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seems like over 4,400 us soldiers died during this whole conflict but from watching the videos looks like its way way less than that, how accurate are the reports that you have to make these videos? thanks!
A lone tank with a mangled main gun brazenly approaching a well-manned position is legitimately more frightening than fighting off a whole column of armored vehicles. I'd probably be freaked out, too.
could you imagine had the tank driver said fuck it and started chasing the iraqis in the trucks trying to run them over. if they manage to escape the stories they would tell "those americans fucking crazy, have tank but no shoot they try and run us over with tank. yank crazy"
5:50 Jumping from one Humvee to another at 30 MPH? That's the kind of thing that would get taken out of a (trying to be as realistic as possible) movie, because it's too over the top to be believable. It's so crazy that I can believe it really did happen. I watched a "making of" video about 1977's movie "A Bridge Too Far," and there were a few of those in that one.
@@robertgraham8208 ohhh, I see. Yeah, I heard "30 mph," so on that part I was wrong. Regardless, spacing is still a factor. 13 mph feels like slow enough to out run or dodge after falling off.
I remember Baghdad Bob almost Yelling “what attack, there is no attack” even as we changed the name of his airport. 😆😆I can’t remember what card he was. Ace of something I think
His story post invasion is kinda crazy, basically he was captured by coalition forces, given a cursory interview then cut loose. He then gave a somber interview to Al-Arabiya and made off with some $200k before moving to the UAE where he's apparently still living somewhat comfortably.
Most of the tanks and Bradleys went completely black (empty) of 7.62mm and .50cal MG ammo by the end of the first run. One of things that helped the tanks bust through the ambushes were the M1028 Canister rounds for the 120mm main gun - huge shotgun shells that would scour trenches and light bunkers of defenders. They expended all of the few they had been issued, then fired their HEAT rounds. Some tanks went black on 120mm except for the sabot rounds (depleted uranium anti-tank darts). Some of the tanks shrugged off multiple RPG hits and kept moving.
"Some of the tanks shrugged off multiple RPG hits and kept moving." They were equipped with antiquated Chobham armour. Developed in the 1960s. The newer ones are being built with Dorchester armour. It puts the technological advantage of Britain and America into perspective.
The Marine Corps does not have Bradleys. They use their Amphibious Tracked vehicles as APC's for which they were not designed. Like the M113 in Vietnam, you took your chances of sitting on top which seemed less risky than sitting inside a death trap if you hit a mine or struck by a RPG.
@@chrisbingley It says far less about the British and American advantage and far more about how poorly trained and equipped the Iraqis were. If they had decent ATGMs or even the foresight to simply dig anti tank trenches and lay mines, the operation would have been a disaster.
@@CynicalOldDwarf That was the description I got from "Thunder Run" by David Zucchino. The canister rounds were caving in/scouring away the light bunkers the Iraqis had built along the road.
Words cannot describe to the average American how uncaring of their own or other's safety the typical Arab driver is. That truck that did the head-on ram with the Abrams? That might not have been an attack. He simply might have expected the tank to move first. And I'm not joking.
@@michaeld.4521 Very. A good example is what happens when stop lights stop working in a city. In the West, most people will just act like it is still working, taking turns until somebody repairs it. In Iraq, especially Baghdad where they do have large multi-lane roads (as on this map), when a stop light stops working they will edge each other out until the center of the intersection is clogged with cars honking at each other and there is a traffic jam extending for hundreds of meters in every direction.
@@spirz4557 There are cultural and society reasons it happens, but sometime it is like the saying about movies and video games: "Real life is so much more crazier than fiction they can't put it in because nobody would believe it".
My battalion relieved those guys a year later. Had no idea they did that shit. I was shocked to see you share some of those pictures I've had for 20yrs that they shared with me before they left.
I was there B co 3-7 infantry, it was our crossed attached tankers that blew up the plane. I was on the radio when the tanks just started shooting everything they had. Company commander called them up and ask what the contact was, tanker PL called back and said “recon by fire”. Then a second later you hear a hot mic say “dismounts near the plane, shoot shoot!” Then i swear the sun rose in the north! Thought they had hit a gas pipeline but it was the plane going up. Then i looked left just in time to see the M998 slip off the trail and in to the culvert filled with water. Two men came up, two others very killed SFC Wilber Davis and our reporter were both killed. We got them out and did cpr for 20 mins till the medevac came in.
Thank you for this series Ops. I was there I MEF. 7th ESB. If my son were ever to ask about the conflict I would direct him to your channel above all else. Good work!
People underestimate the weight of tanks.That Hillux was half the size of the Abrams so the driver must have thought he was going against 2-4 times its weight,not 30.
The road section from where 3rd ID made the turn off the interchange to the airport (the Qadisiya expressway) was actually MUCH worse than Op Room's map. It was a wide dual-lane highway divided by a median, but both outer sides were lined with trees and brush, and then there was a a high wall which in turn was overlooked by almost continuous lines of two- and three-story housing for more than two miles. It was a miniature urban canyon formed along the road. You couldn't ASK for a better shooting gallery for RPG and infantry teams to set up in. Thank god the Iraqis are such lousy warriors. (Post-script: one of the first things the Coalition did at the start of the occupation was cut down all the trees along the Qadisiya to improve sight-lines and prevent sniping/grenade throwing)
I was there in April 4th when we lost Lt. Brian Mcphillips. The 4 other injured Marines mentioned at around minute 8:50 where Sgt. John Dale, Cpl. Tabares, Lcpl. McMahon and Sgt. Roberto "Big Turkey" Pavon. Tow/Scout Platoon, 8th Tank Battalion. SEMPER FI
Thank you so much for these in depth videos. I love learning history and combat operations. My dad served in Iraqi Freedom in the 3rd ID so this is also interesting to see the enviornment he was in.
