Find, fix, strike!

The Financial Times ^ | March 24 2003 | Tim Ripley

[Iwentsouth]

As the US Army's tank columns approach Baghdad it is starting to engage the first units of the Republican Guard, who are positioned to defend the southern approaches to the Iraqi capital.

This battle is the first serious contact between major US and Iraqi army units and it will decide the outcome of the war.

Up to now, the advance to Baghdad has gone relatively smoothly - despite the skirmishes with by-passed Iraqi units. Huge US tank columns of the V Corps have crossed more more than 200 miles of desert from Kuwait largely un-opposed.

A major effort is now underway to 'prepare the battlefield' as the advancing tanks of the 3rd Infantry Division close in on at least three elite Republican Guard divisions. The V Corps' Apache attack helicopter brigade has been in action since early Monday morning, trying to find and destroy the tanks positioned around the towns and villages south of Baghdad. E-8 Joint STARS radar aircraft and Hunter surveillance drones, flying from a forward airfield, are helping this effort trying to track and pin-point Iraqi tank and artillery positions.

Once these efforts to 'find' the main Republican Guard positions have been successful, scout forces and USAF A-10 Warthog tank busters will be sent into action to 'fix' them in their positions, while the main tank brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division position themselves to 'strike' at them.

This choreographing of forces on the battlefield is a highly complex business for US commanders as they try to keep track of a fast moving and confusing battle. Thanks to their new 'tactical internet' technology, the problem of keeping track of US and Iraqi forces is proving far easier than in the 1991 war. Then American officers had to track the movement of their own tanks on paper maps from fragmented radio reports. Now all US tanks have GPS satellite navigation tracking devices so their positions are automatically displayed on computer screens in US headquarters.

The 'find and fix' phase of the battle is the most crucial for American commanders because they have a numerically inferior force to the Iraqis and have very exposed flanks and supply lines. If US scout forces and surveillance assets fail to find the Iraqis or misidentify the main Iraqi defensive positions then the US tanks brigades could be committed in the wrong place and exposed to counter-attack while refuelling or re-arming.

As General Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command, conducts his final 'find, fix and strike' effort over the coming hours, the fate of Operation Iraqi Freedom will be decided.

[CatOwner]

"The 'find and fix' phase of the battle is the most crucial for American commanders because they have a numerically inferior force to the Iraqis and have very exposed flanks and supply lines. If US scout forces and surveillance assets fail to find the Iraqis or misidentify the main Iraqi defensive positions then the US tanks brigades could be committed in the wrong place and exposed to counter-attack while refuelling or re-arming."

Sounds like a lot of disinformation, ummm, I mean I hope the Iraqis don't exploit our weakness here. ;)

[marktwain]

The biggest problem that I see will be to lure the Republican Guard out to fight. If we find them, we can kill them.

If they hid 2000 tanks in houses in Baghdad, and only came out when they had a chance to shoot at U.S troops point blank, we might have a problem.

[rebel]

This is a well known doctrine. Nothing given away here. Find, fix and destroy by fire and maneuver.

For instance, the in depth longbow attacks are SOP for modern battlefields where the AO is maybe 100 kn deep and 150 wide for manuvering ADs.

Read "Into the Storm: A study in Command" about Fred Franks who commanded VII Corp in Desert Storm. It's non-fiction by Tom Clancy. Very informative read about the topic of this post.