gulf war tank battle devastating victory

Two soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division wounded when a Harm missile fired by an Air Force F-4G missed its target. One Marine killed and two wounded 1st Marine Division by 500-pound bombs when their vehicles were mistaken for Iraqi vehicles during an air attack by a Marine Corps A-6E. Seven Marines killed and two wounded from the 1st Marine Division when a Maverick missile fired by an A-10 malfunctioned and hit a light armored vehicle. Four Marines from the 1st Marine Division killed when a Tow missile fired from a light armored vehicle hit their light armored vehicle west of Kafji, Saudi Arabia. One Marine and one sailor from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force wounded when an A-10 strafed a Marine Corps Hummvee and a 5-ton truck about 60 miles west of Kafji, Saudi Arabia. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt fired on a 1st Marine Division observation post no casualties. Another tank in B Company about 100 yards away, turning in the direction of the tank volley, also was destroyed, as were three other tanks of nearby A Company.Īt the end of the battle, two Bradleys whose soldiers had been rooting out Iraqi soldiers from their bunkers were hit by Abrams cannon fire after they wandered out of their assigned sector of the battlefield, the documents said.

Later in the battle, an Abrams tank carrying the commander of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor was destroyed by another Abrams shortly after it was hit, but not damaged, by a grenade. Three Bradley fighting vehicles with B Company, Task Force 1-41, were struck by friendly tank fire shortly after the battle began. ''Every effort was made by commanders to maintain control during what was very obvious, to those who were there, to be a very dangerous and potentially disastrous evening,’' Weisman wrote in his report. The reasons behind the incident, as described in the officers’ statements, reflect the dangers of a high-speed, nighttime ground assault using high-tech weaponry. The soldiers had gone for as long as 36 hours without sleep, according to the investigation reports. The 3rd Brigade had raced more than 60 miles into Iraq when the big battle began. ''Our equipment is so lethal that there is no room for mistakes.’'įatigue may have contributed to the problem that day. ''We knew that control (of friendly tank fire) was going to be a problem,’' he said.

Gulf war tank battle devastating victory