Surprising and ironic that Syrian volunteers where among the defenders of Baghdad considering the highly acrimonious, and deadly split between the Iraqi and Syrian Baath party factions. Most of the party's top leaders wound up assassinated or executed by one another's intelligence services.
What makes it more ironic is that many of these Syrians were very likely anti-Baathists back home and had to leave. Many probably even had Islamist leanings, yet they were willing to lay their lives for the Iraqi baath.
These guys weren't Baath party. They were guys off the street, essentially mercs, that Saddam said "Come shoot Americans, get paid lots of money, go to heaven as a martyr!" and a bunch just jumped on a bus or taxi and went to Iraq. They were in Iraq off and on even through the Occupation phase.
@@mzaite True, that did eventually happen, but it wasn't their initial aim, it's a bit more complicated. The foreign Arab fighters were a mix, many of them (the Syrians) were invited by Saddam to Iraq to be used against Hafez Al-Asad in Syria (Hafez did the same by inviting over Iraqi shiite Islamists). They were also joined by other Syrians, Jordanians etc.. other Arabs basically who enlisted when the Iraqis opened up the doors to volunteers from the Arab world to come and join the fight before the war. Each had their own intentions, and ideological leanings ...many were genuinely just young dumb naive men that didn't know what they were signing up for. (Saddam spent millions pumping an image of himself as a great Arab leader and many unfortunately fell for the propaganda, others just wanted to fight the Americans) They were the most enthusiastic fighters the regime had but couldn't fight to save themselves and their numbers were low. That's why they were left in the outskirts of Baghdad... because Saddam didn't expect the Americans to reach there. Result, was the Americans burst right through them and an unprepared "special republican guard" and captured Baghdad.
@donniemeister7725 I believe iraq was more Islamic due to the return to faith campaign in the 90s, so while they may not have liked assad, saddam was a bit more Islamic then his syrian counterparts.
I follow a lot of military history channels. And you videos are head and shoulders above the rest. your detailed animation with step by step explanation my favorite way to learn about battles 🤙
This was a stupid idea that only worked because the Iraqis were comically bad. The Russians tried the same thing against an opponent who wasn't completely incompetent and got massacred.
These 'Iraqi Freedom' and other 2000s conflict videos are the best! Thanks for making these! I hadn't heard of the second thunder run until this video.
The book Thunder Run by David Zucchino is a fantastic, detailed and entertaining account of the Baghdad thunder runs. If you are interested in a more in depth analysis of those battles, you can't do much better. Highly recommended.
Great video. I never knew about the story of the M-1 that had the wonky turret and was by itself. I read the book Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad by Zucchino, David which i thought was very good. I want more!
I arrived to Charlie 3/15 Infantry sometime around May in 2004 =D. Everybody go check out the book - Letters Home: From 9/11 to Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Military Mom Shares Her Family's Story of Patriotism, Courage and Love It's about my team leader, Sean Ward. I was deployed to Baghdad in 2005, with a bunch of the stopped lossed dudes from C-3/15. Before we deployed we split into Alpha and Bravo 1/64 armor. While talking to my mom on the phone one day, she said she had watched Opra or something and she was talking about a book a mom wrote. As soon as she said the last name, Ward, I was like... wait what? Mom thats my current team leader lol Hope you are well Sgt Ward.
I took a closer look of this tank at @17:41 & 23:32 the day after the battle. It was destroyed near from Dora crossroads. Located only a 3 minutes walk from my house, i went there driven by the curiosity of a 9 years old kid!
I've noticed a lot of battle reports from Iraq go like "Coalition convoy ambushed by 1000 Iraqi soldiers. 10 marines killed, 1135 Iraqi soldiers killed"
For those that dont know, a AK round severed a fuel line, which caused the fire to keep coming back on the damaged Abrams. And they put out the fire several times before the fire kept coming back.
Great video. Love using the real pictures. I'd appreciate even more. The real pictures help paint the picture with even more detail .I can image what a tank looks like but so see the real thing and the tanks on the highway is so great.
I had the pleasure of working with LTC Schwartz at the time; it was MAJ Schwartz, one of the most humbled men then… I can only see that he would apologize to every person in his command after that; it is true to his character.
imagine the locker room that morning. I'm certain they had the hardest metal music blasting full volume slamming monster energy drinks and other stimulants
Thats crazy, I have pictures of the aftermath of SSG Jason Giaz's M1 Abrams. But for some unknown reason, in the picture it's in the ditch in between the two opposing lanes, but you can clearly tell it's the same tank because of the highway ramp/ exit/ overpasse.
@@robertburik6960 I checked and it was 2 different tanks, I can't confirm which but i can give you the number on the side of one: 53. Thats all i know from what i have.
@@Zer035_eee yes Diaz’s tank had a 53. 5 meant 1-64 AR and the 3 was C Co. C Co was at the rear of the column of 60 vehicles. It was disabled at Objective Curly. Two days later the 2nd Thunder run went up that same portion of the highway. In the meantime the Iraqis tried to tow the tank but their recovery vehicle was destroyed. Photos and video of Objective Curly on April 7 show the knocked out recovery vehicle and by then the blackened hulk of the Abrams. Your 2nd knocked out 1-64 tank might be the one disabled when it was cross attached to an infantry battalion. It too caught fire and the crew staid with it. But the task force eventually has to abandon that tank as well. There are photos of that B Co tank with the stowage on fire. The TC suffered an injured arm/shoulder. The battalion had time to strip it for parts.
