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1-37 Armor Vilseck/Desert Storm - History, Pictures, Stories, Lost friends.
While most of the Tawakalna Division commander's attention was focused to his division's front, its right flank was about to be attacked by a fourth American unit, the 1st Armored Division. Major General Ron Griffith's primary military target had been the Medina Division about thirty kilometers father east,54 but one battalion of the Tawakalna's 29th Mechanized Brigade occupied positions in Griffith's 1st Armored Division's zone of operations.55 That Iraqi battalion lay directly in the path of Colonel Dan Zanini's (one of Griffith's three maneuver brigades) 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.56
Colonel Zanini synchronized the fight to maximize his fire power and minimize battlefield confusion. Artillery, Apache attack helicopters and mechanized infantry fired their weapons at the Iraqi defenders in order to prevent them from returning accurate fire as one of his tank battalions (Task Force 1-37 Armor) began moving in the dark towards the Iraqi defenses. This battalion's forty-five M1A1 tanks moved abreast towards the Iraqis at less than ten kilometers per hour. About 1,000 meters behind the tanks moved the battalion's infantry company mounted on its Bradleys, to help destroy any threat to their rear. As the tanks moved forward, the overwatching infantry battalion began firing illumination rounds from its mortar platoon. The brigade commander then turned the fight over to the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Dyer.57
As was the case with the entire Tawakalna division, the Iraqi soldiers fought hard. Many Iraqi tanks kept their engines off in order to defeat the American thermal sights. Those vehicles were often located because of the strange white spots, the tank commander's head, seemingly suspended in thin air.58 The Iraqi tanks that were not hit were able to turn their turrets and attack the M1s in their flanks and rear. Iraqi infantry moved in three to five second rushes in order to get close to attacking vehicles. Burning vehicles and explosions "washed out" the thermal sights and made it difficult for US forces to locate Iraqi tanks. In that confusion, the 29th Iraqi Armored Brigade knocked out four M1 tanks, wounding six US soldiers.59
The Iraqi brigade, however, never had a chance. It was attacked by Task Force 1/37 Armor, the tank battalion with the best gunnery skills in the entire US Army.60 When TF 1/37 had completed its assault, the Iraqi unit was in shambles. Because of luck, training, and the effectiveness of the Abrams' enhanced armor, there were no American fatalities. In the sector swept by the 1st Brigade, two Iraqi tank companies and one mechanized infantry company (approximately 24 T-72 tanks and 14 BMP infantry fighting vehicles) had become burning hulks.
The "100 hour" Desert Storm ground campaign illustrated the ferocity and high tempo of modern warfare. For several days, almost one million Coalition combatants and over ten thousand armored vehicles engaged in intense and sustained combat operations around the clock, often in rainy weather. Unlike previous conflicts where the front lines remained relatively fixed, Operation Desert Storm was characterized by a dynamic, often confused battlefield where individual combat vehicle crews and units, caught up in the rapid advance punctuated by pitched skirmishes and battles, sometimes lost their "situational awareness" of where they were and where the enemy and friendly forces were.
On the modern battlefield, success tends to favor the side that can see, engage, and neutralize the enemy first. US combat vehicles enjoyed important technological advantages over Iraq's older, mostly Russian-designed armored vehicles. Superior sighting and sensor equipment almost invariably allowed US crewmen to see and engage the Iraqi forces first, especially during night combat or in bad weather. US cannon systems were stabilized, so they could fire accurately while on the move. US forces could select, load, and fire munitions far more rapidly than their Iraqi counterparts. Finally, the use of depleted uranium rounds allowed US tanks to engage the enemy from extended ranges and with unprecedented lethal effect. While Iraqi Republican Guard T-72 tanks -- Saddam's most formidable armored threat -- boasted a 125mm cannon with a maximum effective range of 1,800 meters, US M1A1 tanks routinely scored kills at twice that distance.[311] In addition, Iraqi tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, and infantry anti-tank weapons failed to penetrate the DU armor of any of the 594 Heavy Armor M1A1s that saw action in the Gulf War, even when firing from well within their supposed "lethal" range and even when scoring direct hits.[312] The result was one of the most lopsided victories in modern military history -- Iraq lost in excess of 4,000 armored vehicles to US air and ground fire, while a vehicle by vehicle review of US battle damage reports indicates that fewer than ten combat vehicles were destroyed or disabled by hostile fire (a smaller number were damaged or destroyed by mines).[313]
Tragically, "fog-of-war" situations caused by the rapid advance of American forces, coupled with the use of long-range, highly lethal weapons, led to a number of friendly-fire incidents in which US combat vehicles, usually M1A1 tanks, fired on fellow US combat vehicles or units. In addition to the friendly-fire incidents involving tank-fired DU munitions during the Gulf War, there were three incidents involving A-10 aircraft and one involving the Navy's Phalanx Close In Weapon System. These incidents resulted in the contamination of 6 M1A1 tanks, and 15 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. (A large shaped-charge round -- probably a Hellfire anti-armor missile fired from an Apache helicopter -- hit another M1A1 and ignited an on-board fire. Because this suspected friendly fire incident did not involve an impacting DU round, this incident is described separately in Tab J, "Tank Fires.")
A major contributing factor in each of these incidents was low visibility from heavy rains, darkness, sandstorms, etc. In most cases, owing to battlefield confusion, the soldiers manning the targeted vehicles initially believed that they had been struck by Iraqi rounds. A team of battle damage assessment experts later ascertained that these vehicles were shot by Abrams tanks, since the DU round leaves a distinctive radioactive trace on entrance and exit holes. In most cases, the veterans of these incidents learned from after-action investigations and word of mouth that they had been victims of friendly fire. Most of these soldiers, however, were unaware of the potential health effects from depleted uranium. Accordingly, a comprehensive effort to identify, locate, and contact all surviving soldiers who were in or on vehicles at the time they were penetrated by DU rounds paralleled the investigation of friendly-fire incidents.
