news: U.S., Iraq launch major air assault first since invasion

[aka_tom_w]

U.S., Iraq launch major air assault

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. The military said the operation was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, and was expected to continue over several days.

"More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said of the attack designed to "clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra," 60 miles north of Baghdad.

The province is a major part of the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents have been active since shortly after the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. Saddam Hussein was captured in the province, not far from its capital and his hometown, Tikrit.

[Cpl Steiner]

I just heard about this on the car radio. Looks like these troops will be going into a hornets nest. I hope they don't run into too much trouble.

When they say "air assault", does this mean potentially hot LZs etc. like in Vietnam? I thought the concept of air assault was dead now?

[Los]

Why would you think that? Because sometimes helos are hit or shot down during the assault? That's war.

Los

[ March 16, 2006, 09:35 AM: Message edited by: Los ]

[Nidan1]

Originally posted by Cpl Steiner:

I just heard about this on the car radio. Looks like these troops will be going into a hornets nest. I hope they don't run into too much trouble.

When they say "air assault", does this mean potentially hot LZs etc. like in Vietnam? I thought the concept of air assault was dead now?

That's exactly what it means, but I'm sure the LZs are fully preped and secure in this case.

The 101st is a totally "Air Assault" Division, unlike in the "Band of Brothers" era when they were a parachute division. The air assault concept is certainly not dead.

The air assault tactic was probably used to get some surprise in some areas of the general attack, as opposed to driving up in APCs etc.

[aka_tom_w]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- About 1,500 Iraqi and American forces stormed into a restive region north of the capital Thursday, searching for insurgents and terrorists, the U.S. military said.

More than 50 aircraft and 200 tactical ground vehicles are involved in Operation Swarmer, a mission to find insurgents in rural areas of Salaheddin province northeast of Samarra.

Commandos raided several structures in the area, a news release said. (Watch as choppers ferry troops to the insurgent area -- 2:28)

"We are conducting a real thorough search of the area, ensuring that we are very precise in determining who we detain," said Maj. Tom Bryant, a public affairs officer in Tikrit for the 101st Airborne Division.

Bryant said there were no initial reports of injuries among the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqis.

He said there were "a few more" Iraqi troops than coalition soldiers. Many of them were ferried in by UH-60 Blackhawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters, he said.

The offensive is focusing on three villages in a largely Sunni area where fighters are believed to be based, Iraqi security sources said.

The insurgents are suspected in lootings and killings, including the deaths of three Al-Arabiya journalists in Samarra.

The reporters were killed while covering the aftermath of the February 22 bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra that escalated sectarian tensions and pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

Samarra, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Baghdad, is predominantly Sunni but has mixed Sunni-Shiite areas.

Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the operation "has been anticipated for some time." (Watch Iraq's foreign minister describe the area as a hotbed of insurgents -- 3:49)

"It is very close to Baghdad ... and really it has been the transit for many of these terrorist insurgents to send car bombs or to attack convoys in that part of the country," Zebari said.

"The insurgents and the terrorists have been assembling themselves there trying to create another Falluja," he said, referring to an insurgent command center in that western Iraqi city that was scene of a bloody offensive in November 2004.

The operation is expected to last several days as the military searches for insurgents and weapons stockpiles.

Zebari said the Samarra push shows the "rising capabilities" of Iraqi forces.

"This is a good exercise and indicates that this strategy is working to build Iraqi troops to be sufficient," he said.

Bryant said Iraqi and U.S. commanders planned the mission, acting on intelligence gained by Iraqi forces.

[Michael Dorosh]

Not really anything new here; Canadians and Americans conducted air assaults in Afghanistan early on in the deployment there, and are still using helicopters extensively in that theatre.

[MikeyD]

I can't help thinking Samarra was where 3/2nd Stryker Brigade had its first combat action in Iraq, days after entering the country. Samarra was a major Stryker Brigade operation like a year later too. I can't recall if it was 3/2nd Stryker brigade's last major operation that time around or if it kicked off their replacement unit's duties.

[John Kettler]

According to what I saw, not only were there no embedded reporters, but the attack caught many senior Pentagon types completely flatfooted. Their first indication that something was happening was when the story appeared on their TV sets. Was rather surprised myself that it was an air assault,

considering what happened to the vastly tougher AH-64 Longbow Apaches in an earlier op.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Peter Cairns]

Paul Beaver a respected UK Defence Analyst was on the Radio today (BBC SCOTLAND) and his comment was that the lack of coverage or information, made him think that this was more like an "Excercise" than an assault.

