3rd Armored Division
The Spearhead saga began as major elements of the division wrapped up fall training at Hohenfels. Having spent over 150 days in the field in 1990, division soldiers had honed their combat skills to a razor's edge.
As division planners arranged the shipment of 18,000 soldiers and their gear to theMiddle East, a barrage of details assailed soldiers as they prepared for the coming challenge.At night, they helped family members plan for the unknown period of separation ahead.
Advance parties moved to the Arabian Gulf in early December. As they departed, long streams of vehicles began to wind their way via rail and convoy towards the ports of Europe. Duffel bags and rucksacks, the personal luggage of the soldier, formed veritable mountains at the departure terminal of Rhein-Main.
Moving to Saudi Arabia
With gear packed and vehicles loaded aboard ships, soldiers soon to be baptized by fire on the battlefield said tearful good-byes as they bid their families farewell.
Within days, operating in Saudi Arabia from what was loosely called "Camp Henry," the division began practicing moving through the desert using compass, azimuth and maps.
Third Armor soldiers saw the air war start from locations scattered throughout Saudi Arabia. Those already in desert training continued getting ready for battle as Scuds zoomed overhead on their way to targets in Dhahran and Riyadh. Equipment, some still aboard ships in Dharan harbor, moved to the front lines as fast as it could be unloaded.
Training for combat
As the air war dragged on and the prospect of a ground war neared, Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk, commander of the Third Armor Division, began looking for the right tool to train his troops for the initial push north. He found it in two exercises; HUMMEX I and II.
HUMMEX I, which took its name from the HMMWV (the vehicle that replaced the jeep), helped adapt the division's extensive European training to the desert environment. The first exercise stressed mass movement and maneuver, and it gave commanders a chance to see where their troops would be in battle in relation to other units on the ground. It also gave troops hands-on training in their new environment. It primarily used the HMMWV, thus sparing the heavier armored weapons systems, the M1A1 and the Bradley fighting vehicle, undue wear and tear. The second exercise, HUMMEX II, built on the first, but included some armored vehicles.
The Ground War begins
As Desert Shield moved into Desert Storm, scouts from 4th Squadron, 8th Cavalry, part of Second Brigade and others from the First Brigade, crossed the berm separating Saudi Arabia from Iraq Feb. 24 just after 3 p.m. Less than two hours later, they had penetrated several miles into Iraq and managed to capture over 200 prisoners. When word to cross the berm and attack finally arrived on the afternoon of Feb. 24, the Spearhead Division wasted no time. Within half an hour, lead elements of the First and Second Brigades headed across the border.
The Third Armor Division, who code-named their part in the assault "Operation Desert Spear," played a vital part in the battle. From their final assembly area near Log Base Echo some 75 miles west of the Iraq-Kuwait-Saudi border, the rest of the division's soldiers crossed the border the next day.
The division assault came from Forward Assembly Area Butts, a narrow series of positions 10 miles wide and 35 miles deep where 3rd AD troops had waited out the last few days of the air war.
The corridor through which the division attacked was too narrow for the classic wedge formation, one brigade forward with two brigades following to either side, so the division instead employed two brigades abreast, with the third in reserve.
Light resistance
Since the attack caught the defenders off guard, resistance was light. Division elements advanced some 18 miles into Iraq.
At 3 a.m. on Feb. 25, elements of 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry took more than 50 prisoners. By first light, battle logs noted that enemy reinforcements had begun moving south and west. The day brought the first combat for most of the divisions' soldiers.
At 11:15 a.m., the division received new orders. "Attack abreast, with Second Brigade in the north and First in the south, Third in reserve." The Combat Aviation Brigade screened the southern boundary along the attack route.
The division pushed hard to penetrate as deeply and as fast as possible. Objective Collins, where the western Kuwaiti border turns east towards the Gulf, had been designated at the outset as the first goal to be reached. By the time the sun set on day two, the divisions' thrust had pushed another 53 miles into Iraq and put it just outside Objective Collins.
Closing on Objective Collins
The 26th dawned clear and windy. By early morning, the two leading brigades rapidly closed on Objective Collins. As the Spearhead Division drew nearer its objective, it faced a much tougher foe, the first units of the highly touted Republican Guards. At 6:40 p.m., First Brigade claimed the destruction of 23 enemy tanks during the day, including a number of T-72's. Combat Aviation Brigade Apaches reported killing 14 BMPs, two trucks and some artillery. But the evening also brought sorrow. At 7:27 p.m., 4th Battalion, 32nd Armor reported the loss of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle to tank fire. The division's first combat loss included two killed and three wounded.
During the night, Third Brigade passed through the Second Brigade lines and took up the assault. Prisoners confirmed that the Spearhead Division faced the Tawakalna Division, the Iraqi 52nd Armor Division and elements of the 17th and the 10th armor divisions.
On the fourth day, the division hit Objective Collins. Brigades wheeling as one to the right, the division turned east and carried the fight towards Kuwait. Exacting a heavy toll, the division thundered into Kuwait, finding and surprising the enemy as it went. Iraqi defensive positions faced south, and the division came upon them from the rear. With no way to turn their turrets from within their positions, enemy tanks had to leave their positions and fight in the open.
Destroying the enemy
Fighting continued throughout the day and into the evening. By nightfall intelligence reports indicated that Spearhead soldiers had destroyed Iraq's 10th Armor Division and what little remained of the 17th was withdrawing. The Tawakalna and 52nd suffered similar fates. Just before midnight, the order came down that would conclude the fighting, "Attack to complete the destruction of the 17th and 52nd Divisions in sector."
From then on, it was a mopping up exercise. The 3rd squadron, 8th Cavalry from Second Brigade launched the division's last attack at 6:34 a.m. 28 Feb., moving to the east to knock out anything hostile.
In just 100 hours, Third Armor Division soldiers had steamrolled some of the world's best desert fighters.