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  • 73 Easting

    I always hear everyone talking about the battle at 73 Easting, but I've never heard of it anywhere aside from here and Whiskey Tango. Can one of you guys find a website that tells all about it in a bloody good yarn?
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

  • #2
    It was a Gulf War tank battle, I belive it was like the last battle, and was faught between US Marines (I think) and Iraqi Republican Guards. The Iraqis were annilated and ran for the border. Ill try and do some more research for you.

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    • #3
      Thankx dude
      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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      • #4
        http://worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=894

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        • #5
          In the battle of 73 Easting a US Heavy Cavalry Troop(That's a company, roughly) commanded by then Captain H.R. McMasters engaged in a running firefight(tank battle) with an entire bde of the Iraqi RGFC. In so doing McMasters action commited the entire weight of US VII Corps to battle on his avenue of advance, as well as destroying a force approx. 10x larger than his own.

          H.R. McMasters is obviously considered a legend and armored guru because of it.

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          • #6
            Dident we also not lose a single tank?

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            • #7
              We lost several vehicles in that fight, mainly to friendly fire.

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              • #8
                Hello guys if you have any questions about the Battle of the 73 easting I can answer them. I fought in the battle, my tank was Eagle Troop 4 platoon or Green2 and I was a driver at the time. Guys my troop did not lose any vehicles do to friendly fire or enemy fire. However Fox Troop did lose a Bradley. The investigation concluded that the vehicle was destroyed by enemy forces. Finally, for clarification purposes the battle was fought by a US Army Calvary Troop. Thank you.

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                • #9
                  Guys I stand corrected on the vehicle that was destroyed. It was Ghost a troop Bradley not Fox troop, I always get those two mixed up.

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                  • #10
                    "In the battle of 73 Easting a US Heavy Cavalry Troop(That's a company, roughly) commanded by then Captain H.R. McMasters engaged in a running firefight(tank battle) with an entire bde of the Iraqi RGFC. "

                    It was already established that it was a troop.

                    Welcome aboard fella. Always good to have a black horse among our numbers. :)

                    I'm kind of lumping the whole action of VII Corps that day into 73 Easting because McMasters troop at 73 Easting kicked off the whole ensuing VII Corps action that followed. In that larger action there was quite a lot of friendly fire mix ups.

                    What personal impressions of the battle would you feel comfortable discussing? What tank position did you occupy at the time?
                    I'd certainly be interested in hearing your account.

                    BTW, i served in Scout Plt, HHC, 4/31 Infantry(Mech) from 87-90. ETS'd a few months before ODS as a Corporal. Wasn't lucky enough to avoid the Panama Invasion though. Nice place if you like extremely large mosquitos and all manner of poisonous snakes. The loud music helped to make up for it though. ;)

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                    • #11
                      At that time I was a driver. We were in a modified wedge with Bradley's leading. By the way Bradley's have better sight systems than M1's and the last version of the M60 has better thermals. But back to the how the attack began. HR engaged a MTLB and a BRDM during a recon he destroyed those vehicles and pushed up a little farther. It just so happen that the Iraqi's had a deliberatea defense set up on the reverse slop of the rolling hill. When he reached the top they volley fired, and that is when he called a tanks lead echelon left and right formation. We basically formed a ^ and engaged the enemy. The most intense fighting lasted for about 22 min I mean constant main gun engagements. One of the keys to victory was the ammo management due to the fact that you only have 17 rounds in the ready rack. A weird thing about the battle is how bad the weather got right before the battle. That is one thing that was to our favor. Our Squadron Commander actually wanted us to stop fighting and dig in but HR disobeyed the order due to the size of the enemy force. If we would have stop and tried to set up a hasty defense I might not be here today. The reason I say this is because once we did stop at the 73 easting they tried several counterattacks. There were so many vehicles that we had to do a relief in place get more rounds and reman our positions. Believe or not I think HR received a letter of reprimand from the CDR that guy was an our Squadron CDR was a-hole.

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                      • #12
                        My Bn had an attatched reinforced Plt of M-60A3TTS when i first got to my unit. About a year in they transferred over to IM-1s, and they all said the TTS on the Patton was way better than the TIS on the Abrams, and when i finally got a chance to look through an Abrams thermal at night i agreed, the TTS was much sharper, vehicle ID was way easier.

                        I can tell you this, the FLIR on the GLID was worse than both of them.

                        The Captian might have gotten a reprimand from the CO, but that guy's CO was mighty impressed. I read Gen Franks book about the actions of VII Corps in ODS, and he had nothing but glowing praise for McMasters.