This is a massive sweep but it is more about being seen to be able to do it, and in testing the iraqi's in a mission of this sizes that an actual assault.

Peter.

[aka_tom_w]

very interesting observation...

Originally posted by Peter Cairns:

Paul Beaver a respected UK Defence Analyst was on the Radio today (BBC SCOTLAND) and his comment was that the lack of coverage or information, made him think that this was more like an "Excercise" than an assault.

This is a massive sweep but it is more about being seen to be able to do it, and in testing the iraqi's in a mission of this sizes that an actual assault.

Peter.

[Sixxkiller]

Lots of AASLT units floating around. If you are ever in Northern California you can call Camp Parks (Dublin) and wrangle a tour and if you are lucky and go on the right weekend you can see a little demonstration. B Co, 184th (Air Assault) is part of the 29th SIB (Seperate Infantry Brigade)CNG (California National Guard).

Its a pretty large base and while they wont let you use the firing range, you may get to run the OB course.

-Ray

[Dirtweasle]

It's also the third joint Air Assualt with the Iraqi forces, and the largest.

[GSX]

Very interesting, so this has now become the US in Iraq forum then?

I thought it was the CMSF forum, silly me!

[GSX]

Sorry about the above, clarification needed. The game of CMSF is a tactical level game of modern war (I am led to believe). The actions in Iraq are more typical of a colonial Police action (believe me I've been there)so, how do we link one to the other?

US infantry war fighting doctrine does not translate easily into a Police action (and once again, believe me Ive seen it), so maybe its time to move away from Iraq actions and concentrate on real war fighting (which Iraq is definately not - you know).

Iraq is more akin to Northern Ireland 1972- 1990 ish (let me add, Ive been there).

[Los]

Really? How many brigade level air assaults did you participate in while you were in NI?

While I agree with you that much of the traffic here becomes current affairs at time, occasional current hi-tempo combat operations (i.e. fallujah, and some other actions), not to mention the whole invasion portion of the war PLUS the the Stryker Brigades performance and various tactical operations strike me as having relevance for discussion purposes.

Los

[ March 18, 2006, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: Los ]

[Bigduke6]

So. Where is the intense fighting, the mass arrests of insurgents, the huge numbers of confiscated weapons? Samarra was a hotbed of terrorists, remember?

Or does conducting an operation with half-Iraqi forces have a real negative impact on your ability to close with the enemy, as some of the Iraqis supposedly working for you, actually are tipping off your opponents the attack is coming.

If that sounds like an Indochinese insurgency that shall remain nameless, maybe it's just because of my lack of patriotism. Maybe the pro-U.S. forces in Iraq are absolutely reliable.

Maybe.

[cassh]

Air mobile - it does what it says on the tin.

Air assault - implies hot LZ and is doctrinally dead -although that is not to say it does not occur - it's just not planned that way.

The only air assault elements in an air assault division are the attack helicopters - and as mentioned above even they are still vulnerable to ground fire.

Hope this is a mission to pacify area then station/garrison troops on the ground locally rather than a large sweep operation.

Sweeps achieve little and are counter-productive in COIN - you need boots on the ground stationed locally among the population to engender trust, permanency of security, to deny the enemy support and infiltration, and to garner actionable intelligence. Sweeps rarely offer such opportunities and insurgents are usually quite adept at not getting snagged in the net.

Michael Dorosh mentioned the extensive use of helicopters being in Afghanistan - just a note of interest - they cannot be used as extensively as they would like due to the flight envelope restriction posed by the Blackhawk (rarely operates above 16,000 feet). This means that the Chinook is the primary rotary transport in high altitude regions due to its flight characteristics. Special Forces also have access to the MH-53 Pave Low that can operate effectively at higher altitudes.

[Imperial Grunt]

Here is another pic from the current "Air Assault" op going on.

In my opinion, the 101st's strength as an "Air Assault" force is not at the tactical level. Flying helos into hot LZ's is like marching troops in a column of files against dug in machineguns. That was tried a few times I believe a few wars ago.

But the capability to move an infantry battlion or an entire brigade by air to a new operational position hundreds of kilometers a way, over or around enemy positions, in a few hours is a great option for a commander. Helos can haul alot more stuff than you can drop by air.

