Battle of Kuwait International Airport

Battle of Kuwait International Airport Part of the Persian Gulf War Date February 27, 1991 Location Kuwait City Airport 29°14'15"N 47°58'26"E Result Decisive American victory Belligerents  United States Ba'athist Iraq Commanders and leaders Maj. Gen. J.M. Myatt[1] Colonel Carlton W. Fulford Jr[2] Unknown commander Units involved 1st Marine Division 2nd Marine Division 2nd Armored Division U.S. Army Special Forces[3] 3rd Armored Division[4] Casualties and losses 5 killed 48 wounded[5] Heavy casualties Thousands captured Hundreds of Iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers destroyed or captured[6][7] 1 Boeing 747-200 destroyed

Gulf War Invasion of Kuwait Kuwaiti Bridges Dasman Palace Failaka British Airways Flight 149 Coalition intervention Ad-Dawrah Qurah Maradim Khafji Bubiyan Wadi Al-Batin Air campaign Air to Air combat "Package Q" Air Strike Amiriyah Liberation of Kuwait Order of battle 67 Easting 73 Easting Al Busayyah Phase Line Bullet Medina Ridge Highway of Death Jalibah Norfolk Kuwait International Airport Post-ceasefire Rumaila Safwan

The Battle of Kuwait International Airport occurred on 27 February 1991. Task Force Ripper under Colonel Carlton W. Fulford Jr led the 1st Marine Division straight into Kuwait City. Smashing through enemy armor and enemy delaying actions.^[8] As the Marine 1st Division edged nearer the city, commanders heard reports of two developing counterattacks by Iraqi forces. "We fired on the two gathering points and it wasn't 30 minutes before we scattered them like rabbits out of the bush," said Myatt, the division commander. "The Cobras {helicopter gunships} and the LAVs {light armored vehicles} had a field day" as a "hunter-killer package" to search out and destroy Iraqi equipment.^[9] On the way to their objective, the Kuwait International Airport, Task Force Ripper M-60A1 Patton tanks destroyed about 100 Iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers, including about 50 top-of-the-line Soviet T-72 tanks, 1st Marine division commander Maj. Gen. J.M. Myatt said.^[10] 1st Marine Division's Task Force Shepherd suffered 14 KIA during combat operations en route to Kuwait International Airport. Task Force Taro was also a participant in the 1st Marine Division's combat operations. Task Force Papa Bear, C and D Co, 1st Marine Division, who as the division reserve repelled a huge enemy counter-attack while defending the minefield breach.

The 2nd Marine Division entered from the other side of the city. Marine Reserve unit Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 4th Marine division was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division. On February 25th, 1991, Day 2 of the Desert Storm ground war, Bravo Company 4th Tank Battalion was in a coil formation and awakened from a 25% watch to find 35 Iraqi Republican Guard tanks angling across their front, not realizing at the time that they were outnumbered 3-1. With their 13 M1A1 Abrams tanks, Bravo Company 4th Tank Battalion moved online to take out the 35 Iraqi Republican Guard tanks in less than 90 seconds. This battle was named the “Reveille Engagement” and went on to be the biggest and fastest tank battle in United States Marine Corps history. They were the only Marine unit equipped with M1A1 Abrams tanks.^[11] Bravo company went on to destroy 59 tanks, 32 APCs, 26 non armored vehicles, and a artillery gun.^[12] Bravo Company destroyed a total of 119 enemy vehicles and took over 800 POWs.^[13] Tank crew “Stepchild” has the longest confirmed live kill (Iraqi BMP) by a tank at 3,750 meters (2.33miles).^[14] The Marines were assisted by the U.S. Army 2nd Armored Division's Tiger Brigade. The 1st Tiger Brigade claims 181 destroyed or captured enemy tanks, 148 APCs, 40 artillery pieces, 27 AA emplacements, 263 Iraqi dead and 4,051 captured after 100 hours of combat.^[15] Marine and Navy air power then inflicted heavy casualties on retreating Iraqi forces leading north out of Kuwait City.^[16] Later that night, some of the battles intensified as Marine forces surrounded the heavily defended Kuwait International Airport. U.S. Navy battleships offshore in the Persian Gulf pounded the airport hangars, terminals and other buildings, leaving them a shambles of twisted metal and blackened concrete in an effort to rout Iraqi forces from the field. Marine commanders said that cameras in remotely piloted aircraft that monitored the bombings showed Iraqis "literally jumping out of the tanks." After the Marines commandeered the critical airfield, Special Forces teams arrived to counter snipers and other pockets of resistance that remained entrenched around the large airport complex.^[17] Five Marines were killed and forty eight wounded in the three days of fighting, Marine officials said.^[18]

Marines from Company D, 2nd Tank Battalion, drive their M60A1 main battle tank during a breach exercise in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The tank is fitted with reactive armor and an M-9 bulldozer kit.

Iraqi T-72 main battle tank destroyed in a Coalition attack during Operation Desert Storm. The 1st Marine Division destroyed approximately 50 T-72 tanks on its way to the Kuwait International Airport.

Marines of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines during the Gulf War ground campaign in February 1991

References

Works Consulted

• Col H. Avery Chenoweth (2005) Semper Fi: The Definitive Illustrated History of the U.S. Marines
• 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels" by Steven Smith

External links

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/timeline/022891.htm
• http://www.1stmardiv.marines.mil/Units/1STTANKBN/History
• http://articles.philly.com/1991-02-27/news/25772778_1_iraqi-troops-pockets-of-iraqi-resistance-coalition-forces
• http://articles.latimes.com/1991-02-27/news/mn-2117_1_kuwait-city
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/3ad.htm
• http://bravocompany4thtankbattalion.org/history/