All 1-37 footnotes and supporting documents attached below.[JD-11/05]
B. Task Force 1-37 Armor (Evening, February 26, 1991)
Around 8:00 PM on February 26th, Task Force 1-37 Armor conducted a night attack on an Iraqi position defended by portions of the Tawakalna Division, Republican Guard, equipped with T-72 tanks and BMP fighting vehicles. The attack was part of a coordinated division attack, with 1-37 Armor being the southernmost task force. 1-37 Armor was advancing in conjunction with the 3rd Armored Division in VII Corps' attack in the south. A shaped-charge weapon (most likely a Hellfire missile) hit one tank (Bumper #B-23), causing an on-board fire. This incident is described in Tab J. At the time of the attack, low, heavy clouds and rain obscured visibility.[332] We know the following information about the tank (Bumper # C-12) hit by a DU round.
C
C Company, Task Force 1-37 Armor, Abrams Tank (Bumper # C-12): While advancing on the objective, this tank destroyed five or six enemy tanks and BMP fighting vehicles. Realizing they had bypassed an enemy vehicle, C-12's crew backed up their tank to destroy a BMP, only to be struck from behind by a 120mm DU round,[333] causing the tank to lose power and fill with smoke. Two of the crew members interviewed said that after the crew had evacuated, another round hit C-12. The troop commander, riding in C-66, came back to find out why C-12 had dropped off the communications network. Immediately after C-12's loader (a crew member) had finished informing the commander that C-12 had been hit, a shaped-charged (non-DU) round struck C-66. The four C-12 and four C-66 crew members climbed onto another tank, which carried them to safety. None of the four C-12 crew members interviewed indicated they were injured, and two of them said the DU round did not penetrate the crew compartment.[334] A battle damage assessment confirmed that a second round (an antitank missile) struck the rear of the bustle rack, causing the rucksacks, duffel bags, and associated equipment fastened there to catch fire. There was no damage to the turret's interior, and no secondary explosions of stored ammunition or fuel. US forces recovered the tank on March 4, 1991.[
[332] Battle scenario and damage information were taken from "Analysis of 1-37 Armor's Battle Damage Incident," Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD: Ballistic Research Laboratory, (Undated).
[333] Koffinke, Richard A. Jr., and Frederick T. Brown, US Army Battle Damage Assessment Operations in Operation Desert Storm, Vol. II (U), ARL-TR-104, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD: Army Research Laboratory, March 1993, p. 162.
[334] Lead Sheet #19327, Interview of C-12 Abrams commander, October 6, 1998, p. 2; Lead Sheet #19328, Interview of C-12 Abrams driver, October 21, 1998, p. 1-2; Lead Sheet #19329, Interview of C-12 Abrams loader, October 29, 1998, p. 2-3; and Lead Sheet #19330, Interview of C-12 Abrams gunner, October 19, 1998, p. 2.
[335] Battle scenario and damage information were taken from "Analysis of 1-37 Armor's Battle Damage Incident," Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD: Ballistic Research Laboratory, (Undated), p. 2.
B. February 26, 1991, Tank Fire Due to Non-DU Munition Impact
On the evening of February 26, 1991, a large shaped-charge weapon hit an Abrams tank (Bumper # B-23) belonging to B Company, 1-37 Armor, penetrating the rear grill doors. The loader was injured when a second round (probably an antitank weapon) struck the tank while the crew was attempting to evacuate. The D Company Executive Officer's tank picked up the crew. The penetration caused a catastrophic fire in the hull, destroying all stowed DU ammunition. The recovery team found pieces of a Hellfire missile at the site, but investigators could not verify that a Hellfire struck B-23. The inside of B-23's turret sustained no ballistic damage. The tank was recovered on or about March 7, 1991.[519]
The AMCCOM Radiation Control Team inspected the tank but did not perform a radiological assessment because the DU penetrators had not been removed when they visited.[520] The tank was shipped to the Defense Consolidation Facility in South Carolina in June 1991 for final disposal.[
Al-Jubayl, Saudi Arabia ISA, Initial Staging Area, northern port city, tent-city (Andersonville)
Dates: late December, 1990 to mid January, 1991
Dammam, Saudi Arabia - southern port city, some of our vehicles arrived here.
Daharahn, Saudi Arabia I think this is where we flew into from Germany? Can anyone confirm?
Dates: on or around Christmas day, 1990
TAA Thompson Ah-dibdidah south of the Tapline Road
Dates: mid January, 1991
Mass manuever exercises transition from sectional to battalion tactics.
FAA Garcia north of the Tapline Road and west of the Wadi Al Batin.
Dates: mid February, 1991
Iraqi Republican Guard Divisions:
Hammurabi
Medina
Tawakalna
Cease-Fire Kuwait
Oil fires, bunkers, destroyed Iraqi vehiles and equipment.
KKMC King Kalid Military City
Advance Party to set up camp Dates ?
Battalion movement from Rumalya, Iraq to the KKMC area End of April, 1991
Wadi Al Batin - dry river bed along the western boarder of Kuwait
Al-Busayah, Iraq 1-37s first objective/engagement (Python?)
Rumalya, Iraq oil fields we occupied while treaties were being signed, built baseball field.
Basra check point Alpha
Bremmerhaven northern port city in Germany where 1-37s vehicles departed here for SWA.
Sfc. Peraltas voyage from Bremmerhaven to Al-Jubayl it was a good story when he told it to me.