The trooper of the 101st functions as light infantry, backed up by the Apaches or they function to hold ground to protect the FARPs for the Apaches, allowing the Apaches to fight as a manuever force against enemy manuever formations. During the Gulf War this was very effective. If the US invaded another country, like Syria, I would think that elements of the 101st would be on the senior commanders force list.

But applying Apaches as a manuever force against insurgents is very difficult, just as applying tanks as a manuever force. It does not mean they have no role, just not thier traditional role in the US Army.

I believe this operation is more of a demonstration of capability for the Iraqi government and against the insurgents. The sweeps will find caches and a few suspects, but unless the insurgents decide to fight, or are trapped, there will probably not be any fights like there were during Operation New Market and Operation Matador, among others. But sweeps do have a place in counter-insurgency operations, but they must be done carefully and minimize negative impact on the local population as much as possible. Its not reported, but I am sure the PsyOps and CA teams with the 101st are very busy as well. They really are the main effort a good commander during this kind of war.

The 101st is a very unique unit but it has some drawbacks. Deploying the unit takes alot of strategic lift and its logistical tail is like a mech unit. And bad weather grounds everything but the grunts.

To tie this all back to CM:SF, I think a module with Army's elite forces, the Rangers, 82nd, 101st, and their light infantry forces such as the 10th Mountain would be a good addition to the game. After the USMC module is made, of course!

Making a modern version Grenada or Falkland island scenario against a notional enemy would be a good way to simulate assault operations. Maybe we can invade Scotland! No....too cold and dreary. How about Tahiti! They need to be liberated from the French.

[Los]

Amen to all that...

[aka_tom_w]

"How about Tahiti! They need to be liberated from the French."

Damn Straight!!

Those cheese eating surrender monkeys use their foothold in the Pacific to test Nukes in God's paradise. Bah! :mad:

Remember the Rainbow Warrior!

(you can't sink a Rainbow)

-tom w

(sorry for the off topic, politically motivated RANT!)

[Thermopylae]

Doctrinally speaking;

Air Mobile: Helicopters get you there, helicopters maybe take you out. Otherwise they mostly do their own thing. It may happen that the LZ/PZs are contested, but ideally no.

Air Assault: Helicopters get you there and then work in conjunction with the ground forces to do whatever needs doing. So allt he fire support, flexibility, etc. inherent in having a bunch of helicopters on call comes with it. It does not indicate a hot LZ or PZ, and indeed that sort of thing they try to avoid.

At least thats the definition they throw around in AASLT school nowadays.

[Bigduke6]

I wonder how much that operation cost. Helicopters crewed by US soldiers, and carrying more US soldiers, are not cheap. Tens of millions of dollars would be my guess, once you take into account training and TDY and hiring Blackwater security types to guard things, because your soldiers are zooming around Samarra.

If the goal is counter-insurgency, I really wonder if that's an intelligent use of money. They fly in, they do their thing, and then they leave. Result?

Well, the Army is not exactly crowing about all the insurgents it's killed, and caches it's found, in this operation.

Still, I gotta admit, lots of helicopters together in one place are really, really cool.

[Peter Cairns]

Bigduke6,

Good point.

If this is testing how well the Iraqi army can conduct large scale operations, will they have the resources post US withdrawal to carry out this type of action.

I doubt they will have enough helicopters and if they did, will the US be doing the flying, either with service personnel or ex US service people.

Peter.

[cassh]

LtCol West - Um remind how many successful COIN conflicts have demonstrably shown sweeps to work?

Thermopylae - What you describe as an air assault unit is one in which the unit (rifle units, support weapons, artillery, signals, medics etc) are directly supported by helicopters for transport, supply, evacuation etc. This is what we term air mobile as the infantry element does not conduct opposed assaults from the air. The value of this type of unit comes as LtCol West indicates from its operational mobility and ability to conduct deep manoeuvres. The role is an operational one, rather than a tactical one. Therefore, its functional use is in the name - as I said it say exactly what it does on the tin!

What you term air mobile we term air transportable - as that is bog-standard infantry capable of being deployed from helicopters or transports with all their organic weapons.

These are just semantics but, I think the term assault is nomenclature that is a hangover from Vietnam but is completely pointless given current doctrinal use.

This is why we refer to this type of unit as airmobile in the UK.

That we have the unit name 16th air assault brigade is due to the fact that the brigade combines the old 24th airmobile brigade with the 5th airborne and the 5th airborne elements (the battalions of the parachute regiment) could be used in direct air assault in parachute landings (at night one assumes).