Battle of Nasiriyah

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Nasiriyah
partof=2003 Invasion of Iraq


caption=U.S Amphibious Assault Vehicle destroyed at Nasiriyah
date=23-29 March 2003
place=Nasiriyah, Iraq
result=American tactical victory
combatant1 = flagicon|Iraq|1991 3rd Corps
combatant2 = flagicon|United States Task Force Tarawa
commander1 = Ali Hassan al-Majid
commander2 = Richard Natonski
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=359-431 killed
300+ captured
1,000+ wounded [ [http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8ap1.html#3.%20Nasiriyah Wages of War -- Appendix 1. Survey of reported Iraqi combatant fatalities in the 2003 war | Commonwealth Institute of Cambridge] ]
casualties2=29 killed
6 captured
60 wounded

The Battle of Nasiriyah occurred during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Heavy fighting took place between Iraqi forces and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade under the call sign Task Force Tarawa of the United States Marine Corps between about March 23 and March 29 2003. During the fighting, 18 Marines and 11 Army soldiers were killed, and about 60 were wounded; while the Iraqi resistance was defeated fairly rapidly thereafter.

The battle

The original plan was for Task Force Tarawa to take & hold the city while the RCT1 passed thru the city on Route 7.

Nasiriyah was the headquarters of the Iraqi Army's 3d Corps, composed of the 11th ID, 51st Mech ID, and 6th Armored Division—all at around 50 percent strength. The 51st operated south covering the oilfields, and the 6th was north near Al Amarah, which left three brigade-sized elements of the 11th ID to guard the An Nasiriyah area.

On March 23, a convoy of the United States Army's 507th Maintenance Company and elements of the 3rd Combat Support Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division made a wrong turn into enemy territory and were ambushed near the city killing 11 soldiers and resulting in multiple soldiers, including Private Jessica Lynch, becoming prisoners of war. At least 15 American transport vehicles of different size (from Humvees to HEMTTs) were destroyed in this action by small-arms fire, RPGs, mortar rounds, and tank gunfire. Some of them swerved out of the road or crashed while attempting to avoid incoming Iraqi rounds. One truck was even rammed by a Type 69-QM tank. Only three units of the convoy escaped unharmed.

The navigational error has not been satisfactorily explained. Since the convoy was equipped with GPS receivers and maps, it is possible that the best-equipped navigators were not near the front of the convoy, which would have made it very difficult to avoid or correct errors. The ambush couldn't have been planned, because the Iraqis knew even less than the Americans which path the convoy would take. However, after at least two wrong turns, the convoy drove through the center of a heavily armed city and found itself surrounded by enemy forces. The week after the battle, "Newsweek" published maps of it, showing the convoy's planned course around the city and its actual course through it. The battle could be described as a "battle of encounter," rather than a "battle of maneuver"—in sharp contrast to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, in which Iraqi forces could navigate only by roads and other landmarks, and U.S. forces knew their absolute positions at all times, due to consistent use of their GPS receivers and predefined digital waypoints.

The bloodiest day of the operations for the Marines was also March 23, when 18 men of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, were killed by a combination of mortar rounds, RPGs, and indirect tank fire. A friendly-fire incident occurred when an A-10 strafed Amphibious Assault Vehicles by mistake, killing at least one serviceman. [ [http://www.thefinalrollcall.us/stories/charlie.htm#prof The Final Roll Call: Deadly Day for Charlie Company ] ] Two other Marines, from the 6th Engineer Support Battalion, Corporal Evans James [ [http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=3696#prof DefenseLink News Release: DOD IDENTIFIES MARINE CASUALTIES ] ] and Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus [ [http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=3699#prof Defenselink News Release: Dod Announces Change In Marine Casualty Status ] ] drowned while trying to cross the Saddam canal under fire the following day. A third Marine from the Marine Air Control Group 28 died from hostile fire.

The advance of Regimental Combat Team 1 (RCT 1) thru Nasariyah was delayed by fighting there. RCT 1 passed thru Nasariyah on the night of 24-25 March. Partly as a result of the delay, Colonel Joe Dowdy was later relieved of command of RCT1.

Participating units

US military

*Regimental Combat Team 2
**2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division
**2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Alpha and Charlie Co.)
**1st Battalion, 2nd Marines
**3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines
**2nd Battalion, 8th Marines
**1st Battalion, 10th Marines
**8th Tank Battalion (Alpha Co.)
*3rd Battalion, 1st Marines
*Marine Aircraft Group 29
**HMM-162
**HMLA-269
*15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
**Battalion Landing Team 2/1
*24th Marine Expeditionary Unit
**Battalion Landing Team 2/2
*507th Maintenance Company (US Army)
*3rd Combat Support Battalion (US Army)

Iraqi Army

*3rd Corps
**11th Infantry Division
**51st Mechanised Infantry Division
**6th Armored Division

In Popular Culture

The ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company was re-created at the beginning of the 2003 NBC made-for-TV movie Saving Jessica Lynch. The ongoing battle for Nasiriyah is the backdrop for the rest of the events of the film.

The battle of Nasiriyah is featured in the 2008 HBO miniseries Generation Kill, in episode 2, "The Cradle of Civilization."

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thefinalrollcall.us/stories/charlie.htm#prof First hand account of USMC "C" Company battle for the bridges]
* [http://www.iraqi-freedom-diary.com Personal account of Regimental Combat Team 2 Communications Officer]

Bibliography

*cite book|id=ISBN 0-425-20988-1|title=Marines in the Garden of Eden: The Battle for An Nasiriyah |last=Lowry |first=Richard S. |publisher= Berkley Hardcover|year = 2006
*cite book|id=ISBN 1-928724-04-3|title=An Nasiriyah: The Fight for the Bridges |last=Livingston |first=Gary |publisher= Caisson Press|year = 2004