Phase lines?
VII Corps Order of Battle - Operation Desert Storm 1991
VII Corps Staff
Commander, Lt. Gen. Fred Franks, USA
Dep. Commander Brig. Gen. Gene Daniels, USA (Remained in Stuttgart)
Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. John Landry, USA
Executive Officer, Lt. Col. Russ Mulholland, USA
CO, Corps Support Command, Brig. Gen. Bob McFarlin, USA
VII Corps Artillery Officer, Brig. Gen. Creighton Abrams, Jr., USA
Staff Weather Officer, Maj. Jerry Thornberg, USA
VII Corps Chief of Plans, Lt. Col Tom Goedkoop, USA, transfered to command of 4/66 Armor, 1st Armored Division, on 26 January 1991, when that unit's original CO was injured. He was relaced at VII Corps by Lt. Col. Bob Schmitt, USA, from the plans office of 3rd Army.
? 1st Armored Division
CO Maj. Gen. Ronald Griffith, USA
ADC Brig. Gen. Jay Hendrix, USA
ADC (Support) Brig. Gen. Janett Robertson, USA
COS Col. Darryl Charlton, USA
The division deployed from Germany with a large number of non-organic and attached units. The division also deployed with the standard 6+4 maneuver battalions for an armored division.
? 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized)
[Replaced 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in deployment for Operation Desert Storm]
4th Battalion, 66th Armor [Aschaffenburg] (M-1A1)
1st Battalion, 7th Infantry [Aschaffenburg] (M-2A2)
4th Battalion, 7th Infantry [Aschaffenburg] (M-2A2)
1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry [Katterbach] [BLACHAWK] [AH-1; M-3] (1st Armored Division Asset)
2nd Battalion, 41st Field Artillery [Bad Kissingen] (M-109 3x8)
26th Support Battalion (Forward) (Aschaffenburg)
? 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division (Col. Montgomery Meigs, USA)
1st Battalion, 35th Armor [Erlangen] (M-1A1) (Lt. Col. Jerry Weidewitsch, USA)
2nd Battalion, 70th Armor [Erlangen] (M-1A1) (Lt. Col. Steve Whitcomb, USA)
4th Battalion, 70th Armor [Erlangen] (M-1A1) (Lt. Col. Bill Feyk, USA)
6th Battalion, 6th Infantry [Bamberg] (M-2A2) (Lt. Col. Michail McGee, USA)
? 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division (Col. Dan Zanini, USA)
3rd Battalion, 35th Armor [Bamberg] (M-1A1) (Lt. Col. Ed Kane, USA)
1st Battalion, 37th Armor [Vilseck] (M-1A1HA) (Lt. Col. Ed Dyer, USA Dragon 6) (also was in 1st Brigade)
XO Dragon 5, Maj. Roger Nadeau
S3 - Dragon 3, Maj. Jack Gulden
S2 Dragon 2, Cpt. Millard
S1 Dragon 1, 1Lt Patrick Clark
S4 - Dragon 4, Cpt. Michele
CSM Dragon 7, CSM Rodney Caesar
A co. Cpt. John Tully (attached to TF 7-6 Infantry)
B co. - (Buster 6 ) Cpt. Bob Wood
C co. - (Cobra 6) Cpt. Maneen
D co. (Dauntless 6) Cpt. Dana Pittard
HHC (dragon 16) - Cpt. Lawrence
1SG Phillips Dragon 17
7th Battalion, 6th Infantry [Bamberg] (M-2A2) (Lt. Col. Ward Critz, USA)
? 1st Armored Division Artillery
Battery A, 94th Field Artillery [Zirndorf] (MLRS) [During ground offensive OPCON 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery]
Battery B, 25th Field Artillery [Zirndorf] (Target Acquisition Battery)
2nd Battalion, 1st Field Artillery [Zirndorf] (M-109 3x8) [DS 2nd Brigade]
3rd Battalion, 1st Field Artillery [Bamberg] (M-109 3x8) [DS 3rd Brigade]
? Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division (Col. Dan Petrovsky, USA)
Task Force PHOENIX (Consolidated UH-60 assets, Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division) [During initial phase of ground combat served under Task Force 3-1 Aviation control]
Company G, 1st Aviation [Katterbach] (Command)
Company H, 1st Aviation [Katterbach] (Assault)
2nd Battalion, 1st Aviation [Katterbach] (18 x AH-64) OPCON to 2nd Armored Cavalry 24-27 Feb 91
3rd Battalion, 1st Aviation [Katterbach] (18 x AH-64)
Company I, 1st Aviation (Katterbach) (AVIM) (Lt. Col. Bill Hatch, USA) [Provisionally organized prior to deployment as 9th Battalion, 1st Aviation and committed in direct support of the Aviation Brigade as a prototype of the Aviation Support Battalion concept]
? 1st Armored Division Support Command
47th Support Battalion (Forward) [DS 2nd Brigade] (Erlangen)
123rd Support Battalion (Main) (Furth)
125th Support Battalion (Forward) [DS 3rd Brigade] (Bamberg)
400th Personnel Service Company (Ansbach) (attached)
1st Armored Division Band (Ansbach)
6th BN, 3rd ADA (Vulcan/Stinger) [Schwabach]
69th Chemical Company (Zirndorf) [less original 1st (Fox) Platoon with 24th Infantry Division since DESERT SHIELD] 16th Engineer BN [Furth]
Company B, 54th Engineer Battalion
501st Military Intelligence Battalion (CEWI) (Katterbach)
501st Military Police Company (Ansbach)
141st Signal Battalion (Ansbach)
Task Force WILDCAT (Engineer) provisional formation for ground combat phase consisting of Company C, 16th Engineer Battalion and Company D, 54th Engineer Battalion.