Hang on... Dowdy? RCT 1? Ambush where they have to turn around and find bodies of iraqi noncitizens? For a second I was wondering if this was a Generation Kill episode
Wars don't end when one army is beaten to a pulp - it ends when the people no longer possess the political will to continue fighting it. Shock and awe delivers strategic and operational confusion but you still have to take advantage of those advantages tactically - It's attacks like thunder runs that leverage these advantages to maximum effect.
@@ChaplainDMK I think we are comparing two very different situations. Russia succeeded in 2014 and largely just assumed it would again despite lacking visible civilian support as it did in Luhansk and Donetsk. To what extent that existed originally is hard to know but it definitely wasn't visible throughout the rest of Ukraine prior to the 2022 invasion. They massed on the border and attacked in a very clumsy way without the necessary logistics or force multipliers to disable Ukrainian networks. It was under planned, failed to leverage the Russian army's strengths and relies upon a lot of deeply flawed assumptions - it was really more of pushing half your chips in playing poker without really understanding your hand. In Iraq - I'd argue in retrospect it was at best a flawed plan and more realistically an ill-considered one nor was the Intel solid - Rumsfeld and the CIA believed that the populace would support the invasion. However operationally, planning relied on the strengths of the modern American war machine, high tech shit in the hands of well trained people, usually bringing friends. It's nearly impossible to conduct a modern war without the necessary information to identify threats appropriately. That's how tanks arrived outside of Baghdad Airport and weren't identified until they were literally within earshot. The brutal effectiveness of AirLand Battle combined with network centric warfare is that you are left blind to these threats until they are brought against you by an opponent who almost definitionally possesses the initiative. The thunder run is similarly effective because even when you expect an attack - they weren't prepared for that. Even if the majority of the column was lost - it would've been a strategic victory. It tested their mettle, demonstrated the fearsome power of just 30 or so vehicles without air support and provided essential intelligence on what areas were most heavily defended at street level.
Baghdad Bob: *"The Iraqi army has fought heroically and has stopped the Americans at the Euphrates River!"* Coalition Colonel: *"Tell that to my VW Passat."*
Hey, I know your channel is moving up in combat era with every video, WW2-Vietnam-gulf-Iraq. But is there any chance you could take us back to Tarawa? Or maybe even Peleliu? Great content as always! 🤟🏽
As a Vet of this ACTUAL event. Was part of Task Force 3-15 (A Co 3-15 INF) and ran the Thunder Runs to the airport and all the way to Objective Moe where we held the highway junction area for several days. Ultimately combat operations shifted to "Occupation" in April. I made a video about our thunder runs on my channel. Actual Hi8mm footage from the thunder runs, Objective Moe and other good times while in Iraq.
I have watched the Army University Press' thunder run documentary and now this, and I'm still completely baffled and confused that this worked with so few casualties. How did the Iraqi Army and its allied paramilitaries fail to decisively engage a massive armored column driving straight down an open highway in an urban center? The incompetence of the Iraqi military is difficult for me to wrap my head around. Untrained Mahdi Army militia managed to halt American columns with rudimentary equipment in Sadr City in 2004, so it's not like it can't be done.
You should read the "Iraqi perspective report". It was a report released after the war by the US joint force command to analyse what happened... Turns out it was all due to Saddam... He was highly delusional at the end of his reign and was convinced the Americans would not attack all the way to Baghdad. He thought it was all a ruse to stir up a shiite rebellion against him. So he deployed his armies and militias against a rebellion in the south, not an invading army. This meant deploying most of the army near the Iranian border, (fearing an Iranian invasion to assist the shiite rebellion) the fedayeen in the shiite cities in the south to keep guard of the population and only allowed the special republican guards (the only divisions he sort off trusted) to guard the outskirts of the capital with some foreign volunteers. They were not allowed inside the city which he left unguarded.. (He feared a coup would happen) This is just a summary of it. When you actually read the report you begin to really realise how delusional that man was.
@@donniemeister7725 I mean - dictators are usually the reason wars failed. Just take a gander at late war Hitler and early war Stalin. They CERTAINLY didn't help their situations.
Lots of different factors: Poor aim, better armor on the tanks, confusion, bad Iraqi coordination/C3, massive suppressive fire by 3rd ID (Ops Room left out the tanks were using shotgun rounds from their main guns), etc
Different mentality!! When this thunder run happened the roe was everything could be destroyed or engaged, Sadr city a year later the roe had changed to peace keeping.
keller is just him, imagine leaping at another humvee at 30 mph bullets everywhere inches from his body and he immediately took the gun and began to over fire like its just the begining of a movie.
Maybe I missed it in the video but what happened to the Warthog's supposed to be flying close air support? I feel like the column really could have benefitted from more air support, or was it too dangerous to fly aircraft in the area?
@@DieNextInLINE I figured it was until they released the video talking about not having any sponsors. Then I figured I’d give it another go. You don’t build a decent business by just passively waiting for success, sometimes you need to be insistent.
There was still a lot of fighting to secure the city. I feel like the battles for the government complexes and the interchanges would be good to finish off the series. I read the book "Thunder Run" and the thunder run was just the beginning.
Speed, surprise, and violence of action, my friend. The sheer boldness/aggression was something they hadn’t thought to plan around. And trusting in the armor and defensive systems of the Abrams and Bradleys to shrug off those hits. Marvelous machines
@brettharrison8478 That, and the window licker Rumsfeld forced tbe US military to go in with about half the men they wanted. Got to go fast, because if you get stuck the numbers will start to go against you.
