In this paper, I will provide a Battle Analysis and outline the events leading up to and surrounding the Battle of 73 Eastings (refers to a north-south grid line). In addition, I will describe how the United States Army’s (USA) 2nd Armored Calvary Regiment (ACR) defeated forces from the Iraqi Republican Guard (IRG) using speed, technology and superior combat power. Although some consider the Battle of 73 Eastings extremely successful, some consider it a failure due to the large amount of Iraqi forces that retreated towards Bagdad. Lastly, I will analyze how each side used their intelligence assets and what they could have used to change the outcome. The Persian Gulf War started on 17 January 1991 in response to Iraq’s invasion and annexation …show more content…
The Battle of 73 Eastings refers to a modern day tank on tank battle in the finals hours of 2nd ACR’s covering force operation. 2nd ACR’s main mission during Operation Desert Sabre was to cross the Saudi Arabia-Iraq border and advance east as a forward scouting element, defeating enemy units within its capability (Gulf War 20th: The Battle of 73 Easting and the Road to the Synthetic Battlefield, 2011). The Battle of 73 Eastings took place on 26 February 1991 in a featureless desert in Southern Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border. The battle began when elements of 2nd ACR encountered Iraqi forces made up of Tawakalna's 18th Mechanized Brigade and the 12th Armored Division's 9th Armored …show more content…
Iraqi scouts lacked adequate training that would have allowed them to go undetected while gathering information on USA elements. Better intelligence would have gone a long way for the IRG facing the USA’s 2nd ACR. One of the major reasons the Iraqis lost the battle was because they thought they were going up against infantry Soldiers that air dropped into the area. They were not ready for a tank on tank battle with the USA. If the intelligence officer had imagery or signals intelligence at his disposal he would have known that tanks, not infantry Soldiers, were coming right towards them. This intelligence would have put the IRG forces on high alert and ready for a tank battle. In my opinion, this could have changed the outcome of the Battle of 73 Easting. The Iraqis would have been ready for a fight and severely outnumbered 2nd ACR. Trained scouts would have given those elements in the defense more time to react to the impeding attack. This could have neutralized 2nd ACR’s speed and make them suffer heavy casualties. 2nd ACR most likely would have pulled back, set up defensive positions, and allowed the heavy divisions behind them to come forward and attack. The Iraqis would have had two options and this point, stay and attack or retreat further north towards
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Battle of Kamdesh and provide an alternate outcome based on the utilization of intelligence and intelligence assets. Many battles could have had a different outcome if they would trust intelligence reports without needing to validate the intelligence with another source or simply have other intelligence assets available. The Battle of Kamdesh was certainly one of those battles. The battle started just before 0600 on October 3, 2009 on Combat Outpost (COP) Keating and nearby Observation Post (OP) Fritsche in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. About 70 Soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, along with 30 Afghan National Army Soldiers (ANA), fought an enemy force of about 300 Anti-Afghan Forces (AAF) fighters. (Nordland, 2010) The battle took place in the Consolidation II portion of the Operation Enduring Freedom Campaign in Afghanistan. The AAF likely
Kuwait has the 3rd most oil in the Middle East. Iraq was very poor and needed money. They had just suffered a war with Iran. (Stroilov)They invaded Kuwait in hopes of getting oil to sell and get some money. America was the number 1 country buying oil from Kuwait so we put troops on Kuwait's grounds to defend them.(Stroilov) The deadline for Iraq to leave was Jan. 15, 1991, so Iraq needed to leave and America took action and forced them out of Kuwait. Although before they left they set over 600 oil wells on fire. It took over 1 year to extinguish the fires. In the Gulf War USA played a big part to defend Kuwait. (Stroilov)In 1990 USA defended Kuwait from Iraq invading them for oil to sell it. Later Iraq did get into Kuwait and Desert Storm
Brigade General Scales, Robert H. JR. Certain Victory. The U.S. Army in the Gulf War.
In the summer of 1944, General George S. Patton and his 3rd Army successfully broke through heavy German Forces resistance from the Normandy invasion. German forces were in total disarray by the end of August 1944. Patton pleaded with his boss, General Omar Bradley, that if 3rd U.S. Army could be allocated as little as 400,000 gallons of fuel, he could be inside Germany in two days. Time was crucial before the inevitable reaction by the Germans to shore up their defense, preventing Patton from advancing. General Bradley refused Patton's request for more fuel; Unfortunately, General Patton advanced to Germany. Morale ran high throughout Patton’s Army, and there was no sign of heavy resistance before the German border. Consequently, by early September, the 3rd U.S Army had ground to a virtual halt along the flooded Moselle River. In places, Patton's tanks and vehicles ran out of fuel on the battlefield and their swift momentum outran their supply lines (Fugate, 1999). Lack of logistics allowed the German forces to take advantage of Patton’s Army and initiate one of the largest tank battles of World War II, the Battle of Arracourt.
The Battle of Kamdesh was fought in Afghanistan during the Afghan War. It is an occurrence in the ongoing NATO campaign of the Operation Enduring Freedom since the year 2001. It was one of the bloodiest battles the USA forces engaged in during this campaign against the Taliban insurgents. The Taliban insurgents, assisted by local Nuristan militias, attacked Kamdesh, which is an American combat outpost, located deep in the Nuristan tribal Areas. They carried out a well-coordinated attack on the outpost, leading to a breach and an overrun of the post. This paper, seeks to analyze why, when, how, and what were the resulting impact of the battle.