? OPCON and Attached Units
501st Civil Affairs Company (USAR NY)
? 3rd Armored Division [inactivated in 1992]
CO Maj. Gen. Paul E. "Butch" Funk, USA
CSM Sgt. Maj. Joe T. Hill, USA
Chief of Plans Maj. John Rosenberger, USA
Artillery Officer Col. John Michitsch, USA
No detailed order of battle is available. I will list the units and commanders that I know of with reference to order of battle if I know it. The division moved into attack with 1st & 2nd Brigades forward, and 3rd Brigade in reserve.
? Units in unknown brigade, maybe division assets
4th Battlion, 7th Cavalry
? 1st Brigade (Col. William Nash, USA)
3rd Battalion, 5th Cavalry (Lt. Col. John Brown, USA)
1st Lt. Marty Leners, USA, 1st platoon leader, Company C, commanded the first tank in the division to kill an Iraqi T-72. His gunner was Sgt. Glenn Wilson, USA.
4th Battalion, 32nd Armor (Lt. Col. John Kalb, USA)
? 2nd Brigade
Col. Robert Williams, USA is identified as brigade CO in Certain Victory (the US Army official history), but Gen. Franks identifies Col. Bob Higgins, USA as brigade CO.
4th Battalion, 8th Cavalry (Lt. Col. Beaufort "Chuck" Hallman, USA)
? 3rd Brigade Col. Rob Goff
4th Battalion, 67th Armor (Lt. Col. Tim Reischl, USA)
? Aviation Brigade, 3rd Armored Division (Col. Mike Burke, USA)
1st Infantry Division [Mechanized]
CO Maj. Gen. Thomas Rhame, USA
ADC (maneuver) Brig. Gen. Bill Carter, USA
1st Infantry Division (Forward) and 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Mech) [Boblingen] in process of inactivating when Desert shield commenced. Personnel used as a port support activity in SWA.
3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division was replaced by 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division, as a result of which the 10 maneuver battalions of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Division were 6 armored, and 3 mechanized infantry. So this division deployed in effect as an armored division, although short by one maneuver battalion.
? 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Col. Bert Maggart, USA)
1st Battalion, 34th Armor [Fort Riley] (Lt. Col. G. "Pat" Ritter, USA)
2nd Battalion, 34th Armor [Fort Riley] (Lt. Col. Gregory Fontenot, USA)
5th Battalion, 16th Infantry [Fort Riley] (M2) (Lt. Col. Sidney "Skip" Burke, USA)
? 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Col. Tony Moreno, USA)
3rd Battalion, 37th Armor [Fort Riley]
4th Battalion, 37th Armor [Fort Riley] (Lt. Col. David Marlin, USA)
2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry [Fort Riley] (M2) (Lt. Col. Daniel Fake, USA)
? 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division [Garlstadt] (attached) (Col. David Weismann, USA)
(Lt. Col. Terry Johnson, USA, Deputy C.O.)
Replaced the 1st Infantry Division's own inactivating 3rd Brigade.
2nd Battalion, 66th Armor [Garlstadt] (M-1A1HA)
3rd Battalion, 66th Armor [Garlstadt] (M-1A1)
1st Battalion, 41st Infantry [Garlstadt] (M-2)
4th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery [Garlstadt] (M-109)
Battery C, 26th Field Artillery (TAB)
498th Support Battalion (Forward) [Garlstadt]
Company D, 17th Engineer Battalion [Garlstadt]
? 1st Infantry Division Artillery
1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery [Fort Riley] (M-109) [DS 1st Brigade]
4th Battalion, 5th Field Artillery [Fort Riley] (M-109) [DS 2nd Brigade]
? Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division
1st Battalion, 1st Aviation (Fort Riley)
4th Battalion (Provisional), 1st Aviation [1st Infantry Division] [Fort Riley] (Created as Task Force from division's UH-60 and General Support Aviation companies)
1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry [Fort Riley] [M-1A1; M-3A2; AH-1; OH-58]
? 1st Infantry Division Support Command
101st Support Battalion (Forward) [DS 1st Brigade] (Fort Riley)
201st Support Battalion (Forward) [DS 2nd Brigade] (Fort Riley)
701st Support Battalion (Main) (Fort Riley)
Company F, 1st Aviation (Aviation Intermediate Maintenance) (Fort Riley)
1st Infantry Division Band (Fort Riley)
1st Personnel Service Company (Fort Riley) (attached)
2nd Battalion (-), 3rd Air Defense Artillery (Fort Riley)
12th Chemical Company (-) (Fort Riley)
1st Engineer Battalion (Fort Riley)
84th Engineer Detachment (Terrain) (Fort Riley) (attached)
548th Engineer Detachment (Terrain) (Fort Riley) (attached)
101st Military Intelligence Battalion (CEWI) (Fort Riley)
1st Military Police Company (Fort Riley)
121st Signal Battalion (-) (Fort Riley)
? Attached and OPCON Units
181st Chemical Company (Decon) (Fort Hood) [2nd Chemical Battalion] (Company (-) in direct support of 7th Engineer Brigade passing to 1st Infantry Division after breech; and two platoons with 1st Infantry Division throughout ground offensive)
323rd Chemical Company (Decontamination) (USAR, SD) [2nd Chemical Battalion] (Company (-) in direct support of 1st Infantry Division; two platoons in DS of 3rd Armored Division)
418th Civil Affairs Company (USAR, MO) (also used in support of Operation PROVIDE COMFORT) 9th Engineer Battalion [Aschaffenberg] [7th Engineer Brigade] (Direct support (OPCON) to 1st Infantry Division) 3rd Battalion, 34th Armor [Boblingen] (inactivating, used for port support activity) 4th Battalion, 16th Infantry [Cooke Barracks, GE] (Performed Port Support Activity under 24th Transportation Battalion and/or 299th Support Battalion)
1st Armored Division, UK (Maj. Gen. Rupert Smith, United Kingdom)
The United Kingdom initially deployed the 7th Armoured Brigade ("Desert Rats"). After Gen. Schwarzkopf called for another corps, that deployment was incresed to include a full division, designated 1st Armoured Division, though built out of pieces from various UK divisions deployed in Germany at the time. The overall commander of all UK forces in the theater was Lt. Gen. Sir Peter de la Billiere.
