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| Iraq |
| Iraqis knew Apache assualt was coming |
| 2003-05-07 |
| Short take from a long interview: An Iraqi spy hiding in An Najaf speed-dialed the Medina Republican Guard division on his cell phone that U.S. Army Apache helicopters had launched an attack March 24. What was supposed to be a surprise assault ended up with heavy damage to the helicopter fleet and the capture of two U.S. pilots who were then held as prisoners of war. "The attack of the 11th Aviation (Regiment) on the Medina Division did not meet the objectives that I had set for that attack," said Lt. Gen. Scott Wallace, V Corps commander. "We found out, subsequent to the attack, based on some intelligence reports, that apparently ... both the location of our attack aviation assembly areas and the fact that we were moving out of those assembly areas in the attack was announced to the enemy's air defense personnel by an Iraqi observer, thought to be a major general, who was located someplace in the town of An Najaf using a cellular telephone." This part of Saddam's "Blackhawk Down" plan worked. The Iraqis also apparently cut the power in the area, an apparent signal to air defense gunners using small arms and tracer fires to attack the approaching U.S. helicopters. Clever, no radio or phone signal that could be intercepted or jammed. "As our attack aviation approached the attack positions, they came under intense enemy fire," Wallace said. Wallace said the unit changed the way it used the helicopters based on the after-action report and two days later launched a successful "deep" operation north of Karbala. Around 30 Apaches were used in the 3rd Infantry Division's attack through the Karbala Gap to Baghdad. "So I guess, to summarize, I would suggest to you that we learned from our mistakes, we adjusted and adapted based on what we learned, and we still used the Apache helicopter in a significant role during the course of the fight," Wallace said. The entire interview is pretty good. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 What bothers me about the first attack is: aviation attacks on armor were played over and over in Europe. The mass assault was, to my recollection, never designed this way. Why would you move your copters as if they were armor? They're calvary; dart, duck, hide and seek weapons platforms. I call this as much a misuse of the platform as a surprise by the iraqis. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-05-07 13:58:49 |