I came out of Ft. Knox and Tanker osut in early 2004 and reported to Ft. Stewart and the 3rd ID. Deployed to Iraq about 6-7 months later for OIF-3. We patrolled that section of highway and the huge market block west of it out of FOB Falcon. It was still all kinda destroyed. A few sniper incidents, lots of found IEDs, and a couple of mortar attacks on the fob. Relatively peaceful deployment tbh. We had a lot of fun getting to know the people there. It's what happens after the 3rd ID leave in early 2006 that I don't understand. It was peaceful. The fighting was over, hell I bought a guitar from one of the shops. But the 101st Airborn who relieved us only barely hung on to it. I dont get how it got there.
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How Many Videos Will You Do ?
For Democracy! Hey could you do one on the Afghanistan troop surge of 2009?
you said the same about war thunder
Gas turbine tank engines DO NOT "growl" -- they whirr... Rookies.
seems like over 4,400 us soldiers died during this whole conflict but from watching the videos looks like its way way less than that, how accurate are the reports that you have to make these videos? thanks!
Recently, Booker got one of the highest honors you can get. A new model of American armored vehicle is getting named after him
With no RWS station on it
@@user-vp9lc9up6v Ironic....
A joint naming with another soldier also named Booker.
I was wondering if they named that after him
I THOUGHT I remembered that name... RIP Booker.
The people driving the overpass mid battle just trying to get to work that morning deserve a raise.
"Let me tell you Tim, you wouldn't believe the traffic this morning!"
It's like driving to work in Chicago.
They simply didn't care. You can't understand without going there how oblivious and entitled an Iraqi behind the wheel of a car is.
@@GoldsPersonal "Traffic was like warzone out there today, let me tell ya"
@@MM22966 "If Allah Wills it, I'll either be fine or dead. Not my place to tell Allah how to run things."
A lone tank with a mangled main gun brazenly approaching a well-manned position is legitimately more frightening than fighting off a whole column of armored vehicles. I'd probably be freaked out, too.
probably thought it was loaded with a nuc or something 😆
Yep I would be thinking it's a decoy and be more worried about what I couldn't see
could you imagine had the tank driver said fuck it and started chasing the iraqis in the trucks trying to run them over. if they manage to escape the stories they would tell "those americans fucking crazy, have tank but no shoot they try and run us over with tank. yank crazy"
If these were regular army units and not Republican Guard or Fedayeen, then they were probably just looking for a good excuse to desert.
Fr🤣
“Sir, that’s not a Recon en Force. That’s an Assault”
*gravely voice* “Semantics!”
Reconnaissance by fire
@@JeepWranglerIslander "How many bees are there, you think?" "Smack it and find out"
“Ferrando needs an airfield”
“Rest assured.. gentleman… we will be in the game..”
Godfather is watching.
5:50 Jumping from one Humvee to another at 30 MPH? That's the kind of thing that would get taken out of a (trying to be as realistic as possible) movie, because it's too over the top to be believable. It's so crazy that I can believe it really did happen. I watched a "making of" video about 1977's movie "A Bridge Too Far," and there were a few of those in that one.
Yeah, I watched that part and realized that's precisely what a Marine Cpl would do if given half a chance.
-USMC 2004-2008
With body armor and all his other gear on!
He said 13 mph I believe and yes, hell one of my marines surfed his truck on pt road on lejuene, -Cpl 3/6
@@robertgraham8208 ohhh, I see. Yeah, I heard "30 mph," so on that part I was wrong. Regardless, spacing is still a factor. 13 mph feels like slow enough to out run or dodge after falling off.
@@robertgraham8208 I believe you're correct. Still ballsy though, with gear on, ragged out after days and weeks of combat and being shot at!
I remember Baghdad Bob almost Yelling “what attack, there is no attack” even as we changed the name of his airport. 😆😆I can’t remember what card he was. Ace of something I think
No, there was no card of him. Apparently he wasn't one of the most wanted regime members.
Joker card.
His story post invasion is kinda crazy, basically he was captured by coalition forces, given a cursory interview then cut loose. He then gave a somber interview to Al-Arabiya and made off with some $200k before moving to the UAE where he's apparently still living somewhat comfortably.
Typical Arab ....
Not surprised, given who they are.
18:40 Talk about having a bad day: first your tank gets destroyed, then your replacement transport turns into a vomit comet
You spin me right round...
Isn't it awesome that there's an Operation Room series of events that almost half of the viewers ACTUALLY fought in lol.
proproganda echo chamber for war criminals
We've all missed the off-ramp to the airport
Sure, but how many of us have said "heck with it" and U-turned THROUGH a median? 😆
@@valdenv Lol!
Sometimes twice!
I'm just amazed that it's even possible to spin a tank turret at 120 degrees per second.
Probably something to do with the extreme speed and acceleration you need for the stabilizer to function.
which tank
Most of the tanks and Bradleys went completely black (empty) of 7.62mm and .50cal MG ammo by the end of the first run.
One of things that helped the tanks bust through the ambushes were the M1028 Canister rounds for the 120mm main gun - huge shotgun shells that would scour trenches and light bunkers of defenders. They expended all of the few they had been issued, then fired their HEAT rounds. Some tanks went black on 120mm except for the sabot rounds (depleted uranium anti-tank darts).
Some of the tanks shrugged off multiple RPG hits and kept moving.
"Some of the tanks shrugged off multiple RPG hits and kept moving." They were equipped with antiquated Chobham armour. Developed in the 1960s. The newer ones are being built with Dorchester armour.
It puts the technological advantage of Britain and America into perspective.
The Marine Corps does not have Bradleys. They use their Amphibious Tracked vehicles as APC's for which they were not designed. Like the M113 in Vietnam, you took your chances of sitting on top which seemed less risky than sitting inside a death trap if you hit a mine or struck by a RPG.