? 4th Armoured Brigade (Brig. Christopher Hammerback, USA)
14/20 King's Hussars (43 Challenger MBTs)
1st Royal Scots Infantry (45 Warrior IFVs)
3rd Royal Fusiliers Infantry (45 Warrior IFVs)
23rd Regiment, Royal Engineers
46th Air Defence battery (Javelin)
2nd Field Artillery Regiment (24 M109 SP howitzers)
? 7th Armoured Brigade (Brig. Patrick Cordingly, United Kingdom) ["Desert Rats"]
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (57 Challenger MBTs)
Queen's Royal Irish Hussars (57 Challenger MBTs)
1st Staffordshire Infantry (45 Warrior IFVs) (Lt. Col. Charles Rogers)
2 Warrior & 2 Challenger companies; A co. CO Maj. Simon Knapper
39th Regiment, Royal Engineers
664th Helicopter Squadron (9 Lynx)
10th Air Defence Battery (Javelin)
40th Field Artillery Regiment (24 M109 SP howitzers)
? Division Troops
16/5 Queen's Royal Lancers Recon Battalion (24 Scorpion, 12 Scimitar, 12 Striker)
4th Army Air Regiment (24 Lynx with TOW & 12 Gazelle)
32nd Heavy Artillery Regiment (16 M109, 12 M110 SP howitzers)
29th Heavy Artillery Regiment (12 MLRS)
12th Air Defence Regiment (24 tracked Rapier)
32nd Regiment, Royal Engineers
? EPW handling infantry battalions
1st Coldstream Guards
Royal Highland Fusiliers
King's Own Scottish Borderers
Independent and attached Corps Assets
? 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Col. Paul Holder, USA)
? 11th Aviation Brigade (CO Col. Johnnie Hitt, USA; Dep. CO Lt. Col. Terry Johnson, USA)
2/6 Aviation Battalion(Lt. Col. Terry Branham, USA)
? 42nd Field Artillery Brigade (Col. Morrie Boyd, USA)
Assigned to support 3rd Armored Division
? 72nd Field Artillery Brigade
? 142nd Field Artillery Brigade
? 210th Field Artillery Brigade
? TF 8/43 Air Defence (Lt. Col. Larry Dogden, USA)
? 7th Engineer Brigade (Col. Sam Raines, USA)
? 14th Military Police Brigade (Col. Rich Pomager, USA)
? 93rd Signal Brigade ((Col. Rich Walsh, USA)
? 207th military Intelligence Brigade (Col. John Smith, USA)
? 2nd Corps Support Command (Brig. Gen. Bob McFarlin, USA)
? 7th Personnel Group (Col. Jo Rusin, USA)
? 7th Finance Group (Col. Russ Dowden, USA)
General History
World War II
Before D-day
The 37th Armor was activated on April 15, 1941 at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum), New York. That evening, 600 officers and 3,200 enlisted men stood at attention while orders activating the US 4th Armored Division were read. The United States was not yet at war, but ten months earlier a group of Generals leading Hitler's armies, in particular Guderian, Kleist, and Rommel, had demonstrated a new type of warfare which electrified the world. American journalists called their operations "Blitzkrieg", which means lightning war in English. Meanwhile George S. Patton had already begun forming the US 2nd Armored Division more or less on the model of the German Panzer Divisions which had forced France to her knees in less than two months.
One group of the soldiers present when the 4th Armored Division was formed became the nucleus of the Seventh Armored Regiment, which in turn became the 37th Armored Regiment on May 8, 1941. The first filler personnel arrived at Pine Camp four days later, and two weeks after that a thirteen-week basic training cycle was begun. Training in the fundamentals of Armor began, despite the fact that there were only twenty one tanks in the entire division. Many of the 37th Armored's key personnel were selected to cadre the US 5th Armored Division and US 2nd Armored Division.
Members of the US 37th Tank Battalion in WWII.In October 1942, the 37th Armored and the remainder of the US 4th Armored Division moved to Tennessee for maneuvers. A month later the regiment moved again, all the way to the West Coast this time, establishing its command post near Freida, California. During this time, some of the lessons learned in combat in North Africa by the US 1st Armored Division and US 2nd Armored Division were taught to the 37th Armor. In early June 1943 orders came for the 37th Armor to dismount at Camp Bowie, near Brownwood, Texas.
In September 1943, the 37th was reorganized for combat. The 37th Armored regiment, as such, was no more. First Battalion, Second Battalion and Regimental headquarters became the 37th Tank Battalion, composed of three medium tank companies (A, B & C), one light tank company (D) and a Headquarters Company.
The 37th Tank Battalion was now, along with the US 35th Tank Battalion and US 8th Tank Battalion, the nucleus of the "light" armored division. On November 15, 1943, Major General John S. Wood announced to the US 4th Armored Division that they would deploy overseas. On December 11, 1943, the 37th moved northeast by train, unloading at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, from which the main body sailed on December 29, 1943. Eleven days later they were training again in Britain.