                        You guys smoked their ass in the recon battle. Just like NTC, you win the recon engagement, you pretty much always win the mainforce follow on battles. Anyway, you guys kicked ass, damned fine job- but i still think tanks are steel coffins. ;)

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                        • #13
                          Snipe, do you mean Into the Storm, by Tom Clancy and Gen. Fred Franks? I'm in the middle of it know, when I get bored. It's a pretty good book, and I'm gettin plenty of knowledge
                          Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                          Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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                          • #14
                            THE BATTLE OF 73 EASTING


                            The Tawakalna Mechanized Division of the Republican Guard Forces Command was positioned about 25 miles west of the Kuwait border, located exactly in the center of the US 7th Corps' sector, The Tawakalna was probably the best division in the Iraqi Army. It had fought with distinction during the war with Iran and was one of the lead divisions in Saddam Husayn's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Its two mechanized brigades and one armored brigade were equipped with the most advanced equipment available in the Iraqi Army, including 220 T-72 tanks and 278 infantry fighting vehicles. On 25 February it had moved into a blocking position west of the Iraq Petroleum Saudi Arabia (IPSA) pipeline about 80 miles from Kuwait city. In spite of the air campaign, most of this division was in position and ready to fight when the US 7th Corps arrived on 26 February 1991.

                            THE CENTER OF THE LINE

                            Soon after the Tawakalna Division Commander's 18th Mechanized Brigade was engaged, the US attack spread to the center of his line. The Iraqi defense in this sector consisted of three mechanized battalions from the Tawakalna 29th Mechanized Brigade, and three armored and one mechanized from the 9th Armored Brigade. In addition, there was at least one battalion of the 46th Mechanized Brigade from the 12th Armored Division. There is also evidence that at least one T-62 tank battalion, most likely from the 10th Armored Division, was also assigned to the Tawakalna in this sector. Approximately nine Iraqi battalions, therefore, faced the attacking 3rd US Armored Division's ten heavy battalions. In a space of only 270 square kilometers, Iraqi defenders massed over 160 tanks, 117 BMPs, and hundreds of other combat vehicle, and fighting systems. Thousands of infantry men dismounted from their combat carriers. Once on the ground, they constructed their dug in company strong points and prepared to use their Saggers and RPGs to engage the attacking Americans. Finally, there were approximately a dozen field artillery batteries arrayed along the rear of the Tawakalna's operations zone in this sector. The Iraqi defenses were very thick and Major General Paul Funk, the 3rd Armored Division commander, had no soft or exposed Iraqi flanks to exploit in his attack. He attacked with his 2nd Brigade in the north, his 1st Brigade in the south, and his 3rd Brigade in the rear trailing the 1st Brigade.

                            The 1st US Brigade of the 3rd Armored Division moved in the south of the 3rd Armored Division's sector on a relatively narrow zone. At 5:02 pm, 26 February, it ran into a battalion of the 9th Iraqi Armored Brigade. The lead American company team, from Task Force 3-5 Cavalry, established a base of fire as two other company teams moved on line. Not inclined to assault hastily the center of this complex, the entire 3-5 Cavalry moved into firing positions and began to locate and shoot at Iraqi targets. Long-range tank and TOW fires, high explosive and DPICM rounds, and even COPPERHEAD rounds ravaged the Iraqi 9th Armored Brigade's battalion strong points. The Iraqi soldiers, however, continued to fight, preventing this American battalion from advancing any farther for the next 12 hours.
                            In the dark, around 7:20 pm, a scout platoon from the brigade's left-flank battalion Task Force 4-32 Armor, identified a T-72 tank covered with infantry heading towards them from the southeast. In a short and confused fight, the scouts destroyed the tank and scattered its passenger infantry. Soon, a platoon of Iraqi T-72s supported by dismounted infantry joined the fight. By 9:00 pm, Task-Force 4-32 Armor's fight in this sector came to an end. It had made little progress in its zone and had shot up one of its own Bradley scout vehicles, killing two soldiers and wounding two more. The Iraqi line continued to hold.

                            The US 4/7 Cavalry Squadron, a new unit working for the divison commander and acting independently from the 1st Brigade, screened the division's southern flank. Around 6:00 pm it ran into an Iraqi tank unit. Like other Iraqi defenders, the Iraqi unit, most likely a tank unit, was hastily dug in and was waiting for a fight. The 4/7 Cavalry's Bradleys were out of their element in such an engagement against Iraqi tanks. After more than an hour of fighting and making no progress, the 4/7 Cavalry began to pull back from the position where the Iraqis were dug in. In the confusion of the withdrawal, a US tank from an approaching unit fired at one of the Cavalry's Bradleys, killing the gunner. Another 4/7 Cavalry vehicle was engaged by the US 2nd Armored Cavalry in the south. In the middle of this confusion, Iraqi fire hit and damaged nine of 13 M3 Cavalry fighting vehicles in addition to the two hit by friendly fire. Two soldiers of the 4/7 Cavalry were killed and 12 were wounded in the battle. When given the opportunity, the Iraqi Army could inflict serious losses on the attacking American forces.

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                            • #15
                              MORE - Much More!

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