@@chrisbingley It says far less about the British and American advantage and far more about how poorly trained and equipped the Iraqis were. If they had decent ATGMs or even the foresight to simply dig anti tank trenches and lay mines, the operation would have been a disaster.
Canister rounds are nasty. Tungsten ball bearings shot at four times the speed of sound, can penetrate a significant chunk of concrete or metal
@@CynicalOldDwarf That was the description I got from "Thunder Run" by David Zucchino. The canister rounds were caving in/scouring away the light bunkers the Iraqis had built along the road.
Words cannot describe to the average American how uncaring of their own or other's safety the typical Arab driver is. That truck that did the head-on ram with the Abrams? That might not have been an attack. He simply might have expected the tank to move first. And I'm not joking.
u serious?
@@michaeld.4521 Yes.
@@michaeld.4521 Very.
A good example is what happens when stop lights stop working in a city. In the West, most people will just act like it is still working, taking turns until somebody repairs it.
In Iraq, especially Baghdad where they do have large multi-lane roads (as on this map), when a stop light stops working they will edge each other out until the center of the intersection is clogged with cars honking at each other and there is a traffic jam extending for hundreds of meters in every direction.
@@MM22966 IRL GTA
@@spirz4557 There are cultural and society reasons it happens, but sometime it is like the saying about movies and video games: "Real life is so much more crazier than fiction they can't put it in because nobody would believe it".
My battalion relieved those guys a year later. Had no idea they did that shit. I was shocked to see you share some of those pictures I've had for 20yrs that they shared with me before they left.
Which unit? I was in B co 3-7 inf TF3-69ar
That road, Route Irish, still sucked going down in 06-07 when I was there. Not a week went by that my squad didn't take fire or find/hit an IED
@@QuisUtDeus828 when i was there we ran ambush sites at every over pass.
Penultimate episode of this series that has been an utter blast.
Can't wait to see what other conflict you'll cover next, Ops Room.
No pun intended?
penultimate?
@@trentvlak means the one before the end. For example a Penultimate level in a video game would be the level before the big boss fight/end level
@@lordfutureiv4648 We know what penultimate means. We're asking if it actually is the penultimate.
I was there B co 3-7 infantry, it was our crossed attached tankers that blew up the plane.
I was on the radio when the tanks just started shooting everything they had.
Company commander called them up and ask what the contact was, tanker PL called back and said “recon by fire”.
Then a second later you hear a hot mic say “dismounts near the plane, shoot shoot!”
Then i swear the sun rose in the north! Thought they had hit a gas pipeline but it was the plane going up.
Then i looked left just in time to see the M998 slip off the trail and in to the culvert filled with water. Two men came up, two others very killed
SFC Wilber Davis and our reporter were both killed.
We got them out and did cpr for 20 mins till the medevac came in.
I remember LTC Kim Olmstead telling us in the 1/1 CAV about the Thunder runs in Vietnam. Its a good tactic but only with the proper support and Recon.
I don't think we'll be seeing the tactic much more given the proliferation of anti-tank weapons. It hasn't worked at all for the Russians.
Yes, and proper teamwork. If you get cut off from the main force you’re F*&$ed
Allons
11th ACR - 144th FSC
retired
@@jeffblacky Coldsteel! Fulda.
Cambodia?
Thank you for this series Ops. I was there I MEF. 7th ESB. If my son were ever to ask about the conflict I would direct him to your channel above all else. Good work!
Alright man I'm signing up to the Patreon for this, you've come so far in 5 years, what a masterpiece.
20:14 these people never cease to amaze XD "surely my Toyota Hilux will annihilate or disable this giant war machine yes?"
"That Chinese dude could do it with grocery bags, but I've got a car"
@@TheInfidel_SlavaUA Right!!! But no virgins then 😢
People underestimate the weight of tanks.That Hillux was half the size of the Abrams so the driver must have thought he was going against 2-4 times its weight,not 30.
Passat actually
@@TheInfidel_SlavaUAproceeds to do jack against the tank
🙂I really enjoy watching your videos and learning more about battles from history. Thanks for such great content!
The road section from where 3rd ID made the turn off the interchange to the airport (the Qadisiya expressway) was actually MUCH worse than Op Room's map. It was a wide dual-lane highway divided by a median, but both outer sides were lined with trees and brush, and then there was a a high wall which in turn was overlooked by almost continuous lines of two- and three-story housing for more than two miles. It was a miniature urban canyon formed along the road. You couldn't ASK for a better shooting gallery for RPG and infantry teams to set up in.
Thank god the Iraqis are such lousy warriors.
(Post-script: one of the first things the Coalition did at the start of the occupation was cut down all the trees along the Qadisiya to improve sight-lines and prevent sniping/grenade throwing)
Do you have first hand experience of the lousiness of the Iraqi warrior?
@@TheSonOfDumb The thing about war, war never changes...
Didn’t someone else get attacked there? Maybe year or so later.
@@TheSonOfDumbtrust him bro
@@TheSonOfDumb They drove cars into oncoming tanks.
Clearly the line between bravery and stupidity was crossed that day.
I was there in April 4th when we lost Lt. Brian Mcphillips. The 4 other injured Marines mentioned at around minute 8:50 where Sgt. John Dale, Cpl. Tabares, Lcpl. McMahon and Sgt. Roberto "Big Turkey" Pavon. Tow/Scout Platoon, 8th Tank Battalion. SEMPER FI
Thank you so much for these in depth videos. I love learning history and combat operations. My dad served in Iraqi Freedom in the 3rd ID so this is also interesting to see the enviornment he was in.
