| Operation Northern Delay | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the invasion of Iraq | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States  United Kingdom |  Iraq | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,000+ <40 | Unknown | ||||||
Operation Northern Delay occurred on 26 March 2003 as part of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. It involved dropping paratroopers into Northern Iraq. It was the last large-scale combat parachute operation conducted by the U.S. military since Operation Just Cause. [1]
On 26 March 2003, during the American invasion of Iraq, C-17s of the 62d Airlift Wing, 315th Airlift Wing, 437th Airlift Wing, and 446th Airlift Wing dropped SETAF's 173rd Airborne Brigade into Northern Iraq. 996 paratroopers jumped into the Bashur drop zone ( 36°31′59″N44°20′25″E / 36.5331°N 44.3404°E ). [2] [3] The operation forced the Iraqi Army to maintain approximately six divisions in the area to protect its northern flank, providing strategic relief for Coalition Forces advancing on Baghdad from the south. Bashur Airfield is located in northern Iraq approximately 356 kilometers north of Baghdad, 50 kilometers northeast of Erbil. The airbase is served by a single 6,700-foot long runway. Bashur appeared to be a small civilian airport.
Bashur is the epitome of a bare base. It was nothing more than a 7,000-foot runway in the middle of a green valley. It had no infrastructure – no water or sewage system and no electricity, buildings or paved roads.
On 26 March 2003, more than 950 paratroopers from the 173d Airborne Brigade commanded by Col. Bill Mayville consisting of 1-508 (ABN) Infantry commanded by Lt. Col. Harry Tunnell and 2-503 (ABN) Infantry commanded by Lt. Col. Dominic Caraccilo jumped into Bashur, Iraq, to set the stage for a northern front. Two days later, the first soldier from the 501st Forward Support Company, 173d Airborne Brigade, Supply Support Activity (SSA) arrived at Bashur Airfield. The operation was classified as a combat jump by the Army, although the landing zone was secured by Kurdish and American forces, which is not typical of combat jumps. [4] During the next two weeks at Bashur Airfield, all supplies arrived via the airlines of communication (ALOC) on C-17s and C-130s from Ramstein Air Base, Germany through Aviano AB, Italy. During an average 24-hour day of operations, more than 40 Air Force 463L ALOC pallets would arrive. Each pallet then had to be downloaded from the plane, transported to the SSA, processed and finally issued either to storage or to customers.
Some of the C-17s carried huge M1A1 Abrams tanks and weighed from 250,000 to 300,000 pounds when they landed. After two weeks of use by heavy cargo planes, parts of Bashur's 7,000-foot runway crumbled, forcing the closure of 2,300 feet.
As of April 2003, Delta Battery 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment remained in Bashur, and continued training the New Iraqi Army on key tasks which would be needed in to complete future operations in the region. Delta Battery also provided indirect fire support for coalition forces in the area when coalition forces came into contact with insurgents.
A 20 April 2003 report in the New York Times asserted that "the U.S. is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region." The report, citing anonymous sources, referred to one base at Baghdad's international airport, another near Al-Nasiriyah in the south [presumably meaning Tallil AB], the third at the H-1 airstrip in the western desert, and the fourth at Bashur AB in the north.
Bashur Airbase is now known as Al-Harir Air Base/Harir Airport.
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II.
Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers.
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The 508th Infantry Regiment is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, first formed in October 1942 during World War II. The 508th is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, and two battalions from the regiment are currently active: the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The regiment served in combat during World War II, and regimental elements have served in combat in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 503rd Infantry Regiment, formerly the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment served as an independent regiment in the Pacific War during World War II; at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; in Okinawa, Japan; and in Germany. Regimental elements have been assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, the 11th Airborne Division, the 24th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Regimental elements have participated in campaigns in the Vietnam War, Operation Enduring Freedom–Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The regiment claims 15 Medal of Honor recipients: two from World War II, ten from Vietnam, and three from Afghanistan. A parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System. The regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions are active, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. The 3rd and 4th Battalions as well as Companies E, F, G, H, and I have been inactived.
The 509th Infantry Regiment is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army. The unit was initially activated as a single battalion, the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in October 1941 at Fort Benning, Georgia. Nicknamed "Geronimo", the 509th conducted the U.S. Army's first combat jump during World War II on 8 November 1942, flying 1,500 miles from England to seize Tafarquay airport in Oran, Algeria. The 509th made a total of five combat jumps during the war.
The 505th Infantry Regiment, formerly and colloquially the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, one of four infantry regiments of the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, with a long and distinguished history.
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The 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion is a combat engineer battalion of the United States Army headquartered at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.
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The 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment is an active duty airborne infantry battalion in the United States Army, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and stationed at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy. The battalion has served with the 2nd Infantry Division, the 11th Airborne Division, the 24th Infantry Division, The 25th Infantry Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade; has been stationed in Korea, Germany, Italy and the United States; and earned campaign credits in World War II, the Vietnam War, Operation Enduring Freedom—Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The 4th Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment is the field artillery battalion assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Nicknamed "The King of the Herd", 4–319th AFAR has participated in battles from World War I to current operations around the globe. The battalion's mission is to provide direct supporting fires to the brigade. The unit is skilled in both the art of integrating and synchronizing all available fire support assets and in the science of delivering accurate and timely lethal and non-lethal fires. "King of the Herd" Paratroopers in the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) are able to accomplish both of these tasks and other assigned missions after rapidly deploying via parachute assault.
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Qayyarah Airfield West is an Iraqi Air Force base in the Qayyarah subdistrict of Mosul District in northern Iraq. It was captured by U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. It was also known as Q–West or Key West by the various U.S. Army Forces and civilian contractors stationed there. Control of the base was returned to Iraq in March 2020.
173rd or 173d may refer to:
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