Battle of Baghdad International Airport

Last updated
Battle of Baghdad International Airport

Footage of the battle shot by US soldiers
DateApril 11, 2004
Location
Baghdad, Iraq
Result U.S. victory
Belligerents
United States Mahdi Army
Commanders and leaders
  • CPT Peter Glass
  • 2LT James McCormick
  • SGT Christopher Lehman
Muqtada al Sadr

On Easter Sunday April 11, 2004, a battle was fought at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) in Iraq primarily between United States Army truck drivers, air defense artillerymen, armor, military policemen, engineers and miscellaneous logistics personnel and militants from Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army, along the Southwest side of the airport wall in an area commonly referred to as Engineer Village. That section of Baghdad International Airport was home to numerous engineering units, in particular the 389th Combat Engineers, a dining hall, and a convoy marshaling area.

Contents

History

Footage of the battle shot by U.S. soldiers
U.S. Army-produced documentary about the battle

On April 5, 2004, the radical young cleric Muqtada al Sadr called for a jihad against coalition forces and wanted to gain control of Al Kut, An Najaf and Sadr City. This led to widespread fighting throughout the Sunni Triangle. His militia was outmatched by the M1 Abrams tanks of the 1st Cavalry Division, however they knew that the Abrams tanks were dependent on resupply trucks. On Thursday night, April 8, the militia destroyed eight bridges and overpasses around Convoy Support Center Scania thus halting all northbound traffic into the Sunni Triangle.

The coalition forces were forced to survive on the few days of supply they had on hand in Iraq. That same evening, 2LT James L. McCormick's Humvee gun truck, Zebra, of the 1486th Transportation Company, fought off an enemy ambush at the turn into BIAP for about 20 minutes with him and SPC Brandon Lawson was seriously wounded. After medical treatment, both returned to their convoy. The next day, Good Friday and the anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, the Iraqis ambushed every convoy that tried to enter or leave Baghdad International Airport including the ambush of the 724th Transportation Company. The next day all roads were coded black meaning that any convoy expected imminent attack. [1] With no more convoys venturing out, the militia decided to attack the trucks where they parked.

By Easter Sunday, April 11, several hundred trucks parked behind the southwest wall of BIAP defended by the C Battery, 4-5 Air Defense Artillery. By then the 1st Cavalry Division was 48 hours from mission failure and required emergency resupply of fuel and ammunition. A fuel convoy of the 706th Transportation Company ventured out of BIAP and was ambushed. Around lunch the Madhi Militia launched an attack near the south gate at BIAP. The attack began with suppressive fire on the guard tower closest to the gate while three sappers approached the wall just as the Zebra happened to be passing by. 2LT McCormick ordered his driver, CPL Bryan Noble, to drive on the ramp in time to engage the three sappers.

The five crew members then held off the rest of the Iraqi militants at the irrigation ditch 50 meters away for the next five to ten minutes while about a dozen more truck drivers came running to their assistance. For approximately 45 minutes, the enemy concentrated their attack on the section of wall occupied by the Zebra, and a handful of truck drivers fought back against intense small arms fire and repeated volleys of rocket propelled grenades. The M6 Linebacker outside the gate to their left and truck drivers crowded around a Humvee on the dirt ramp a hundred meters to their right provided flanking fire. Military police soldiers of the 501st Military Police Company 1st Armored Division joined the truck drivers on the other ramp. Intermittent breaks in .50 Caliber M2HB fire mounted on a Humvee on the ramp to the right were halted to allow SGT Bryant, a 1AD 501st MP sergeant, to fire three consecutive AT-4 rounds into the enemy location. Later four Humvees of F Battery, 202nd Air Defense Artillery returned to the gate and added their flanking fire to the fight. Late in the battle, a HET convoy hauling tanks from the 1st Armored Division arrived at the gate and a colonel climbed up in the guard tower.

He instructed McCormick to back the Zebra off the ramp and bring up SGT Christopher M. Lehman's Humvee gun truck with a Mk 19 grenade launcher because McCormick's M2 Browning .50 caliber machinegun could not hit the enemy mortar position. Finally, CPT Peter Glass’ C Troop, 3-8 Cavalry arrived and replaced the gun trucks on the ramps with his M1 Abrams tanks which ended the enemy resistance after 45 minutes of fighting. [2] [3]

Aftermath

Thirty minutes after having defeated the enemy attack, the crew of the Zebra fought through three more ambushes to escort convoys with critical ammunition to the Green Zone for the 1st Cavalry Division. All but one of the five crew members was wounded that weekend, but all remained with their gun truck. With other emergency convoys of fuel and ammunition, the 1st Cavalry Division was able to beat back the al Sadr April Uprising.

Twelve Bronze Star Medals and four Army Commendation Medals were awarded to truck drivers for this battle. McCormick was finally awarded the Silver Star Medal in 2014 for his role in this battle and the three convoy ambushes immediately after it. The battle ranks as one of the great feats of heroism of the US Army Transportation Corps. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadr City</span> District of Baghdad in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq

Sadr City, formerly known as Al-Thawra and Saddam City, is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim and later unofficially renamed Sadr City after Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muqtada al-Sadr</span> Iraqi Shia scholar, politician and militia leader (born 1974)

Muqtada al-Sadr is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had previously led during the American military presence in Iraq, the Mahdi Army. In 2018, he joined his Sadrist political party to the Saairun alliance, which won the highest number of seats in the 2018 and 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Miller (soldier)</span> United States Army soldier

Patrick Wayne Miller is a United States Army soldier. He was a private first class during the 2003 invasion of Iraq with the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company, serving as a mechanic, becoming a POW. For his actions leading up to his capture, he was awarded the Silver Star for valor. He retired from the United States Army in August 2022.

