Page:Battle Damage Assesment - 1991-06-18.djvu/17

 Analysis of 1-37 Armor's Battle Damage Incident:

a. At approximately 2000 hours, 26 February 1991, Task Farce 1-37 (Armor Heavy) conducted a night, close-in assault on an Iraqi position that was being defended by portions of a T-72/BMP equipped brigade at the Talwakana Division of the Republican Guards. The assault was a part of a brigade attack that was conducted with two battalions abreast (TF 7-6 Mech Hvy) north, TF 1-37 (AR hvy) south) with TF 1-37 being the southernmost unit in the Division (tied in with 3rd Armored Division in VII Corps coordinated attack with two armored divisions abreast.

b. Weather at the time of the attack consisted of light rain and heavy, low cloud cover. The attack commenced at EENT, and due to the heavy cloud cover, it was extremely dark (90% illum, intelligence concerning the enemy situation as a result of reports from preplanned close air support mission flown only three hours prior to the attack, which confirmed existing intelligence information derived from imagery. The actual center of mass of the enemy defensive position was N30 05 40 latitude/E046 47 53 longitude. The enemy tanks and BMPs were dug-in and enemy soldiers were in prepared fighting positions.

c. TF 1-37 attacked on a 90 degree azimuth. As the attack progressed, the task force shifted slightly East-Northeast, facilitating the attack of the second *belt* of dug-in positions from the rear. During the attack, four tanks from TF 1-37 were hit during a 10 minute period. Circumstances as results of each incident follow: