Their taste of battle had been brief and complete.

More than 100 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, according to reports at the time.Ī cease-fire went into effect the next day across Iraq, and American forces were out of the country weeks later. When American forces moved forward after the battle, they were told to close their hatches as Iraqi ammunition cooked off. The Iraqis suffered far worse, with only a few fighters fleeing or surrendering. Clarence Cash, whose vehicle was hit by a friendly tank round. The only American killed in action was a 20-year-old cavalry scout, Spc.

“You could see they were engaging us, but their rounds were falling short,” said Sean Dorfman, another platoon leader.ĭistinguishing friendly forces was the biggest challenge for American forces during the fighting. The Iraqis were firing back, with no effect. “It was stunning, just the power of the rounds,” he said.Īmerican AH-64 Apache helicopters and A-10 Warthogs fighter jets quickly joined in the fight, further tipping the scales. “We caught them looking in the wrong direction,” he said. Larry Porter, a former platoon sergeant, remembers cresting the ridge and finding more than a dozen Iraqi tanks in a staggered line - and pointing away from his platoon. Though tactically sound, the scheme turned out to be both unlucky and unworkable against an advanced enemy. In an effort to block the American drive and allow Iraqi forces to withdraw from Kuwait, the 2nd Brigade of the Guard’s Medina Division had dug in behind a small rise in the landscape, a ridge that would expose enemy tanks to their fire.

It was experienced in desert tank battles from Iraq’s recent nine-year war with Iran, but its forces were reeling from combat with the Americans when the battle took place on Feb. The Republican Guard was equipped with Soviet-made T-72 and obsolescent Chinese Type 69 tanks. The tank crews of 1st Armored Division had moved at a blistering pace through southern Iraq since crossing the Saudi border three days earlier, meeting little resistance along the way.Īfter a small skirmish with Iraqi regular forces in the town of Al Busayyah, 2nd Brigade tankers were pushed forward in search of the Republican Guard, the elite branch of Iraq’s military and the praetorian guard of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Norman Schwarzkopf’s “left hook” - a massive flanking attack against Iraqi forces near the Kuwait border. And it was one of the final punches of Gen.

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