Dismount!
Treadheads no more. The unit I rode into Baghdad with, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, is now reflagged as 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry, 4th Brigade, 3rd ID. Hasta la vista, Bradley! Arrivederci, Abrams. Until we mech again. They’re running around in the dirt in Georgia and getting ready to go to Afghanistan, with about 40 percent of the grunts newly dismounted holdovers from 4/64. Associated Press.
Too bad for 4/64’s “Tuskers,” a storied unit descended from the 758th Tank Battalion, the U.S. Army’s first black tank battalion in World War II, which fought in Italy, then was reactiviated as the 64th to fight in Korea, where A Co. received a presidential unit citation for an action at the Kumsong Salient. Global Security.org. Assassins Company, 4/64, had the honor of leading the assault on Saddam’s palaces in downtown Baghdad on April 7, 2003. We thought we were going to die that day, but we didn’t.
It’s all good, I guess. 3/15 has its own storied history going back 200-odd years, in combat at Anzio and in Korea. “China” battalion was also in its earlier incarnation on the road to Baghdad alongside 4/64 as part of Spartans Brigade … motto ”Send Me,” lifted from Isaiah, and they did. 3/15 held open the intersections at Objectives Larry, Curley and Moe under heavy fire after 1/64 and 4/64 punched through the concentric defenses to the heart of the city, 1/64 splitting off to take the parade ground under the crossed swords Iranian war memorial while 4/64 rolled into the walled palace district. 3/15’s Bradleys were amber and nearly black on ammo, the fire was so intense, until a dramatic resupply under fire brought desperately needed fuel and ammo. Now 3/15 gets to go make more history in Afghanistan, in much of which, as the article notes, armor is of limited utility.
For the detailed story on what all of the above units did in the historic taking of a capital city by armored assault, read Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad by David Zucchino, an embed who is a story himself. Mark Bowden’s editor on the newspaper series that became Black Hawk Down, Zucchino was embedded with the 101st and lost all his gear when the truck he was riding in went into a canal. He ended up at Saddam International Airport, saw the badly shot-up first Thunder Run arrive there on April 5, 2003, and decided to stick with 2nd Brigade. I met him in July 14th Square after things quieted on April 7. We all looked like crap, but he looked even more like crap, thanks to his dunking and loss of gear. Very nice guy, who produced a magnificent piece of work.
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Topics: Afghanistan, Iraq, history, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:51 am on Friday, September 25, 2009
4 Responses to “Dismount!”
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September 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
that truly sucks….. imagine signing up to be a tanker, and suddenly: “PRESTO” you’re a grunt, and a light fighter grunt at that……
as a former 11H *Mechanized* grunt, all i have to say is “Death Before Dismount!”
September 25th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
No kidding. They’ll be forced to leave behind a lot of important gear. Like their lawn chairs.
September 26th, 2009 at 12:53 am
and coolers, not to mention the ration and shower water heater…… besides Chobham is more effective then Kevlar.
i’d rather do hours of PMCS on my fighting position than to have to dig it out and refill it on a daily basis.
maintenance is for people who hate walking. %-)
redc1c4,
C-3/160 Inf. (M)
HHT & A Trp 1/18th Cav
September 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am
You know some people actually march on extended marches? Sleeping is more pleasant. I recommend fire support. More room to stretch out in the back without a lot of unwashed, gaseous grunts and their big clunky grunt boots in the way.