Events in the year 2004 in Iraq.

Events in the year 2005 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun truck</span> Armored vehicle with a crew-served weapon

A gun truck is an armored vehicle with one or more crew-served weapons, typically based on a commercial vehicle. Gun trucks often have improvised vehicle armor, such as scrap metal, concrete, gravel, or sandbags, which is added to a heavy truck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Nasiriyah</span> Battle during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq

The Battle of Nasiriyah was fought between the US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Iraqi forces from 23 March to 2 April 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq. On the night of 24–25 March, the bulk of the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 1 passed through the city over the bridges and attacked north towards Baghdad. However, fighting continued in the city until 1 April when Iraqi resistance in the city was defeated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Najaf (2004)</span>

The Battle of Najaf was fought between United States and Iraqi forces on one side and the Mahdi Army led by Muqtada al-Sadr on the other in the Iraqi city of Najaf in August 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Iraq spring fighting</span> Engagements during the Iraq War

The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war; the Spring Fighting marked the entrance into the conflict of militias and religiously based militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a Mahdi Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Imposing Law</span> Operation through Baghdad

Operation Imposing Law, also known as Operation Law and Order, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon or Baghdad Security Plan (BSP), was a joint Coalition-Iraqi security plan conducted throughout Baghdad. Under the Surge plan developed in late 2006, Baghdad was to be divided into nine zones, with Iraqi and American soldiers working side by side to clear each sector of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents and establish Joint Security Stations so that reconstruction programs could begin in safety. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, went so far as to say Iraq would be "doomed" if this plan failed. Numerous members of Congress stated the plan was a critical period for the U.S. presence in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Wadi al-Batin</span> 1991 battle

The Battle of Wadi al-Batin, also known as the Battle of Ruqi Pocket, took place before the beginning of the Desert Storm operations on 16 February 1991. This is not to be confused with the "Battle of Wadi al-Batin" which was fought later in the four-day ground war between elements of the 1st Cavalry Division and the Iraqi Republican Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William W. Seay</span>

William Wayne Seay was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry G. Dahl</span>

Larry Gilbert Dahl was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 in Iraq</span> List of events

Events in the year 2008 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Basra (2008)</span>

The Battle of Basra began on 25 March 2008, when the Iraqi Army launched an operation to drive the Mahdi Army militia out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The operation was the first major operation to be planned and carried out by the Iraqi Army since the invasion of 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Iraq spring fighting</span>

The 2008 Iraq spring fighting was a series of clashes between the Mahdi Army and allies and the Iraqi Army supported by coalition forces, in southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad, that began with an Iraqi offensive in Basra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Sadr City</span> Aspect of 2003–2011 Iraq War

The siege of Sadr City was a blockade of the Shi'a district of northeastern Baghdad carried out by US and Iraqi government forces in an attempt to destroy the main power base of the insurgent Mahdi Army in Baghdad. The siege began on 4 April 2004 – later dubbed "Black Sunday" – with an uprising against the Coalition Provisional Authority following the government banning of a newspaper published by Muqtada Al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement. The most intense periods of fighting in Sadr City occurred during the first uprising in April 2004, the second in August the same year, during the sectarian conflict that gripped Baghdad in late 2006, during the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and during the spring fighting of 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Good Friday ambush</span> Attack on US troops by insurgents

The 2004 Good Friday ambush was an attack by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 during the Iraq War on a convoy of U.S. supply trucks during the Battle of Baghdad International Airport. It happened in the midst of the Iraq spring fighting of 2004, which saw intensified clashes throughout the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">89th Cavalry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 89th Cavalry Regiment is a Regiment of the United States Army first established in 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard E. Killblane</span> American military historian and author

Richard Eldon Killblane is an American military historian, author and martial arts instructor. A West Point grad in 1979 and a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School. He served as an enlisted man and officer in the U. S. Army in the infantry and Special Forces. Killblane is a veteran of Central American counter-insurgency and Operation Just Cause. He served as the Command Historian of the U.S. Army Transportation School at Fort Lee, Virginia for 19 years and traveled extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan to research convoy operations. He has published numerous articles and books on military history and is considered an authority on military convoy security. In 2003, Killblane co-authored The Filthy Thirteen: The True Story of the Dirty Dozen detailing the life and World War II 101st Airborne Division exploits of Jake McNiece.

References

  1. Dr. Donald P. Wright, Colonel Timothy R. Reese with Contemporary Operations Study Team, On Point II, Transition to the New Campaign: The United States Army in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM May 2003-January 2005, Combat Studies Institute Press, 2008.
  2. Richard E. Killblane, “Battle of BIAP, Part I,” Soldier of Fortune, August 2007 and “Battle of BIAP, Part II,” Soldier of Fortune, September 2007
  3. "Richard E. Killblane, Transportation Corps in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2, April Uprising" (PDF).
  4. "Paul D. Nyden, "10 years after battle in Iraq, W. Va. man receives Silver Star," The Charleston Gazette, November 30, 2014".

Further reading