INFORMAL INVESTIGATION OF THE NIGHT ATTACK CONDUCTED BY 3D BDE

File: 980717_aug97_decls2_0002.txt
Page: 0002
Total Pages: 31
Subject = INFORMAL INVESTIGATION OF THE NIGHT ATTACK CONDUCTED BY 3D BDE  

Box ID = BX001082

Folder title = 3D BDE 2ND AD-INVESTIGATION OF NIGHT ATTACK ON 26-27 FEB 91                                     

Unit = 1ST ID      

Parent = VII  CORPS  





           battle damage "experts" examined all 10 vehicles and stated that
           9 vehciles were hit, at some time, by 120mm depleted uranium
           rounds which leave distinctive radiation signatures.

                 As   a result of their findings, I have caused                 each
           participant to relook the events of that evening and have
           included their statements and the attached diagrams.             I have
           attempted to remain as unemotional and unattached as a commander
           can be.     After reviewing all of the attached statements and
           discussing thoroughly and diagramming the events of that evening
           with the battalion commanders, the possibility exists that in the
           "heat of battle," when in contact with enemy forces which were
           both mounted and dismounted and in and around our vehicles and
           dismounted personnel that we, in fact, could have engaged,
           destroyed, and even killed some or our own soldiers.

                 Evidence seems to prove, and the statement of the S-3 of the
           1-34 Armor substantiates, the allegation that the two D Company
           Bradleys (D21 and D26) were engaged and destroyed by friendly
           personnel.     Our vehicles were clearly out of sector and were
           engaged by 1-34 personnel after receiving what they perceived to
           be enemy fire from the two squads engaged in clearing bunkers of
           dismounted Iraqi soldiers.

                 B Company, TF 1-41 vehicles, which were hit in the initial
           engagement, were reported to have been destroyed by enemy fire,
           as stated in the enclosed statements. The only unit in the
           Brigade which was in the proximity was the trail element of 2-66
           Armor. C Company, 2-66 Armor was engaged with enemy vehicles and
           personnel that had been bypassed by lead elements and could have
           inadvertently engaged B26, B21 and B33, but statements enclosed
           do not substantiate this. Also, C Company, because of the type
           of engagements encountered and their position in the battalion
           formation, fired primarily HEAT rounds, which do not leave
           radiation signatures.

                 The remaining five tanks of A and B Companies, 3-66 Armor,
           which were part of Task Force 1-41, were the last to be engaged
           during the night battle. The first tank destroyed was B66, which
           was initially reported to have been engaged by RPS fire.              The
           battalion     commander's    statement     attests    to   this     fact.
           Subsequently, the tank was hit by tank volley fire of which one
           of the rounds penetrated just below the turret and killed the
           gunner. This vehicle was traveling in a different direction from
           the remainder of his company and from the direction of the
           penetration, determined upon returning to the site days later, it
           was probably engaged by a -Flank element of 2-66, either A or D
           Company.

                 The remainder of the tanks hit were engaged in the fight
           that ensued after B66 was hit.          As the battalion commander
           reported, fires ensued from all points of the compass.               B22,
           reacting to fire which engaged B66, turned toward the direction
           of fire and was hit in the front slope. A31 was engaged from the
           west, in the direction of B/3-66. A33 was hit from the rear,


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