On February 1, 1944, the US 4th Armored Division became part of General Patton's Third Army.
D-Day
The 37th didn't participate in the D-Day landings. On July 8, 1944, the 37th moved to Southern England and prepared for transport to France. Four days later it reached Normandy, but for the remainder of July 1944, the 37th simply waited in reserve while the US 4th Armored Division relieved elements of the weary US 4th Infantry Division.
Finally, the 37th was ordered to combat on July 28, 1944, as the US 1st Army launched its breakout attack. The infantry divisions on both sides of the US 4th Armored Division attacked and "pinched out" the division, then the US 4th Armored Division attacked through the infantry lines and began to race for the neck of the Brittany peninsula. The 37th was traveling at the forefront of this move with Colonel Bruce C. Clark's Combat Command Alpha. The next day, Coutances fell, and then Avranches, at the northern edge of the neck of Brittany, fell on July 30.
On its way across Brittany, the 4th Armored resumed its working acquaintance with General Patton's 3rd US Army, which became operational on August 1, 1944. By August 9, 1944 the 37th was approaching Lorient, on the southern edge of Brittany. On August 14, 1944 the siege of Lorient was turned over to the US 6th Armored Division and the 37th turned eastward with the rest of the 3rd Army, which was beginning its historic race across France. US VII Corps was the southernmost corps of the 3rd Army, US 4th Armored Division was on the VII Corps southern flank, and the 37th Tank Battalion was protecting the southern flank of the division. There was nothing south of the 37th except the Loire River and the Germans.
The Commander of the 37th, Lieutenant Colonel Creighton W. Abrams (who later became Commander of all US Forces in Vietnam and then the Army Chief of Staff), in an odd move, detached a task force under Major Edward Bautz to blow the Loire River bridges between Blois and Tours, but they found upon arrival that their work had been done by the Wehrmacht. This task force then followed the Loire's northern bank, paralleling the advance of the main body. On August 16, 1944 a German column was sighted on the south bank. Major Bautz's tankers attacked this column, inflicting losses and driving the Germans back from the river.
The 37th crossed the Seine on August 25, 1944, and the Marne on August 23, 1944. The Marne Canal was bridged and the town of Chalons was attacked from the east, to the consternation of the defending garrison, which was expecting an assault on the western edge of town.
On August 31, 1944, in a quick attack during a driving rainstorm, the 37th captured the bridge across the Meuse River at Commercy before the Germans could blow it up. The next day, the gasoline ration had run out, and the 37th ground to a halt. By this time, the 37th had advanced 700 miles in seven weeks (about the same amount of time it had taken the German Wehrmacht to conquer all of France), crossed three major rivers and was within one day's motor march of the German border, only seventy miles to the northwest.
On September 13, 1944, the M4 tanks of the 37th crossed the Moselle River. On September 14, 1944 they overran the rear command post of the German 15th Panzer Grenadier Division at Arracourt and, in Valhey, caught the same division's forward echelon command post before it could retreat. It was at Valhey that Sergeant Joe Sadowski of Company A won his Medal of Honor. This Non-Commissioned Officer from Perth Amboy, New Jersey was commander of the second tank column as the 37th rolled into the French town. Swinging north around a corner, Sadowski's M4 tank clattered into the village square, where a German armor-piercing round found its mark and set the Sherman afire against the town's water trough. Sadowski had his crew dismounted and took shelter behind a building after running a gauntlet of machine gun and small arms fire. The bow gunner was found to be missing, and a quick glance at the burning tank showed the gunner's hatch still closed tight. Sadowski ..."ran back to his tank, clambered up the smoking front slope plate and tried to pry open the gunner's hatch with his bare hands. He stood on the smoking tank and strained at the hatch until he had been hit so many times he could no longer stand. He slid from his medium[tank] and died in the mud beside its tracks". His father and mother were given his posthumous Medal of Honor.
From September 19 through September 22, 1944 the Germans tried to push the 37th back across the Moselle River. At Mayenvie, the 37th saw one of the largest tank-to-tank engagements of the war, losing 14 Shermans while claiming to have knocked out 55 Panthers and Tigers. The German counterattack was unsuccessful.
On September 22, 1944 the 37th's M4 tanks swept south again through Coincourt and Bures to the Rhine-Marne Canal. Counterattack followed counterattack as the desperate Wehrmacht tried to dislodge the 3rd Army from its position, but as the toll of Panthers mounted, the attacks dwindled in intensity and finally ceased. The 37th was relieved on October 12, 1944 by elements of the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division. For its tenacity in the Moselle River valley, the 37th was awarded its second Croix de Guerre with Palm by a grateful French Government (it's first coming in Normandy). The 37th's tankers were pulled off line for a rest after 87 straight days of combat.
The 37th moved out in a downpour on November 9, 1944 to deprive Hitler of the industrial Saar River Valley. On November 11, 1944 the 37th was caught on the road and lost six tanks because they could not maneuver off-road due to the bottomless mud. On December 8, 1944 the 37th passed through the old French Maginot Line and took Singling. Two days later it was relieved again, by elements of the US 12th Armored Division, and sent to the rear for another rest, although not so far back that elements of the battalion were not in intermittent contact with German forces.
Battle of the Bulge
On December 16, 1944, Shermans of Company A were the first US 4th Armored Division vehicles to enter Germany when they chased several German tanks back into the woods near Rimling.
The same day Company A entered the Reich, Hitler had played his last trump north of where the US 4th Armored Division was resting from its five months in action. The German 5th Panzer Division, the last of the German strategic reserves, spearheaded the attack by Model's Army Group B that opened the "Battle of the Bulge". Its objective was the port of Antwerp and allied depots nearby. On December 18, 1944 the 37th got its march order---to move north against the German penetration, which was causing alarm to the Allied High Command.
