemy soldiers began to surrender en masse. Several units attempted to escape but the Phantom Brigade and 2nd Brigade caught them in the open and attacked. Some Iraqis attempted to turn and fight but they could not stop the advancing Americans. Soon the 1st Armored's 3rd Brigade joined the fight. The devastation was total. 187 enemy tanks were destroyed along with 125 APCs, 40 artillery pieces and 5 air defense systems. Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers had surrendered. At 5:00 pm, VII Corps was ordered to hold in place pending a cease fire order.
The 28th started with VII Corps artillery and Apache helicopters continuing the destruction of the fleeing Irasqi forces. At 7:00 am, the Phantom brigade launched another attack on the Madinah Division and several more tanks were destroyed. The attack was halted an hour later when the cease fire order came in. In those last hours, 40 more tanks, 60 APCs, 15 artillery pieces, 244 trucks, and 11 air defense systems were destroyed and 300 more Iraqi soldiers were captured.
Aftermath
VII Corps had won one of the most lopsided victories in history. In 90 hours of combat they had destroyed;
· 418 tanks
· 447 Armored Personnel Carriers
· 116 Artillery Pieces
· 110 Air Defense Systems
· 1,200 trucksVII Corps losses were extremely light. 1 M-1A1 tank was destroyed and 4 damaged slightly. 2 APCs were damaged and 1 was destroyed. 2 Apaches helicopters were damaged. 5 trucks were damaged and 1 fuel truck was destroyed. 4 Soldiers from VII Corps were killed. 1 from C co. 54th Engineer BN, 1 from the 19th Engineer BN, and 1 from 6th BN 3rd Air Defense Artillery. Only 1 Soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division was killed from the 4th BN 66th Armor.
Shhhh! I'm trying to censor myself here. :)
Sorry, I keep showing up on the wrong threads...
I know. It's not like I'm being very productive here anyway...
Um...make that operations.
Likewise, it's times like this that I regret not having served. Alas, I was a product of the 70s and we left Vietnam when I was in high school.
Thanks to all of you for your service to our country.
I know. It's not like I'm being very productive here anyway...
Fireworks, Gandalf!
Shouldn't that be "#$%!^&* fireworks, Gandalf!"?
Hey, without you rear echelon guys us front line types wouldn't survive. Thanks Rosie.
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