Battle of 73 Easting

Battle of 73 Easting
Part of the Gulf War
Destroyed Iraqi Type 69 tank
Date 26–27 February 1991 Location Southeastern Iraq 29°50′43″N 46°47′27″E / 29.84528°N 46.79083°E / 29.84528; 46.79083 Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
United States United Kingdom	Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Norman Schwarzkopf Frederick Franks Thomas G. Rhame[1] Rupert Smith[2]	Salah Aboud Mahmoud Saheb Mohammed Alaw Ahmad Abdullah Saleh Ayad Futayyih Al-Rawi[2]: 247  Bassil Omar Al-Shalham[2]: 164
Units involved
VII Corps 1st Infantry Division 1st Armored Division 1st Armoured Division 2nd Armored Division (FWD) 3rd Armored Division 210th Field Artillery Brigade[2] 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment	Tawakalna Division 10th Armored Division 12th Armored Division 52nd Armored Division 25th Infantry Division 26th Infantry Division 31st Infantry Division 48th Infantry Division[2]
Strength
4,000 infantry[citation needed] 200–300 armoured vehicles[citation needed]	2,500–3,500 infantry[citation needed] 300–400 armoured vehicles[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
1[3] killed 19[3] wounded (2nd ACR) 1 M3 Bradley lost to enemy fire[4]	600–1,000 killed and wounded 1,300+ prisoners[5] 160 tanks 180 personnel carriers 12 artillery pieces 80 wheeled vehicles Several anti-aircraft artillery systems[6]

The Battle of 73 Easting was fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between Coalition armored forces (US VII Corps and UK 1st Armoured Division) and Iraqi armored forces (Republican Guard and Tawakalna Division). It was named for a UTM north–south coordinate line (an "Easting", measured in kilometers and readable on GPS receivers) that was used as a phase line by Coalition forces to measure their progress through the desert. The battle was later described by Lt. John Mecca, a participant, as "the last great tank battle of the 20th century."^[7] This battle took place several hours after another, smaller, tank battle at Al Busayyah.

The main U.S. unit in the battle was the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR), a 4,500 man reconnaissance and security element assigned to VII Corps. It consisted of three ground squadrons (1st, 2nd and 3rd), an attack helicopter squadron (4th), and a support squadron. Each ground squadron was made up of three cavalry troops, a tank company, a self-propelled howitzer battery, and a headquarters troop. Each troop comprised 120 soldiers, 12–13 M3 Bradley fighting vehicles and nine M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.^[8] Task Force 1-41 Infantry breached the berm on the borders between Saudi Arabia and Iraq which was the initial Iraqi defensive position and performed reconnaissance and counter reconnaissance missions prior to the 2nd ACR's actions.^[9][10] This generally included destroying or repelling the Iraqis' reconnaissance elements and denying their commander any observation of friendly forces. The corps' main body consisted of the American 2nd Armored Division (Forward), 1st Armored Division (1st AD), 3rd Armored Division (3rd AD), 1st Infantry Division (1st ID), and the British 1st Armoured Division (1 AD).

The job of the 2nd ACR was to cross the border and advance east as a forward scouting element, led by cavalry scouts in lightly armored M3A1 Bradleys with highly advanced thermals to detect enemy positions. Following closely behind were M1A1 Abrams tanks covering them from the rear, ready to move forward and engage the enemy. Originally advancing ahead of the 3rd Armored Division until late on 25 February, they shifted to the east and ahead of the advancing 1st Infantry Division as it moved north from its initial objectives. The regiment's mission was to strip away enemy security forces, clear the way of significant defenses, and locate the Republican Guard's defensive positions so they could be engaged by the full weight of the armored forces and artillery of the 1st Infantry Division.^{[citation needed]}

On the night of 23/24 February, in accordance with General Norman Schwarzkopf's plan for the ground assault called "Operation Desert Sabre", VII Corps raced east from Saudi Arabia into Iraq in a wide, sweeping maneuver later described by Schwarzkopf as a "Hail Mary."^[11][12] The Corps had two goals: to cut off Iraqi retreat from Kuwait, and to destroy five elite Republican Guard divisions near the Iraq–Kuwait border that might attack the Arab and Marine units moving into Kuwait to the south. Initial Iraqi resistance was light and scattered after the breach, and the 2nd ACR fought only minor engagements until 25 February.

The primary battle was conducted by 2nd ACR's three squadrons of about 4,000 soldiers, along with the 1st Infantry Division's two leading brigades (2nd Armored Division (FWD)),^[13] which attacked and destroyed the Iraqi 18th Mechanized Brigade and 37th Armored Brigade of the Tawakalna Division, each consisting of between 2,500 and 3,000 personnel.^[8]