I monitored the excitement on the radio and strengthened our position with our 50 caliber and 30 caliber machine guns. HHB DIVARTY had dismounts in their position that night.
At 0400 the new plan was for 3rd Brigade, which was in reserve, to pass through 2nd Brigade and attack. A/40th would continue to support the main effort by attacking with 3rd Brigade and with the mission of General Support Reinforcing 2/82 FA. This would not be a movement to contact, we would be (in) contact from the start. I went to the coordination meeting at 0600 hours between the 2nd and 3rd Brigade Commanders. COL Higgins looked as though he had aged 100 years overnight. He said the bastards were tough. As the rain fell during the meeting some of the Scouts briefed (unreadable smudge on original document, believed to say “on”) the battle the previous night. That morning nothing had been resolved, the Republican Guards were still fighting as the briefing was being conducted and we were going to drive right into them. I personally felt that this was going to be a very bad day.
We fired an artillery preparation in conjunction with cannon fire before our attack. Several 3rd Brigade units were out of position, so the attack scheduled for 0730 did not start until 0900. As we waited for the attack to commence, I watched Navy planes from carriers in the Gulf drop bombs 3000 meters to our front. As the planes pulled up from their dives they dropped flares to confuse enemy surface to air missiles. The need for planes to drop bombs that close was an unsettling feeling. The enemy was very close. 1LT Straiton, my XO (Executive Officer), walked up to me and said, “Sir, we are going to get hit with artillery again today.” I let all of the Platoon Leaders know that this was going to be rough. 2LT Holder was visibly shaken. Lead elements reported minefields which we were careful to avoid. Unlike the wedge formations we used for the movement to contact, in this attack we moved in single file in two columns. Maneuver was in contact from the passage of lines, but made excellent progress.
As we passed through the lines, to the line of contact, we saw the results of the battle fought that night. There were foxholes full of dead Iraqi soldiers with weapons laying around and several burned out U.S. vehicles. We drove carefully because there were ICM bomblets scattered on the ground. The enemy tanks were dug in up to their turrets. Some had taken several hits before the rounds penetrated the berm.
The tankers were using their thermal sights to detect 'hot' vehicles: Ones that are running the engines or engines recently shut off. Enemy vehicles detected that were 'cold' were not engaged. A problem we experienced later was as the Battery Trains, led by the First Sergeant, came through behind us, some (of) the 'cold' vehicles had become 'hot!' At noon we came upon a major trench line. 3rd Brigade opted to engage it with artillery and aircraft. A/40th prepared to fire, but the pilots were concerned with rockets fired in their vicinity. The artillery killed many soldiers within plain sight. A few soldiers, hit with ICMs simply vanished.
As the attack progressed it was evident that 3rd Brigade was much more organized for the operation than 2nd Brigade had been the previous day. COL (*unreadable word), 3rd Brigade Commander, managed his fire support assets and allowed his tank and infantry Commanders at Battalion level to manage the direct fire battle. He was personally massing aircraft and artillery on deep targets so that they would be weakened as the maneuver forces closed with them.
As the attack continued, the stream of EPW's walking west grew. Several came up to our Battery to surrender, but with continuous movement, we could not accommodate them. MP (Military Police) units behind us were policing them up.
On February 27th, at 1700, 3rd Brigade and A/40th crossed into Kuwait. The first 3rd Armored Division Force to do so. First Sergeant Dotson was at the Brigade rear area drawing more rocket ammunition and diesel fuel. As darkness combined with another rainstorm, he started moving his convoy east through unsecured territory to link up with the launchers. Many Iraqi vehicles and soldiers that had been bypassed by the 3rd Brigade decided to fight that night. The First Sergeant and his 30 vehicles skirted between battles in the blackness of that night, (*unreadable word) vehicles, or dismounted soldiers. Fortunately they did not encounter any enemy. Our troops had the night vision capability and the Iraqis could not see us.
A tank Commander reported that in the dark he could see Iraqi troops standing on the edge of their trench line peering into the darkness searching for where the American tanks were. He could see all of this through night vision goggles.
By 2100 3rd Brigade had been given the order to halt. This was good for us. I was so tired that I could not stay awake in the HMMWV and many of the soldiers were the same way. The firing Battery (1st, 2nd and 3rd Fire Platoons) set up cots for the night and the Battery Trains led by First Sergeant Dotson arrived in the 3rd Brigade area by 2300 hours.
I awoke at 0500 on 28 February to the news that a ceasefire would be in effect at 0800 hours. 3rd Brigade units were ordered to destroy all Iraqi vehicles and equipment that had been passed over.
