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3ID roots out `hornet's nest' of 3,000 Iraqis

by Spc. Mason T. Lowery

KHAIRAT, Iraq (Army News Service, April 2, 2003) - "Objective Rams," near the town of An Najaf, turned out to be a hornet's nest of Iraqi irregulars for 3rd Infantry Division (Mech.) soldiers to root out from March 24 to 29.

Resistance was supposed to be light, but what U.S. soldiers found instead were Saddam Hussein's Al Qut, who were "curiously committed and tenaciously willing to go to their deaths for the regime," according to Lt. Col. Eric Wesley, 2nd Brigade Combat Team executive officer.

Rams was intended to be a staging area for the V Corps tactical operations center and 3rd Division Main to pause and plan operations for the battle with the Iraqi Medina Division, Wesley said. Approximately 3,000 enemy soldiers, armed with rocket-propelled guns and AK-47s, were waiting in An Najaf. There were two types of soldiers: Al Qut -- those that came from Baghdad to reinforce commitment to the regime, and those living in the area, who were threatened by the first group into fighting. They were told to fight or their families would be killed, explained Wesley.

Enemy soldiers used the town of Al Najaf as headquarters. From there, they headed out in small trucks to attack American soldiers.

"They came out at night and were not deterred by dying in hundreds. They just kept coming but we suffered no deaths," Wesley said.

1st Battalion, 64th Armor and 2nd Brigade headquarters relieved 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, which lost two tanks and Bradleys, but no soldiers. 1-64 soldiers moved across the Euphrates River to block enemy supply and communication lines, Wesley explained. They captured Iraqi troops and got information on enemy locations from the enemy prisoners of war.

The U.S. soldiers, aided by Air Force bombs and 2nd Bde. multiple-launch rocket systems, dismantled a city block containing a Baath Party headquarters building and troop barracks.

After a day and a half of destroying buildings and cutting lines of communication, Wesley said U.S. forces killed approximately 1,000 enemy soldiers and captured as many as 800.

A captured Fedayeen general said that out of his original 1,200 troops, only 20 remained. 2nd Bde. soldiers suffered three return-to-duty casualties, Wesley said.

"That area is secured; we'll continue operations as planned," Wesley said. "It took a committed and strong arm to stop behavior that would be counter-intuitive to most soldiers - they just ran in waves into the fire. ... They're committed to going to their deaths for a questionable regime."

Wesley attempted to explain the strange behavior of the Iraqi soldiers: "Saddam has ruled with absolute terror for about 24 years. As a result, he's got a pretty solid grip on power. I think a lot of these loyalist soldiers have sold out - they get their legitimacy from (Saddam). As long as he's alive, they'll continue. The Iraqi people will turn on them once (Saddam's) out of power, so they want to keep him in power. Who knows, maybe they were levered into fighting for him years ago."

A soldier involved in the fighting, Pfc. Walter Hicks, A Co., 1-64, said: "There's not much to tell. When you're shot at and you have to shoot back - your feelings just go out the window. "We were ambushed by RPGs, machine guns, had a couple of vehicles try to run into us, and received light mortar attack. They were just a little short (of their target), thank God.

"I'm a loader; I was on top of the tank. By the time you see the flash, the round is already down range. It's just memories I don't want."

Bradley Driver Spc. James Slayton, a C Co., 3-15 soldier from Gainesville, Fl., said: "I was a little tense when we first got to Rams. You see your life flash before your eyes - going through that. You hate to see people get shot, but they had their chance to give up.

"The day we went to help 3-7 at the river was real dusty -- I couldn't see the people shooting at me. I saw RPGs flying by my window, I just thank God they didn't hit me. I just had to stay calm as a driver - knowing I had a crew counting on me."

Spc. Jeffrey Smith, a tank driver for A Co., 1-64 from Salinas, Ca., said: "When you're in it, you just reflexively go back to your training. I don't know how it will affect me. If we don't change things over here, I'll be really mad."