"iraqi freedom"
@@mohammadlraqi741 Yes, that was the name of the Operation.
leaping from HMMWV to HMMWV in the middle of a firefight while flying down the road is the most badass thing ever
I was based out of FOB Falcon in 06-07. Been up and down that highway at least a hundred times.
Ever get tired of the moon dust and rocks? 😁
@@CubeInspector There's video of that out there.
@@CubeInspector Country captain chicken are three words I wish I had never heard or read ever again! Thanks for the flashback!
@cubeinspector, I lived on msr Tampa under a bridge for 7 months in 04-05. Some memorable Times
Thank you for your continued series. As much as it was broadcast on MSM, so many don't know what happened.
Surprising and ironic that Syrian volunteers where among the defenders of Baghdad considering the highly acrimonious, and deadly split between the Iraqi and Syrian Baath party factions. Most of the party's top leaders wound up assassinated or executed by one another's intelligence services.
What makes it more ironic is that many of these Syrians were very likely anti-Baathists back home and had to leave. Many probably even had Islamist leanings, yet they were willing to lay their lives for the Iraqi baath.
These guys weren't Baath party. They were guys off the street, essentially mercs, that Saddam said "Come shoot Americans, get paid lots of money, go to heaven as a martyr!" and a bunch just jumped on a bus or taxi and went to Iraq. They were in Iraq off and on even through the Occupation phase.
@@donniemeister7725 More likely they were expecting to help fill the power vacuum after we shut down the Baath leadership......Which they did.
@@mzaite True, that did eventually happen, but it wasn't their initial aim, it's a bit more complicated.
The foreign Arab fighters were a mix, many of them (the Syrians) were invited by Saddam to Iraq to be used against Hafez Al-Asad in Syria (Hafez did the same by inviting over Iraqi shiite Islamists).
They were also joined by other Syrians, Jordanians etc.. other Arabs basically who enlisted when the Iraqis opened up the doors to volunteers from the Arab world to come and join the fight before the war. Each had their own intentions, and ideological leanings ...many were genuinely just young dumb naive men that didn't know what they were signing up for. (Saddam spent millions pumping an image of himself as a great Arab leader and many unfortunately fell for the propaganda, others just wanted to fight the Americans)
They were the most enthusiastic fighters the regime had but couldn't fight to save themselves and their numbers were low.
That's why they were left in the outskirts of Baghdad... because Saddam didn't expect the Americans to reach there. Result, was the Americans burst right through them and an unprepared "special republican guard" and captured Baghdad.
@donniemeister7725 I believe iraq was more Islamic due to the return to faith campaign in the 90s, so while they may not have liked assad, saddam was a bit more Islamic then his syrian counterparts.
love this content..clear..concise and narration brief, but informative...Bravo..and gives me a better understanding of our countless heroes battling..
I follow a lot of military history channels. And you videos are head and shoulders above the rest. your detailed animation with step by step explanation my favorite way to learn about battles 🤙
McPhilips is from my town. His parents are wonderful people and speak every year at our veterans day ceremony.
The amount of lead they put out while moving in speed, one of the good examples of modern armored and maneuver warfare
Not really...
This was a stupid idea that only worked because the Iraqis were comically bad. The Russians tried the same thing against an opponent who wasn't completely incompetent and got massacred.
These 'Iraqi Freedom' and other 2000s conflict videos are the best! Thanks for making these! I hadn't heard of the second thunder run until this video.
The roundabout scene with lone tank wandering while not getting killed is one the most bizarre and luckiest thing in the war stories.
The book Thunder Run by David Zucchino is a fantastic, detailed and entertaining account of the Baghdad thunder runs. If you are interested in a more in depth analysis of those battles, you can't do much better. Highly recommended.
It's the definitive book on this operation
Great video. I never knew about the story of the M-1 that had the wonky turret and was by itself. I read the book Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad by Zucchino, David
which i thought was very good. I want more!
Another excellent video. I always love waking up to see that you've got a new upload live.
Terrific animation and fascinating details of battles. This is one of the best channels on UA-cam.
Love your content!! Keep up the good work!
I arrived to Charlie 3/15 Infantry sometime around May in 2004 =D.
Everybody go check out the book - Letters Home: From 9/11 to Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Military Mom Shares Her Family's Story of Patriotism, Courage and Love
It's about my team leader, Sean Ward.
I was deployed to Baghdad in 2005, with a bunch of the stopped lossed dudes from C-3/15. Before we deployed we split into Alpha and Bravo 1/64 armor. While talking to my mom on the phone one day, she said she had watched Opra or something and she was talking about a book a mom wrote. As soon as she said the last name, Ward, I was like... wait what? Mom thats my current team leader lol
Hope you are well Sgt Ward.
I took a closer look of this tank at @17:41 & 23:32 the day after the battle. It was destroyed near from Dora crossroads. Located only a 3 minutes walk from my house, i went there driven by the curiosity of a 9 years old kid!
I've noticed a lot of battle reports from Iraq go like "Coalition convoy ambushed by 1000 Iraqi soldiers. 10 marines killed, 1135 Iraqi soldiers killed"
Thanks a bunch for sharing this with us Big Dog!
babe wake up the operations room posted again
I’ve been waiting for this video for so long lmao great video
For those that dont know, a AK round severed a fuel line, which caused the fire to keep coming back on the damaged Abrams. And they put out the fire several times before the fire kept coming back.
Nice video as allways!
would Love to see the Battle of Najaf next.
its somewhat of a forgotten battle of the US Marine Corps in Iraq
Great video. Love using the real pictures. I'd appreciate even more. The real pictures help paint the picture with even more detail .I can image what a tank looks like but so see the real thing and the tanks on the highway is so great.
