The town was heavily fortified with rooftop, sandbagged, machine gun nests and fighting positions. A reinforced Iraqi commando battalion defended Al Busayyah. The town consisted of forty to fifty buildings, most located along one main north-south road. Īl Busayyah was a critical crossroads and an Iraqi Army stronghold. The Iron Soldiers could see the town, some four kilometers in front of them. Over a hundred armored vehicles ground to a halt at the face of the final ridge.
Open desert stretched out to the horizon, on 6-6’s right flank. 2-70 Armor rolled into position on 6-6’s left flank. One more ridge lay between the "Iron Soldiers" and the Iraqis in Al Busayyah.
Moments later, the entire Battalion rolled over the ridge. Team Gator, commanded by Captain Dave Bither, was the lead element of Lieutenant Colonel Mike McGee’s 6-6 Infantry Battalion. Then at 0635, Team Gator mounted a small ridge and paused momentarily. In preparation for the attack, Division artillery had been pounding the town all night. Lowry.Īt 0630 on Tuesday, Febru, the 2d Brigade of the 1st Armored Division opened the assault on Al Busayyah. The following is an excerpt from the newly published book The Gulf War Chronicles by Richard S. The IRON SOLDIERS’ First Encounter in Iraq
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