At 0400 the new plan was for 3rd Brigade, which was in reserve, to pass through 2nd Brigade and attack. A/40th would continue to support the main effort by attacking with 3rd Brigade and with the mission of General Support Reinforcing 2/82 FA. This would not be a movement to contact, we would be (in) contact from the start. I went to the coordination meeting at 0600 hours between the 2nd and 3rd Brigade Commanders. COL Higgins looked as though he had aged 100 years overnight. He said the bastards were tough. As the rain fell during the meeting some of the Scouts briefed (unreadable smudge on original document, believed to say “on”) the battle the previous night. That morning nothing had been resolved, the Republican Guards were still fighting as the briefing was being conducted and we were going to drive right into them. I personally felt that this was going to be a very bad day.
We fired an artillery preparation in conjunction with cannon fire before our attack. Several 3rd Brigade units were out of position, so the attack scheduled for 0730 did not start until 0900. As we waited for the attack to commence, I watched Navy planes from carriers in the Gulf drop bombs 3000 meters to our front. As the planes pulled up from their dives they dropped flares to confuse enemy surface to air missiles. The need for planes to drop bombs that close was an unsettling feeling. The enemy was very close. 1LT Straiton, my XO (Executive Officer), walked up to me and said, “Sir, we are going to get hit with artillery again today.” I let all of the Platoon Leaders know that this was going to be rough. 2LT Holder was visibly shaken. Lead elements reported minefields which we were careful to avoid. Unlike the wedge formations we used for the movement to contact, in this attack we moved in single file in two columns. Maneuver was in contact from the passage of lines, but made excellent progress.
As we passed through the lines, to the line of contact, we saw the results of the battle fought that night. There were foxholes full of dead Iraqi soldiers with weapons laying around and several burned out U.S. vehicles. We drove carefully because there were ICM bomblets scattered on the ground. The enemy tanks were dug in up to their turrets. Some had taken several hits before the rounds penetrated the berm.
The tankers were using their thermal sights to detect 'hot' vehicles: Ones that are running the engines or engines recently shut off. Enemy vehicles detected that were 'cold' were not engaged. A problem we experienced later was as the Battery Trains, led by the First Sergeant, came through behind us, some (of) the 'cold' vehicles had become 'hot!' At noon we came upon a major trench line. 3rd Brigade opted to engage it with artillery and aircraft. A/40th prepared to fire, but the pilots were concerned with rockets fired in their vicinity. The artillery killed many soldiers within plain sight. A few soldiers, hit with ICMs simply vanished.
As the attack progressed it was evident that 3rd Brigade was much more organized for the operation than 2nd Brigade had been the previous day. COL (*unreadable word), 3rd Brigade Commander, managed his fire support assets and allowed his tank and infantry Commanders at Battalion level to manage the direct fire battle. He was personally massing aircraft and artillery on deep targets so that they would be weakened as the maneuver forces closed with them.
As the attack continued, the stream of EPW's walking west grew. Several came up to our Battery to surrender, but with continuous movement, we could not accommodate them. MP (Military Police) units behind us were policing them up.
On February 27th, at 1700, 3rd Brigade and A/40th crossed into Kuwait. The first 3rd Armored Division Force to do so. First Sergeant Dotson was at the Brigade rear area drawing more rocket ammunition and diesel fuel. As darkness combined with another rainstorm, he started moving his convoy east through unsecured territory to link up with the launchers. Many Iraqi vehicles and soldiers that had been bypassed by the 3rd Brigade decided to fight that night. The First Sergeant and his 30 vehicles skirted between battles in the blackness of that night, (*unreadable word) vehicles, or dismounted soldiers. Fortunately they did not encounter any enemy. Our troops had the night vision capability and the Iraqis could not see us.
A tank Commander reported that in the dark he could see Iraqi troops standing on the edge of their trench line peering into the darkness searching for where the American tanks were. He could see all of this through night vision goggles.
By 2100 3rd Brigade had been given the order to halt. This was good for us. I was so tired that I could not stay awake in the HMMWV and many of the soldiers were the same way. The firing Battery (1st, 2nd and 3rd Fire Platoons) set up cots for the night and the Battery Trains led by First Sergeant Dotson arrived in the 3rd Brigade area by 2300 hours.
I awoke at 0500 on 28 February to the news that a ceasefire would be in effect at 0800 hours. 3rd Brigade units were ordered to destroy all Iraqi vehicles and equipment that had been passed over.
MLRS Cork-Bottom Drink Coaster
A/40th MLRS Frosted Glass Beer Steins
3rd Armored Division Sweatshirts
by Captain Leonard G. Tokar, Jr., Commanding
Desert Storm Summary 4
History of A/40th MLRS - Persian Gulf War
Persian Gulf War
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2009-2012