Thank you for this once-again great video!
I had the pleasure of working with LTC Schwartz at the time; it was MAJ Schwartz, one of the most humbled men then… I can only see that he would apologize to every person in his command after that; it is true to his character.
**sings Teenage Dirtbag with the guys**
The official theme song of the Iraq War is *"Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by Drowning Pool*
Facts right here.
imagine the locker room that morning. I'm certain they had the hardest metal music blasting full volume slamming monster energy drinks and other stimulants
Hell yeah, a new OR video for my lunch break
Another excellent video, thanks.
Thats crazy, I have pictures of the aftermath of SSG Jason Giaz's M1 Abrams. But for some unknown reason, in the picture it's in the ditch in between the two opposing lanes, but you can clearly tell it's the same tank because of the highway ramp/ exit/ overpasse.
The Iraqis tried to recover the tank.
@@robertburik6960 I checked and it was 2 different tanks, I can't confirm which but i can give you the number on the side of one: 53. Thats all i know from what i have.
@@Zer035_eee yes Diaz’s tank had a 53. 5 meant 1-64 AR and the 3 was C Co. C Co was at the rear of the column of 60 vehicles. It was disabled at Objective Curly. Two days later the 2nd Thunder run went up that same portion of the highway. In the meantime the Iraqis tried to tow the tank but their recovery vehicle was destroyed. Photos and video of Objective Curly on April 7 show the knocked out recovery vehicle and by then the blackened hulk of the Abrams. Your 2nd knocked out 1-64 tank might be the one disabled when it was cross attached to an infantry battalion. It too caught fire and the crew staid with it. But the task force eventually has to abandon that tank as well. There are photos of that B Co tank with the stowage on fire. The TC suffered an injured arm/shoulder. The battalion had time to strip it for parts.
GoodJob! I incredible work as usual!
Been waiting for this one.
There was an afternoon radio host in Milwaukee who joked that the airport should have been renamed Rumsfeld Regional.
Hang on... Dowdy? RCT 1? Ambush where they have to turn around and find bodies of iraqi noncitizens?
For a second I was wondering if this was a Generation Kill episode
Generation Kill was a great book written by an embedded reporter who rode in the Hummer with Lt. Colbert before it was a show. So yes.
@@BeingFireRetardant no fucken way I thought it was realistic fiction
@@seagie382
Good to see you are familiar with canon and not just legend, then...
God this could have gone so wrong so quickly if the Iraqis weren't so entirely disorganized from the on going air and land campaigns.
That's the point behind the air and the land campaign
Wars don't end when one army is beaten to a pulp - it ends when the people no longer possess the political will to continue fighting it.
Shock and awe delivers strategic and operational confusion but you still have to take advantage of those advantages tactically - It's attacks like thunder runs that leverage these advantages to maximum effect.
@@blue-pi2kt Yes well you better be damn sure your intel is correct - see Russia in 2022.
@@ChaplainDMK I think we are comparing two very different situations. Russia succeeded in 2014 and largely just assumed it would again despite lacking visible civilian support as it did in Luhansk and Donetsk. To what extent that existed originally is hard to know but it definitely wasn't visible throughout the rest of Ukraine prior to the 2022 invasion. They massed on the border and attacked in a very clumsy way without the necessary logistics or force multipliers to disable Ukrainian networks. It was under planned, failed to leverage the Russian army's strengths and relies upon a lot of deeply flawed assumptions - it was really more of pushing half your chips in playing poker without really understanding your hand.
In Iraq - I'd argue in retrospect it was at best a flawed plan and more realistically an ill-considered one nor was the Intel solid - Rumsfeld and the CIA believed that the populace would support the invasion. However operationally, planning relied on the strengths of the modern American war machine, high tech shit in the hands of well trained people, usually bringing friends. It's nearly impossible to conduct a modern war without the necessary information to identify threats appropriately. That's how tanks arrived outside of Baghdad Airport and weren't identified until they were literally within earshot.
The brutal effectiveness of AirLand Battle combined with network centric warfare is that you are left blind to these threats until they are brought against you by an opponent who almost definitionally possesses the initiative.
The thunder run is similarly effective because even when you expect an attack - they weren't prepared for that. Even if the majority of the column was lost - it would've been a strategic victory. It tested their mettle, demonstrated the fearsome power of just 30 or so vehicles without air support and provided essential intelligence on what areas were most heavily defended at street level.
Baghdad Bob: *"The Iraqi army has fought heroically and has stopped the Americans at the Euphrates River!"*
Coalition Colonel: *"Tell that to my VW Passat."*
What did you expect ? They are Arabs.
Not the brightest folks for sure.
Been looking forward to your next video.
Dope video! Big time fan here saying how awesome some napoleon videos would be!
Hey, I know your channel is moving up in combat era with every video, WW2-Vietnam-gulf-Iraq.
But is there any chance you could take us back to Tarawa? Or maybe even Peleliu? Great content as always! 🤟🏽
personally apologizing from soldier to soldier, shows some character
Jumped between humvs to take over a downed machine gun while they’re moving at 30 mph?! That’s some James Bond type shit
1000 iq move with that sole light duty truck in trying to stop a fucking tank.
As a Vet of this ACTUAL event. Was part of Task Force 3-15 (A Co 3-15 INF) and ran the Thunder Runs to the airport and all the way to Objective Moe where we held the highway junction area for several days. Ultimately combat operations shifted to "Occupation" in April. I made a video about our thunder runs on my channel. Actual Hi8mm footage from the thunder runs, Objective Moe and other good times while in Iraq.
What happened to the A-10’s giving air cover?
They probably spent the time killing friendlies.
