Medina Ridge, 1991

The battle, stage by stage

1. 27 February 1991, about 08:00–11:00

   Fuel and the last push

   On the fourth day of the ground war, Major General Ronald Griffith's 1st Armored Division — part of Lieutenant General Frederick Franks's VII Corps in the 'left hook' — is driving east toward the Kuwaiti border with three brigades abreast: 3rd Brigade on the northern flank against the corps boundary, Colonel Montgomery Meigs's 2nd 'Iron' Brigade in the centre, and the attached 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division to the south. After fighting through the night, the division is reportedly down to about two hours of fuel; Franks orders the attack to continue while tankers are rushed forward. Ahead, the 2nd Brigade of the Republican Guard's Medina Armored Division waits behind a low ridge. (Task-force order within the brigade is schematic.)

2. About 11:30–12:00

   Contact on the rise

   Under low cloud and rain, the brigade's tank task forces — TF 4-70 Armor, TF 2-70 Armor and TF 1-35 Armor, with the Bradleys of 6-6 Infantry behind — come up the gentle western slope of the ridge. Thermal sights pick out Iraqi T-72 and older tanks dug in on the far (reverse) side. Iraqi artillery opens fire, but by most accounts its rounds fall short. The reverse-slope position was sound in principle, but the Iraqi tanks were reportedly dug in too far back from the crest for their guns to reach it.

3. About 12:00–13:00

   Fire from the crest

   The M1A1s halt along the crest and engage at long range — most, by one veteran's account, from nearly 2,500 metres, beyond the effective range of the Iraqi tank guns. Turrets and hulls in their berms are hit one after another. In less than an hour, by the brigade's Valorous Unit Award citation, the 2nd Brigade destroys 61 tanks, 34 armoured personnel carriers and five SA-13 air defence systems. Many Iraqi crews die in their vehicles; few flee or surrender.

4. Early to mid afternoon

   Apaches, A-10s and counter-battery

   The fight deepens beyond the ridge. The division's AH-64 Apaches, flying in rotation, hit armour and air defences with Hellfire missiles, and Air Force A-10s make attack runs; together they are credited with dozens of tanks (one account gives 38). Division and corps artillery, including MLRS of the 75th Field Artillery Brigade, find the Medina's guns and destroy two field artillery battalions. The Iraqis are reported to have shot down an A-10 — reportedly with a ZSU-23-4 — and two Apaches were lost during the division's operations.

5. Mid to late afternoon

   Through the position — and to the flanks

   The tanks roll forward through the wrecked brigade position, the infantry clearing bunkers behind them. To the south the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division fights other Medina units; by its citation it destroys 82 tanks, 31 APCs and 11 artillery pieces that day. Specialist Clarence A. 'Johnny' Cash, a scout with 4-66 Armor, is killed — by a round from a U.S. tank, according to Stars and Stripes. In the north, 3rd Brigade reports contact and casualties into the evening. Four Abrams in the division are hit during the day.

6. Night 27–28 February, to the 08:00 cease-fire

   Cease-fire

   The division keeps pressing east through the night while the Medina's survivors pull back. Around 03:00 Franks receives orders setting a cease-fire for 08:00 on 28 February. By the figures most often quoted, the day's fighting at and around Medina Ridge cost the Iraqis about 186 tanks and 127 other armoured vehicles (the division's report, as given in Ryan's study, says 286 tanks); American losses were light — on the order of two killed and some 30 wounded across the action. It is often called the largest tank battle of the Gulf War, though some rank 73 Easting and Norfolk alongside it.