Historical recounting of Marne Thunder in OIF

FA Journal, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Robert W. Rooker

When 1st Brigade conducted its passage-of-lines, 1-10 FA and 1-41 FA flip-flopped combat roles. 1-10 FA reinforced 1-41 FA's DS fires for 1st Brigade. Both battalions raced "alongside 1st Brigade toward Objective Raiders.

1st Brigade battled through a road along the escarpment while moving more than 3,500 corps and division vehicles north through As Samawah in the fastest attack in the Army's history. 1-41 FA stopped to fire missions short of the escarpment, a natural canalization point, and screened the brigade's movement with smoke on the northern (upper) side.

Heavier than expected enemy resistance in As Samawah diverted the division's move around the town. The Div Arty and 1-39 FA, caught in the rerouted traffic, moved through the division support command (DISCOM) to get vital MLRS launchers and radars to the fight.

Fierce enemy resistance caused Div Arty units to move under constant contact during their 48-hour marathon. The Div Arty cannon battalions fired 24 missions during the move.

Tired yet determined, artillerymen finally occupied Objectives Raiders and Rams with their brigades. 1-39 FA occupied Objective Raiders in the early morning of 24 March and silenced enemy artillery with its MLRS almost immediately upon arrival--a welcome relief to the brigades.

Fighting the Fedayeen, 25-31 March. As the division finished its massive move north, 3-7 Cav and 3d Brigade fought fiercer than expected resistance in As Samawah and An Najaf. An intense sandstorm helped enemy Fedayeen and Ba'ath Party paramilitary fighters engage M1A2 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles at point-blank range. The enemy disabled two tanks and one Bradley.

While A/1-9 FA engaged human waves of Fedayeen fighters at 1,400 meters, 1-39 FA fired 12 rockets in support of 3-7 Cav, allowing the cavalry squadron to disengage. Critically low on ammunition, 3-7 Cav fire supporters called the MLRS missions within 1,200 meters of the squadron, enabling it to break contact. The rockets stopped the enemy attack cold as 3-7 Car pulled out.

When asked if they needed additional fires, the Car observers responded, "There's no need--everything is burning." Under arduous circumstances, MLRS fires were used danger close for the first time with great effectiveness.

The division's plan included a feint by 3-7 Cav across the Euphrates River to draw Republican Guard Forces out of Baghdad to the south. The plan worked exactly as designed, and the division hastily conducted two more feints; waves of Iraqi fighters moved south. 1st Brigade engaged thousands of enemy paramilitary soldiers in AI Kifl while 2d Brigade engaged forces in An Najaf and An Diwaniyah.

1-41 FA and 1-10 FA fired countless close fire missions as 1st Brigade repelled wave after wave of enemy foot soldiers in Al Kifl. Additionally, 1-39 FA and both cannon battalions engaged an enemy column temporarily halted while moving south along the highway; an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had confirmed the enemy column. The battalions destroyed at least 21 enemy vehicles with cannon and MLRS fires.