The Battle for Jalibah Airfield took place when the U.S. 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division successfully attacked and captured the heavily defended Jalibah Southeast Air Base military airfield in Iraq, located 80 miles west of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, on February 27, 1991 during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

Battle

Satellite and aircraft reconnaissance indicated the presence of many dug-in Iraqi soldiers, anti-aircraft guns, and tanks prior to the attack on the airfield. At 6 a.m. the morning of 27 February, following an intensive artillery barrage, about 200 vehicles of the 2nd Brigade, under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Paul J. Kern Paul John Kern (born June 16, 1945) is a retired United States Army general and businessman. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army Materiel Command from October 2001 to November 2004. He became President and Chief Operating ...

, charged into the airfield and secured it after four hours of fighting.

Two thousand enemy soldiers, 80 anti-aircraft guns, and a tank battalion were knocked out of action in this brilliantly executed attack. The airfield fuel supplies and ammunition were blown up in a thunderous roar that could be heard for 30 kilometers (19 miles). 20 enemy aircraft were destroyed. Colonel Paul Kern and his Brigade had become the 'aces' of the campaign. Major General McCaffrey flew into the captured Jalibah airstrip to congratulate Colonel Kern of the 2nd Brigade's superb victory.

According to 2nd Lieutenant Neal Creighton, Iraqi soldiers "tried to hide in shallow bunkers and some tried to surrender. Most that moved were quickly cut down under a swath of machine gun fire. The burning helicopters, jets and dead soldiers seemed almost unreal. ... My soldiers were alive." Major David S. Pierson, who served as a task-force intelligence captain in the 2nd Brigade, said he eventually felt "guilty that we had slaughtered them so; guilty that we had performed so well and they so poorly; guilty that we were running up the score. ... They were like children fleeing before us, unorganized, scared, wishing it all would end. We continued to pour it on." Only one U.S. soldier, 2nd Lieutenant John Ford, was wounded by enemy fire during the battle. In the confusion, however, three U.S.

M2 Bradley The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense. The Bradley is designed ...

infantry fighting vehicles of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment were accidentally hit with 5

depleted uranium Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...

rounds fired by the tanks of Charlie Company,

3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment The 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment (3–69 AR) is a United States Army combined arms battalion and part of the 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. 3–69 AR was the first conventional US unit to enter Iraq in 2003, and amo ...

. At the time, the Task Force was under indirect fire and were "buttoned up." The engagement took place using their thermal sights and the Bradleys of C Company were misidentified as retreating Iraqi vehicles. They fired between 15 and 25 rounds at what they identified as T-72 Iraqi tanks. This

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

incident resulted in the 10 additional American casualties: two deaths and eight injuries.

References

Note

1991 in Iraq Jalibah Airfield Jalibah Airfield Friendly fire incidents Jalibah Airfield Jalibah Airfield February 1991 events in Asia Jalibah Airfield {{Iraq-hist-stub