Defense Technology International - May 2007 - (Page 48) DT_05_01_2007_p48.qxd 4/25/07 10:20 AM Page 48 REVIEW BOOK REVIEWED BY DAVID AXE TAKEDOWN: THE 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION’S TWENTY-ONE DAY ASSAULT ON BAGHDAD BY JIM LACEY U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2007 267 pp., $29.95 A week into the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Terry Ferrell, commanding a squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment belonging to the 3rd Infantry Div., was ordered to advance on an Iraqi tank battalion that was under attack by coalition warplanes. The difficulty of remote battle-damage assessment meant that putting soldiers on the killing field was the best way to know if the air raids were working. But after a solid week of combat, only a tiny force could be spared to assess the raids. “Ferrell was moving to engage a fortified armored battalion with seven [M-1] tanks and five [M-2] Bradleys,” Lacey writes in his gripping history of the division’s role in the invasion. The 4:1 odds Ferrell faced were not un- common for the meager coalition land force. The battles Lacey describes—drawing on interviews, official histories and firsthand experiences as an embedded reporter for Time magazine—follow a standard template: outnumbered U.S. troops race forward despite a dearth of intelligence, stumble upon entrenched Iraqi forces that almost always shoot first, then return fire with overwhelming ferocity, killing hundreds for every casualty they take while improvising to overcome difficult terrain, overstretched supply lines, atrocious weather and badly coordinated support by the USAF, CIA and Special Forces, all while exhausted and hungry. The Air Force had bombed the wrong grid square, and the Iraqi unit was in fact untouched when the dozen U.S. vehicles arrived. Lacey paints the ensuing firefight in his characteristic understated prose, relying heavily on direct quotations, such as from Sgt. First Class Paul Wheatley: “It was thrilling! There was some smallarms fire, a few RPGs coming from a strong point on the north, but it was the Iraqi armor that worried me most. Our tanks focused on those while the 25-mm. [guns] on the Bradley[s] tore up the Iraqi infantry positions. We were destroying tanks with HE (high-explosive) rounds, and a couple of my tanks fired [multipurpose anti-tank] rounds. It was blowing the turrets right off them.” Lacey’s is a history of the nearly forgotten war that preceded the insurgency the U.S. is now fighting. To be sure, there are in the 3rd ID's invasion experience hints of the coming insurgency: run-ins with Fedayeen militia and suicide bombers, the confusing mixing of civilians and fighters, the inability of a small U.S. force to cover a sprawling battlefield. But for the most part the invasion was a fight that played perfectly to the Army’s traditional strengths in maneuver, firepower and flexibility, and to the courage and stamina of its soldiers. As Lacey describes it, for the U.S. Army the 2003 invasion represented the ultimate payoff to decades of technological, organizational and moral development. If the Iraq war had ended with the fall of Baghdad, as does Lacey’s book, the 3rd ID's exploits could be seen as a nearly unprecedented military triumph. But read in the context of the botched occupation that followed, the invasion seems a strategic blunder, despite its tactical successes, and this tarnishes the experience of reading what is otherwise a well-written, superbly researched and fascinating book. But that’s not Lacey's fault; and Takedown is worth reading regardless. ■ ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE UPCOMING In Print- June issue Land: Air Defense Systems Sea: U.K.-France Aircraft Carrier Air: Future Strategic Lift EventDEFENSE SUPPLIERS FORUM Focus on Trade Compliance & PBL June 4-6, 2007 Washington Marriott Washington, DC Bonus Distribution: Paris Air Show, Le Bourget, France, June 18-19 Tackling the toughest challenges facing the Defense industry today, the Defense Supplier Forum takes on Controlling Supply Chain Risk and Preserving Value. Online New! 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International edition. www.aviationweek.com/dti 48 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL MAY 2007 www.aviationweek.com/dti Page 48 ■ 4/25/07 10:17 AM DT_05_01_2007_p48.qxd 2202416655 CMYK http://www.aviationweek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/video/video_gallery.jsp http://www.aviationweek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - May 2007 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Warfare 2.0 Down to Earth Connection On Guard Free Flow Hybrid Subs Big and Bad Fast Craft Hard Landing Shore Patrol The Net Cutting Edge On the Record In Review Insight Defense Technology International - May 2007 Defense Technology International - May 2007 - (Page Cover1) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - (Page Cover2) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - (Page 3) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - (Page 4) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - (Page 5) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Contents (Page 6) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Contents (Page 7) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Around the World (Page 8) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Around the World (Page 9) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Science Watch (Page 10) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Tech Watch (Page 11) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Warfare 2.0 (Page 12A) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Warfare 2.0 (Page 12B) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Warfare 2.0 (Page 13A) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Warfare 2.0 (Page 13B) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Warfare 2.0 (Page 14) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Down to Earth (Page 15) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Down to Earth (Page 16) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Down to Earth (Page 17) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Connection (Page 18) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Connection (Page 19) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Connection (Page 20) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - On Guard (Page 21) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - On Guard (Page 22) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Free Flow (Page 23) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hybrid Subs (Page 24) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hybrid Subs (Page 25) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hybrid Subs (Page 26) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hybrid Subs (Page 27) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Big and Bad (Page 28) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Big and Bad (Page 29) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Big and Bad (Page 30) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Big and Bad (Page 31) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Big and Bad (Page 32) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Fast Craft (Page 33) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Fast Craft (Page 34) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Fast Craft (Page 35) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hard Landing (Page 36) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hard Landing (Page 37) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hard Landing (Page 38) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Hard Landing (Page 39) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Shore Patrol (Page 40) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Shore Patrol (Page 41) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Shore Patrol (Page 42) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - The Net (Page 43) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Cutting Edge (Page 44) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Cutting Edge (Page 45) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - On the Record (Page 46) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - On the Record (Page 47) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - In Review (Page 48) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - In Review (Page 49) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Insight (Page 50) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Insight (Page Cover3) Defense Technology International - May 2007 - Insight (Page Cover4) http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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