Battlefield Atlas
Iraq War · 2003 Members · from $3

Debecka Pass, 2003

On 6 April 2003, in northern Iraq, two A-teams of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (ODAs 391 and 392), with ODA 044 of the 10th Group and Kurdish Peshmerga, pushed over Zurqah Ziraw Dagh ('Dog Ridge') to seize the Debecka crossroads, where the Irbil road meets the Kirkuk–Mosul road. An Iraqi mechanized force with T-55 tanks and MT-LB carriers counterattacked from the south. Fewer than thirty Americans, fighting from lightly armoured Humvees, held it off with heavy machine guns, close air support and the Javelin missile, in what was reportedly its first major combat use against armour. The day's worst losses came from a U.S. Navy F-14's bomb that struck the Kurdish command group by mistake, killing 17 Peshmerga and a BBC translator. The battle cut the Iraqi line on the Green Line and opened the way toward Kirkuk.

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Javelin launch
Javelin launch — U.S. Army photo — public domain

The battle, stage by stage

  1. 6 April 2003, 06:00–07:30

    Onto Dog Ridge

    Before dawn two B-52s drop strings of 1,000-pound JDAMs on Iraqi positions along Zurqah Ziraw Dagh, the long ridge the Americans call Dog Ridge, which marks the 'Green Line' between Kurdish-held territory and Iraqi forces. From the assembly area at Pir Da'ud on the far side, the attack crosses the line of departure about 07:00, an hour late. On the right, ODA 043 and about 150 Peshmerga attack Hill 374 (Objective Stone), with the GMVs of ODAs 394 and 395 firing in support from about 1,700 m. In the centre, two Peshmerga columns crest the ridge against light resistance. On the left, ODAs 391 and 392 of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, with ODA 044 and its Peshmerga, drive south down the Irbil road toward Objective Rock, the T-junction above Debecka.

  2. 07:30–09:10

    Through the berm to the crossroads

    An earth berm and mines block the road at Objective Rock, beside an abandoned T-55. The Peshmerga breach it and engage Iraqi troops on the reverse slope; about thirty prisoners are reportedly taken on the ridge. In fog and with patchy communications, SFC Thomas Sandoval presses on to the Debecka crossroads, where the road to Irbil meets the Kirkuk–Mosul road, and the teams set up to cover it. Machine guns engage trucks moving to and from Debecka, and at about 09:10 SSG Jason Brown of ODA 391 fires the battle's first Javelin, destroying a truck carrying troops at roughly 3,000 m. The teams hold the crossroads for about 45 minutes.

  3. About 09:40

    Armour from the south

    A vehicle that has stopped about 2 km south of the junction proves to be the lead of an Iraqi counterattack. T-55 tanks and MT-LB armoured carriers come up on both sides of the road, with another tank and more carriers to the west, while mortars and 57 mm anti-aircraft guns open on the teams. The tanks fire their 100 mm guns at the lightly armoured GMVs, and a first attempt to engage an APC fails when a Javelin's sight has not cooled down. The teams fall back about 900 m to an intermediate ridgeline that they name 'the Alamo'. From there Brown destroys two MT-LBs, and the Iraqi armour halts.

  4. 09:45–10:00

    The Javelin fight at the Alamo

    From the Alamo the teams fire Javelins and heavy machine guns at tanks, carriers, trucks and infantry. Sgt. Jeffrey Adamec of ODA 392 destroys an MT-LB; Brown and SSG Zawoski each hit a troop truck; ODA 044's gunner kills another MT-LB. Under .50-calibre and 40 mm fire the dismounted Iraqi infantry begin to fall back, and the armour takes cover behind an embankment south of the east–west road. The T-55s stay just beyond the range the Americans are firing from, which reportedly never came below 2,200 m — longer than the missile's official range. Two Navy F-14 Tomcats arrive overhead.

  5. About 10:00 (press reports gave about 12:15)

    The F-14 strike at Press Hill

    Through a communications and orientation error, the lead F-14's laser-guided bomb falls not on the Iraqi tanks but on the old T-55 hulk at Press Hill, beside Objective Rock, where Peshmerga, Kurdish commanders, the AOB 040 command group and a BBC team have gathered. Seventeen Peshmerga and the BBC's translator, Kamaran Abdurrazaq Muhamed, are killed and about 45 wounded; Wajih Barzani, brother of the KDP leader, is badly hurt, and BBC correspondent John Simpson and two 10th Group soldiers are among the wounded. Capt. Eric Wright and Sgt. Michael Ray of ODA 391 race back to set up a casualty collection point. Iraqi artillery begins to range the Alamo, and the teams pull back to Press Hill.

  6. 10:40–16:00

    The Iraqi force breaks

    By 10:40 the wounded are evacuated. Maj. Curtis Hubbard's ODB 390 arrives with ammunition and eight more Javelins, and the shooting resumes from Press Hill, destroying a T-55 and more carriers; by DMN's tally 19 Javelins were fired that day with 17 hits. At about 11:15 the Iraqis begin to break. About a dozen try to surrender and are reportedly fired on by men in white uniforms who arrive in two SUVs; an F/A-18 destroys the vehicles. Navy and Air Force strike aircraft work over the rest for about two hours, and by 16:00 the Iraqi force has been killed, captured or has withdrawn south. Hill 374 has fallen to ODA 043's Peshmerga.