A-10s spraying 30mm in an urban environment? Yikes.
Another great video!
I was a kid when Iraq happened. This bring back some memories.
Baghdad Bob: "There are no Americans in Baghdad!"
*Tanks just rolling through the background*
I have watched the Army University Press' thunder run documentary and now this, and I'm still completely baffled and confused that this worked with so few casualties. How did the Iraqi Army and its allied paramilitaries fail to decisively engage a massive armored column driving straight down an open highway in an urban center? The incompetence of the Iraqi military is difficult for me to wrap my head around.
Untrained Mahdi Army militia managed to halt American columns with rudimentary equipment in Sadr City in 2004, so it's not like it can't be done.
You should read the "Iraqi perspective report". It was a report released after the war by the US joint force command to analyse what happened...
Turns out it was all due to Saddam... He was highly delusional at the end of his reign and was convinced the Americans would not attack all the way to Baghdad. He thought it was all a ruse to stir up a shiite rebellion against him. So he deployed his armies and militias against a rebellion in the south, not an invading army.
This meant deploying most of the army near the Iranian border, (fearing an Iranian invasion to assist the shiite rebellion) the fedayeen in the shiite cities in the south to keep guard of the population and only allowed the special republican guards (the only divisions he sort off trusted) to guard the outskirts of the capital with some foreign volunteers. They were not allowed inside the city which he left unguarded.. (He feared a coup would happen)
This is just a summary of it. When you actually read the report you begin to really realise how delusional that man was.
@@donniemeister7725 I mean - dictators are usually the reason wars failed. Just take a gander at late war Hitler and early war Stalin. They CERTAINLY didn't help their situations.
Lots of different factors: Poor aim, better armor on the tanks, confusion, bad Iraqi coordination/C3, massive suppressive fire by 3rd ID (Ops Room left out the tanks were using shotgun rounds from their main guns), etc
Different mentality!! When this thunder run happened the roe was everything could be destroyed or engaged,
Sadr city a year later the roe had changed to peace keeping.
keller is just him, imagine leaping at another humvee at 30 mph bullets everywhere inches from his body and he immediately took the gun and began to over fire like its just the begining of a movie.
my chi is mad focused yo
Yoooo my neighbor was there
Pretty cool dude 😅
Was there for the 91 war too
Good video bro 😎
Brilliant video!
Maybe I missed it in the video but what happened to the Warthog's supposed to be flying close air support? I feel like the column really could have benefitted from more air support, or was it too dangerous to fly aircraft in the area?
A10s are notorious for friendly fire at the best of times. Let alone in a dense urban environment.
Thank you for this! Are you guys still looking for sponsors? I runs WW2 online store and I’d love to sponsor you guys.
They have an email
@@tfk_001 I’ve emailed them a couple of times including about a year ago when they were without any sponsors.
@@TheMidwestMarvelsSo, what makes the multiple unanswered emails not a sign of apparent disinterest/rejection?
@@DieNextInLINE I figured it was until they released the video talking about not having any sponsors. Then I figured I’d give it another go.
You don’t build a decent business by just passively waiting for success, sometimes you need to be insistent.
Better you than Raid ad.
The tank firing a point blank HEAT round to make sure it was unusable is so wild
16:24 - Certified Legolas moment from Helms Deep
Ohhh, THAT Booker.
16:21 Remind me of the scene in The Two Towers where Aragorn is screaming at Legolas to shoot the orc bomber.
There was still a lot of fighting to secure the city. I feel like the battles for the government complexes and the interchanges would be good to finish off the series. I read the book "Thunder Run" and the thunder run was just the beginning.
This needs to be made into a movie
No. Hollywood would just F it up.
I can't believe there hasn't been a film made about this yet.
Probably wont have budget to rent all of those Abrams, Bradley, etc
13:01 pretty sure that guy in the car saw the tanks and was like 'Not today....not today' and just went the other way
Thank you
Was the strategy for the entire war just "drive down that road and hope your vehicle doesn't get disabled"?
Speed, surprise, and violence of action, my friend. The sheer boldness/aggression was something they hadn’t thought to plan around.
And trusting in the armor and defensive systems of the Abrams and Bradleys to shrug off those hits. Marvelous machines
@brettharrison8478 That, and the window licker Rumsfeld forced tbe US military to go in with about half the men they wanted. Got to go fast, because if you get stuck the numbers will start to go against you.
The fastest armored assault in modern warfare. They also did this more than once
does anyone else see the comedic timing of that rpg that hit booker directly.
Very nicely put together, again. It's a shame you can't do medieval battles, I doubt that there is enough info about the battles to make a episode. 😎👍
Kings and generals
I came out of Ft. Knox and Tanker osut in early 2004 and reported to Ft. Stewart and the 3rd ID.
Deployed to Iraq about 6-7 months later for OIF-3.
We patrolled that section of highway and the huge market block west of it out of FOB Falcon. It was still all kinda destroyed.
A few sniper incidents, lots of found IEDs, and a couple of mortar attacks on the fob. Relatively peaceful deployment tbh. We had a lot of fun getting to know the people there.
It's what happens after the 3rd ID leave in early 2006 that I don't understand. It was peaceful. The fighting was over, hell I bought a guitar from one of the shops.
But the 101st Airborn who relieved us only barely hung on to it. I dont get how it got there.
0:44 it seems as though the war would not come to Baghdad tonight
0:48 THE WAR HAS COME TO BAGHDAD TONIGHT.
That one truck messed up real bad
Thank you.
Notification squad
Also, Perkins words are LEGEND in the maneuver world.
i remember there was word of Thunder Run being made into a movie. i hope this idea gets revisited
Thats some pretty wild tactics.