Battle for Jalibah Airfield

Part of the Gulf War

A disabled Iraqi T-55 tank at the airfield on 2 March 1991

Date	27 February 1991
Location	Jalibah Southeast Air Base
Result	American victory

Belligerents

United States

Iraq

Casualties and losses

2 killed
9 wounded
(1 wounded by hostile fire)
3 IFVs damaged

2,000 casualties
31-40 tanks destroyed
80 AA guns destroyed
20 aircraft shot down

v t e Gulf War
Invasion of Kuwait Kuwaiti Bridges Dasman Palace Failaka British Airways Flight 149 Coalition intervention Khafji Wadi al-Batin Naval operations Ad-Dawrah Qurah Maradim Bubiyan Air campaign Air to Air combat Dhahran & Riyadh "Package Q" Air Strike Ras Tanura Samurra Amiriyah Liberation of Kuwait Order of battle 73 Easting Al Busayyah Phase Line Bullet Medina Ridge Highway of Death Jalibah Norfolk Kuwait International Airport Post-ceasefire Safwan Rumaila

Gulf War

Invasion of Kuwait

Coalition intervention

Naval operations

Air campaign

Liberation of Kuwait

Post-ceasefire

The Battle for Jalibah Airfield took place when the U.S. 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division successfully attacked and captured the heavily defended Jalibah Southeast Air Base military airfield in Iraq, located 80 miles west of Basra, on February 27, 1991 during the Gulf War.

Battle

Satellite and aircraft reconnaissance indicated the presence of many dug-in Iraqi soldiers, anti-aircraft guns, and tanks prior to the attack on the airfield. At 6 a.m. the morning of 27 February, following an intensive artillery barrage, about 200 vehicles of the 2nd Brigade, under the command of Colonel Paul J. Kern, charged into the airfield and secured it after four hours of fighting.

Two thousand enemy soldiers, 80 anti-aircraft guns, and a tank battalion were knocked out of action in this brilliantly executed attack. The airfield fuel supplies and ammunition were blown up in a thunderous roar that could be heard for 30 kilometers (19 miles). 20 enemy aircraft were destroyed. Colonel Paul Kern and his Brigade had become the 'aces' of the campaign. Major General McCaffrey flew into the captured Jalibah airstrip to congratulate Colonel Kern of the 2nd Brigade's superb victory.

According to 2nd Lieutenant Neal Creighton, Iraqi soldiers "tried to hide in shallow bunkers and some tried to surrender. Most that moved were quickly cut down under a swath of machine gun fire. The burning helicopters, jets and dead soldiers seemed almost unreal. ... My soldiers were alive." Major David S. Pierson, who served as a task-force intelligence captain in the 2nd Brigade, said he eventually felt "guilty that we had slaughtered them so; guilty that we had performed so well and they so poorly; guilty that we were running up the score. ... They were like children fleeing before us, unorganized, scared, wishing it all would end. We continued to pour it on."

Only one U.S. soldier, 2nd Lieutenant John Ford, was wounded by enemy fire during the battle. In the confusion, however, three U.S. M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment were accidentally hit with 5 depleted uranium rounds fired by the tanks of Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment. At the time, the Task Force was under indirect fire and were "buttoned up." The engagement took place using their thermal sights and the Bradleys of C Company were misidentified as retreating Iraqi vehicles. They fired between 15 and 25 rounds at what they identified as Iraqi T-72 tanks. This friendly fire incident resulted in the 10 additional American casualties: two deaths and eight injuries.

References

^ "The 24th Infantry Division Association. A History of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division Combat Team During Operation Desert Storm. "The Attack to Free Kuwait" (January through March 1991), Final Edition" (PDF). 24thida.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
Hersh, Seymour M. (14 May 2000). "Overwhelming Force". New Yorker. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
Keck, Robert (1993). "The Battle Before Jalibah: A Bradley Platoon Leader's Reflections on Leading Soldiers in the Persian Gulf War. IOAC 1-93".
"TAB H - Friendly-fire Incidents". Gulflink.osd.mil. Archived from the original on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2014-05-22.

30°32′49″N 46°36′8″E / 30.54694°N 46.60222°E / 30.54694; 46.60222

Note

Strength of a Soviet tank battalion in the late 1980s

v t e Gulf War
Conflict timeline Disarmament timeline
Participants	Australia Women
Background	Iran–Iraq War Operation Simoom Ba'athist Iraq Petroleum industry in Iraq
Invasion of Kuwait	Battle of Dasman Palace Battle of the Bridges Battle of Failaka U.N. Resolution 660
Coalition intervention	U.N. Resolution 661 Coalition Iraq–United States relations Carter Doctrine Military equipment
Battles	Khafji Wadi al-Batin Al Busayyah 67 Easting 73 Easting Phase Line Bullet Medina Ridge 2nd Kuwait Highway of Death Jalibah Norfolk Rumaila Safwan
Air campaign	Air engagements "Package Q" air strike Operation Instant Thunder Operation Senior Surprise Amiriyah shelter bombing Samurra
Impact on Israel	Iraq–Israel relations Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel
Aftermath	Operation Southern Watch Iraq sanctions Kuwaiti oil fires 1991 uprisings Draining of the marshes Gulf War oil spill Depleted uranium Gulf War syndrome Awards Operation Provide Comfort Iraq–Kuwait barrier
Memorials	London
Military technology	History of the M1 Abrams Lion of Babylon (tank)

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