  7. Night of 6–7 April

    Holding the road

    With aircraft still striking the crossroads, the teams do not reoccupy it that night. Hubbard sets a perimeter near Objective Rock: ODA 391 on a hill to the west, ODA 392 across the road, ODA 374 blocking the bypass into Debecka. A lone 152 mm howitzer shells the position until air support silences it; on the morning of 7 April a last T-55 is destroyed by a Javelin and aircraft. Claims for the day are five T-55s, several carriers and eight cargo vehicles, with about 90 Iraqi soldiers killed (figures differ between accounts). No Americans were killed; the Coalition's dead all fell in the friendly-fire strike.

Weapons

Iraqi Army

T-55 tank

T-55 tank

Main battle tank (Soviet design) · 1958–present

At Debecka Pass: The Iraqi counterattack came up the road with T-55s and MT-LB carriers; the teams knocked out several with Javelins.

A Soviet tank of the 1950s that formed much of the Iraqi armoured force in 2003. Outranged and outclassed, T-55s were knocked out by Javelins at Debecka and by Marine tanks and anti-tank weapons on the road into Nasiriyah.

Gun
100 mm D-10T
Crew
4
Weight
about 36 t
Photo: Tech. Sgt. Joe Coleman, USAF · public domain
AK-47 / Type 56

AK-47 / Type 56

Assault rifle · 1949–present

At Debecka Pass: Iraqi infantry dismounted from trucks and advanced on the crossroads.

Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47 became the world's most widespread military rifle thanks to its simplicity and reliability in mud, heat and rain. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops carried both Soviet AKs and the Chinese-made copy, the Type 56.

Calibre
7.62×39mm
Rate of fire
about 600 rounds/min
Magazine
30-round box
Effective range
about 350 m
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense · Public domain

U.S. Special Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga

FGM-148 Javelin

FGM-148 Javelin

Man-portable anti-tank missile · 1996–present

At Debecka Pass: The teams fired 19 Javelins and hit with 17 by one count, many at ranges beyond the missile's rated reach.

A 'fire-and-forget' missile that climbs and dives onto a tank's thin roof. Its command launch unit also served as a powerful thermal sight. Debecka Pass in April 2003 was its first big combat test: a handful of Special Forces teams used it to stop an Iraqi armoured attack.

Range
about 2,500 m (2003 models)
Guidance
fire-and-forget infrared seeker, top-attack
Weight
about 22 kg with launch unit
Photo: U.S. Army photo · public domain
M4 / M4A1 carbine

M4 / M4A1 carbine

5.56 mm assault carbine · 1994–present

At Debecka Pass: Special Forces soldiers and the Peshmerga held the ridge and treated the wounded after the friendly-fire strike.

A shortened, lighter M16 that became the standard weapon of U.S. Army infantry and special operations forces in Iraq and Afghanistan; Marine infantry in 2003–04 still mostly carried the full-length M16A4.

Calibre
5.56×45 mm NATO
Barrel
14.5 in
Magazine
30 rounds
Photo: U.S. Marine Corps photo · public domain

Paintings and photographs

Javelin launch
Javelin launch A U.S. soldier fires an FGM-148 Javelin, the missile the teams used at Debecka (2006 photo, not from the battle). U.S. Army photo — public domain · source
F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat A U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat, the type whose bomb struck the Kurdish command group (not from the battle). U.S. Navy photo — public domain · source

Free for everyone every year on its anniversary: April 6.

Accuracy score: 59/100 (limited)

How the accuracy score works

Sources and method

Debecka Pass, 6–7 April 2003. No surveyed sites or markers exist for this battlefield, so positions are approximate: the crossroads is placed at the coordinate given for the battle (Wikipedia, used only for this point), the town from the location of the Debaga camp on the REACH/IMPACT camp maps, and the other features from the distances and directions in the accounts. Tracks are interpretive. Sources:
  • Nathan Lowery, 'The Battle for Debecka Crossroads', Veritas 1:1 (USASOC History Office) / Tip of the Spear (USSOCOM), arsof-history.org (PDF with map) — objectives, distances, ODA tasks, the withdrawal to Press Ridge, the night perimeter.
  • John D. Gresham, 'The Battle of Debecka Pass: Roughnecks at War', Defense Media Network, 2010, part 2, part 3, part 4 — times, the Alamo, Javelin shots, the F-14 strike, the Iraqi break.
  • Gerry J. Gilmore, 'Special Operators Recount Iraq Missions', American Forces Press Service, 5 Feb 2004, marines.mil.
  • Frank Antenori and Hans Halberstadt, Roughneck Nine-One (St. Martin's, 2006).
  • CNN, 'Friendly fire hits Kurdish convoy', 6 Apr 2003, cnn.com; BBC, 'This is just a scene from hell', 6 Apr 2003, archived copy.
  • Task & Purpose, 'Unsung Heroes: the Javelin aces', taskandpurpose.com.
  • REACH/IMPACT, Debaga camp maps (2016, 2023), repository.impact-initiatives.org.
Accounts differ on the Iraqi unit (5th Corps; the 34th Infantry Division by one account), the strike's timing (about 10:00 in the SF accounts, 12:15 in press reports), the bomb (a 1,000-lb GBU-16 in most accounts, 2,000 lb in the Veritas article) and the Iraqi losses.

Where the positions come from

Further reading