Bastogne, Belgium, December 26, 1944. Encircled by Germans, troops of the US 101st Airborne Division watch C-47s drop supplies to them.On the same day the US 101st Airborne Division was moved by truck to establish a strongpoint at the key road and rail junction of Bastogne, in Belgium. By the time the 37th arrived at the south flank of the German penetration, the 101st was cut off on all sides by the enemy drive. The 37th became a point of the US 4th Armored Division's drive to relieve the paratroopers in Bastogne. The 37th moved out in a feathery snowfall at 0600 hours on December 22, 1944, attacking northward against German airborne troops. The 37th Tank Battalion and the US 53rd Armored Infantry made up the US 4th Armored Division's Combat Command B (CCB). In a bloody engagement against German paratroopers wearing American uniforms, CCB took Bigonville.
At 0200 Christmas morning CCB marched thirty miles west to the US 4th Armored Division's left flank. At 0700 the 37th jumped off from Bercheaux and swiftly took Bauxles-Rosieres, Nives and Remoiville. At dawn on December 26, 1944 the 37th struck again, taking Remichampagne, and then seizing the high ground near Chochiment, only three miles from Bastogne. Announcing the plan to relieve the surrounded US 101st Airborne Division, LTC Abrams, commanding the 37th, made the undramatic statement, "We're going in to those people now."
The lead vehicle in that attack was a Sherman tank named "Cobra King" and commanded by Charles Boggess Jr., of Greenville, Illinois. 1LT Boggess was the Commanding Officer of Charlie Company, 37th Tank Battalion. There were but eight other tanks in Company C when the "move out" order came, but at 1515 hours all nine sets of sprockets turned, leading the 37th armored northward to the embattled US 101st Airborne Division.
Two towns lay between the 37th and Bastogne, Clochimont and Assenois, and they were both heavily defended by German troops. Beyond Assenois was a heavy wood, concealing the blockhouses that enclosed the road to Bastogne. Company C's mission was to barge through these defenses in high gear, stopping for nothing and leaving the mopping up to the companies following, which were supported by the US 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion. At 1645 1LT Boggess shook hands with LT Webster of the 326th Engineers, US 101st Airborne Division and in twenty-five minutes LTC Abrams and his S3, Captain William Dwight, reported to Brigadier General Anthony G. McAuliffe, acting Commanding General of the US 101st Airborne Division.
The fight was not over. 1LT Boggess' company now consisted of just four M4 Sherman tanks, and the rest of the 37th suffered similarly. By now the 37th was joined by elements of the US 26th Infantry Division in fighting to hold the road to Bastogne open. Counterattack followed counterattack, until on January 9, 1945, the German penetration had been pushed to the east of Bastogne. The shattered German forces began to withdraw to their homeland. For its relief of Bastogne the 37th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (US) that members still wear today.
On January 10, 1945 the 37th was attacking east of Bastogne when the order came to halt. After a masterful disengagement and an icy road march south to Luxembourg, the 37th again found itself in the 3rd Army reserve, ready to answer a fire call.
Ardennes Counter-Offensive
In the rugged country of the Rhineland, it was mainly an Infantry war, but the 37th followed close behind the attackers, ready to knife through the West Wall when a breach was secured. Finally, on February 22, 1945, General Patton uncorked his tanks and Outscheid, Mioderwinger, Baustert, Feilsdorf, and Koosbrisch quickly fell to the 37th, which was then with Combat Command B, attached to the US 60th Infantry Division.
On February 25, 1945, Company B, with Company B of the US 51st Armored Infantry Battalion, took the bridge over the Prum at Remesdorf. Companies C of the 37th and 51st took the high ground around Rittersdorf and established a base of fire while the combined A Companies of the two battalions took Rittersdorf and a bridgehead over the Nimes River. More than 1,000 prisoners of war were taken in this action. In only four days the 37th had led the 3rd US Army as it pierced the Siegfried Line. A German counterattack near Sefferweich was repulsed while the 37th caught its breath for the next venture. Farther north, the US 1st Army was fighting its way into Cologne to set the stage for the dash to the Rhine.
On March 5, 1945 the 37th's M4 tanks attacked through the US 5th Infantry Division's bridgehead over the Kull River and immediately cut across German combat zones to a distance of 13 miles. On the March 16, 1945 LT Joe Liese, the commanding officer of Company B, captured General von Rothenkirch, commanding general of the German 53rd Army Corps (LIII.Armeekorps). General von Rothenkirch was driving his car on an inspection tour near Putzberg, where he stumbled on Company B. By the afternoon of that day, the 37th was even past German artillery positions. Prisoners from the German 10th Woodchopping Battalion surrendered to the advancing tankers. The 37th sped on to Ochtenburg, and captured a billeting party from the German Seventh Army rear command post. When almost to the Rhine, LT Liese's company overtook a German wheel column and, with assistance from artillery and light aircraft, shot it up badly. Then the 37th moved to the Rhine and took up positions overwatching the river.
During the night, remnants of the Wehrmacht tried to get back across the Rhine. In doing so, numerous enemy vehicles stumbled into the 37th's position and were captured or destroyed. On March 7, 1945 the US 1st Army thrust north from Cologne, pinning what was left of the German Seventh Army between it and the US 4th Armored Division. It was in this drive that the US 9th Armored Division captured the Remagen bridge intact. On March 8, 1945 Colonel Abrams left the 37th to command CCB and Major Bautz assumed command of the battalion. For the next two weeks the 37th was engaged in cleaning out the Palatinate, the triangle formed by the Saar, Rhine and Moselle Rivers. On St. Patrick's Day 1945 the 37th entered the Spa City of Bad Kreuznach, and on March 21, 1945 it returned to the banks of the Rhine at Worms.