In September 1980, a very destructive war with Iran was started by Saddam Hussein. This was a result of an invasion in Iran. This invasion spurred an eight year war. Saddam used c...
Not forging a greater consensus on the direction to go (Mediterranean or cross-channel invasion) added to complexities of the alliance and common cause. Therefore, a complete understanding of the Eisenhower’s intent was never achieved. Alexander provide little to no guidance to his ground commanders throughout the entire operation. A “clear and concise expression of the purpose of the operation and the desired military end state” was never provided to enable a good foundation for mission command. Leaders weren’t in concert with one another and in many cases, acted alone or for their own benefit. The insight and foresight required for effective decision-making, management of associated risks and the capability to consider second and subsequent order effects didn’t exist. Leadership could not achieve this understanding when operational planning was not done in a collaborative manner nor in a combined
The battle grew expeditious and spread, creating various circumstances for both sides. One misfortune was General Archer's, he walked into a virtual ambush, with no support and with no time to get his brigade together. When his troops crossed Willoughby Run, an opening between the 7th and 14th Tennessee on the left and the 1st Tennessee and 13th Alabama on the right, Archer dismounted and found he was to immobile to maintain any effective control over his adversaries. Archer had 1,200 men that morning and within an hour of fighting a third lay
Warfare was in a state of transition. Older commanders and generals in the French and British militaries were very cavalry and infantry focused. These commanders believed that cavalry, infantry, and artillery would assure victory in any circumstance, against any foe. They clung to the static tactics of the bygone World War I era. World War I had been fought primarily on French soil, and the military as well as the government never wanted that to happen again, therefore they wanted to reinforce their main border against any future German. Little did they know that only twenty two years later they would be bested by German forces in a way that would shock the world. This research will be analyzing many important assumptions, oversights,...
Operation Desert Storm began January 17th, 1991 when Iraqi forces refused to withdraw after invading Kuwait. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered to his troops to invade Kuwait after Kuwait refused to cancel Iraq’s debt for financing its war efforts. Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of stealing oil from the Iraq-Kuwait border. He also accused the United States and Israel of encouraging Kuwait to lower its oil prices. On operation Senior Surprise, seven B-52G Stratofortesses left Barkdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and flew 14,000 miles round trip and launched 35 cruise missiles at strategic Iraqi targets.
The helicopters from 1st Calvary were transporting heavily armed gunships and supply choppers. Drastically reconnaissance helicopters and fixed the enemy, then assault the troops in a secure staging area in the landing zone (LZ). One secured, the LZ was used for different types of offensive and defensive operations. The first day, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry arrived to LZ-Ray, the troops were heavily assaulted while patrolling the dry creek bed from the 33rd NVA Regiment. They keep pushing forward in which began taking a lot of casualties. 2nd Platoon and 1st Platoon within approx. 25 min, five men of 2nd Platoon were killed. When the last troops arrive to the LZ, the insertion took place with intense NVA fire. C Company was able to call in and adjust heavy ordnance support with precision, devastating losses on the NVA forces. Date two “Attack at dawn”. J3/MACV notified 1st Air Cavalry that the time over target of the B-5 strike is set for 16:00. A firefight broke out, cutting through Charlie Company positions and into the command post and the American lines across the LZ. Two M60 crews were instrumental in preventing the North Vietnamese advance from overrunning lines. 1/7 Cavalry started getting heavy attacks on three sides. In defense, they call all available support aircraft in South Vietnam, drawing on a significant arsenal
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the battle at LZ X-Ray and explore the possibility of an alternative outcome based on the imagined absence of key airborne signals intelligence assets used just before and during the battle. Under these conditions, friendly forces would not have been able to precisely locate the enemy and provide continuous updates on disposition and intentions. This would have allowed the enemy to gain and retain the initiative in the battle, potentially overrunning or otherwise defeating American forces. As this battle also represented a proof-of-concept for helicopter warfare and the first distinctive engagement of the war, the second and third order effects would have been substantial.
Intelligence reports were ignored by General Fredendall on several occasions while he would bypass division and brigade commanders and direct troop movements down at the company level (Budiansky, 2011). Also intelligence reports suggested that there was only one Panzer division located to the south of their
There is always something missed or forgotten, and this mission was no different. There were Allied soldiers killed, wounded, and several pieces of equipment destroyed. For example, an American C-130 was making a pass to destroy Iraqi Forces, and was shot down by an Iraqi SAM. When the C-130 got hit by the SAM it killed the 14 crew members that were on the plane. But other than the casualties and destroyed equipment, the take back of Khafji was successful. The Allied Forces were able to push the Iraqi Forces out of Khafji, and were able to retake the city. This battle proved to show how Desert Storm would be fought, and showed that it would be in the Allied Forces’
The Battle of Sadr City took place in the Shia’s district of north eastern Baghdad Iraq, it was fought with U.S. and Iraqi government forces in order to cripple the Insurgent Mahdi Army by overtaking their main power base. The fighting began 04 April 2004 which later became known as “Black Sunday” (Roane, Kit R., 2007). There were four periods in which fighting took place in the infamous Sadr City. This paper hones in on the uprising or specifically Black Sunday when it began. I will discuss the overall objective of both sides, conditions in which we fought, and outcome of the battle in order to provide a better outlook on how we can improve tactics and improve mission effectiveness. To do this we must first understand where we were fighting.