On March 25, 1945 the 3rd US Army crossed the Rhine. The US 5th Infantry Division crossed in Navy landing craft near Oppenheim before the Germans could fire a shot. When the east bank was secure, a pontoon bridge was quickly constructed, and by 0300 on March 26, 1945, the 37th was across with the rest of the US 4th Armored Division. The 37th advanced through the US 5th Infantry Division perimeter; by nightfall Company D's light tanks and Infantry from the 10th AIB captured the railroad bridge over the Main River. Meanwhile, CCA (Combat Command A) had secured the Main crossing near Hanau. The 37th, with the rest of CCB, sideslipped west and followed CCA across the Main on March 28, 1945. By dusk, the 37th's M4s were in Giessen, 40 miles north of Hanau. The Frankfurt-Berlin Autobahn was the US 4th Armored Division's axis of advance. The 37th reached Hersfeld (today Bad Hersfeld) the last day of March. On April 2, 1945, under heavy air attack, the 37th crossed the Werra.
Task Force Baum
In actuality, the entire 37th Tank Battalion did not reach Giessen the night of the 28th, for Company C and one platoon of Company D's tanks had been detached for a special mission. They reported on March 26, 1945 to CPT Abraham J. Baum. Besides elements from the 37th, it consisted of Company A, a reconnaissance platoon, and an assault gun platoon from the 10th AIB. Their mission was to liberate 1,500 American prisoners of war in Stalag XIII-C, a Stalag located at Hammelburg, sixty miles behind German lines. The orders came directly from "Lucky Forward", General Patton's Command Post.
At 2100 hours on March 26, Company B of the 37th and Company B of 10th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) punched a hole in the German line at Schweinheim. Through this hole went Task Force Baum (TF Baum), which in turn found itself alone in the enemy area. On March 27 a weak radio transmission was monitored reporting enemy troops marshaling at Gemunden. As Gemunden was halfway to Hammelburg, it was an indication that TF Baum was well on its way. Messages later that afternoon told of losing four medium tanks and two officers. Then the messages petered out. On March 29, 1945, US 4th Armored Division headquarters reported "No news of Baum". At 2000 hours that night Radio Berlin reported that a great victory had been achieved by the German army near Hammelburg; later reports even claimed annihilation of the entire US 4th Armored Division, which was known to the enemy as "Roosevelt's Butchers". On April 6, 1945, by which time the rest of the 37th was deep in Saxony, Company C and Company D's platoon reported missing in action and replacements for them and their equipment were requisitioned. Finally, on April 9, 1945 CPT Baum returned to American lines and the fate of the task force was determined.
According to the US 4th Armored Division history: "...the task force battled through more than two German divisions to the Hammelburg Stalag. On the way, the column took 200 prisoners, including a general and his staff, destroyed enemy troop trains, shot up towns, knocked out German tanks, vehicles and uncounted Germans [Removed racial slur --ed.]. The light force suffered. Bridges were blown in front, both sides and behind the onrushing tanks. A span was blasted as American and German infantrymen fought on it. The task force smashed road blocks, raced down highways, sneaked on back roads and followed compass courses across country."
"When they reached their objective, half of Task Force Baum was left in fighting shape. The armored infantrymen who had not been wounded rode the remaining tanks. Wounded men lay on the gas cans in the half-tracks and helped steady each other at the machine guns. The seriously wounded were left behind with the dead along the side of the road."
Against ever-stiffening resistance by an enemy who thought an entire division had broken through the Main River defense line, CPT Baum's decimated column finally reached the stalag near dark on March 27, 1945. After a fierce fight, the prisoners were released, armed, and mounted on the back decks of Company C's tanks for the ride back to friendly lines. CPT Baum directed the remnants of his force northeastward, but by now the area was swarming with German infantry and armor. By morning of the 28th all the task force's vehicles had been knocked out. The force then broke into groups of four or five and attempted to exfiltrate back to American lines. Thirty-five men finally made it. The rest were killed or captured. Of the 293 officers and men of Task Force Baum, 32 were wounded, 9 killed and 16 are still unaccounted for. Of the remaining 236, virtually all, including CPT Baum, were prisoners at one time or another.
Although they did not accomplish their mission, the tankers and infantry of TF Baum contributed a great deal to the Central European Campaign. No less than an entire German Corps was diverted to seeking out and the destruction of the two-company task force.
War's End
By April, 1945 the 37th had driven deep into central Germany when it was relieved by elements of the US 80th Infantry Division. The 37th then marched south and drove into Czechoslovakia, where they were when the war ended on May 6, 1945. The 37th then participated in the task of disarming the Wehrmacht and set up shop in Bavaria as part of the occupation forces on May 27, 1945.
On May 1, 1946, when the US 4th Armored Division was inactivated, the 37th traded M4 Sherman tanks for armored cars and motorcycles with the red, yellow an blue insignia of Major General Ernest N. Harmon's United States Constabulary. The 37th Tank Battalion became the 37th Constabulary Squadron. On September 20, 1946, the 37th was placed on the inactive list.
Cold War
On December 11, 1951, while still on inactive status, the 37th was converted and again designated as the 37th Tank battalion. It was assigned to the US 4th Armored Division on February 25, 1953 and then activated on June 15, 1954 with the rest of the division at Fort Hood, Texas.
In April 1957, the Army reinstated its regimental system. As a consequence, the history of the 37th Armor Regiment is now kept by individual battalions of the 37th Armor Regiment.