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March 24, 2008
Attack On 507th Altered Training Of Support Troops
Attack on 507th altered training of support troops
Fort Bliss no longer has a 507th Maintenance Company. But the March 23, 2003, ambush that left 11 soldiers dead as the 507th struggled to keep up with U.S. forces rushing toward Baghdad has memorialized the unit in Army history and training.
The ambush initiated changes, officials said, at the root of armoring Humvees and other trucks, treating supply missions as combat missions and training every soldier as a combat arms soldier. Now, supply and support units are harder to attack and are better equipped to fight, according to officials with Army Training and Doctrine Command units at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., that track history and train leaders.
"Tactically, it was a small event," said Charles Collins, a civilian instructor with the Combat Studies Institute, a military history think tank that creates historical surveys and educational courses. "Emotionally, it was a huge event for the Army because it did expose a weakness."
The ambush drove home the fact that U.S. troops were fighting enemies who blend into the neighborhood and then reappear -- armed and with deadly intent. It was, for the most part, a new type of war.
Among the 507th company prisoners of war were Johnson; Lynch; Spc. Joseph Hudson; Spc. Edgar Hernandez; Sgt. James Riley; and Pfc. Patrick Miller. Two pilots from Fort Hood also were captured and kept with members of the 507th.
Among the 507th members killed were Estrella, Piestewa, Spc. Jamaal R. Addison; 1st Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy; Pfc. Howard Johnson II; Spc. James M. Kiehl; Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata; Pvt. Brandon Sloan and Sgt. Donald R. Walters. Two other soldiers who were not a part of the 507th, but were with the company at the time, also were killed.
Almost immediately after the ambush, soldiers arriving in Kuwait were put through battle drills that burned into their brains the appropriate responses to ambushes, snipers and other attacks, said Col. Steven Mains, director of the Center for Army Lessons Learned, also at Fort Leavenworth.
Nearly as quickly, those changes were relayed to training and doctrine centers in the United States, Mains said. In 2004, a new logistics convoy handbook was issued that addressed the importance of pre-combat checks -- making sure a unit has the right weapons and that they are functioning properly.
Over time, supply truck cabs were armored and had tracking and mapping equipment installed. And nearly every one was equipped with a heavy machine gun. All those changes started with the 507th ambush and continued as the Army collected more information on enemy tactics, Mains said.
Every supply mission was now a combat mission, which required intelligence briefings and detailed planning on routes and security.
"It had a profound effect on how the Army trains its non-combat soldiers," Reese said.
Before the ambush, combat support soldiers rarely fired their weapons unless they were doing their annual qualifications, Reese said. Commanders wanted the soldiers practicing their supply jobs, and past experience indicated they would be operating in rear areas where they would rarely need combat skills.
"There used to be a cultural attitude in the Army," said Collins, a retired soldier. "The Army has made great strides in overcoming that cultural attitude. Any unit, whether a postal unit or a supply unit, will be in training that prepares them for something like this."
More of the story HERE
Wild Thing's commnet........
This happened 5 years ago, and I remember it well. At the time this happened, I didn't have a blog, but I was posting daily at one of the Vietnam Veteran forums. One of the posters there was a relative of one of the POW's ( Spc. Edgar Hernandez) and we all joined in with her in our prayers and concerns daily till he was released. The POW's were finally released and as this article says the military made a lot of changes after this attack.
Prayers for all our troops every day for their safety.
...Thank you Jim for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at March 24, 2008 02:47 AM
Comments
It's not an easy thing to forget.
I pray everyday for the safe return of not only my 3 nephews, but every other soldier, too. If those who protest the war would only realize that we pray for an end to the war too, maybe they'd stop these crazy shenanigans.
And for all the soldiers who have died (4,000 now), we pray for their families, that God will give them comfort in their darkest days.
Posted by: Lynn at March 24, 2008 05:15 AM
The training has always been there in basic training. The problem is that in many support units all/most combat refresher training is dropped in lieu of other unit training. This includes critical training and maintenance of individual weapons. One of the failings found with the 507th was their lack of weapons maintenance and the failure of many of those weapons to function at the critical time.
The 507th Maintenanace Company was a rear area Patriot Missle support unit that never expected to be in close combat. In almost all our wars, support troops have suddenly found themselves in a bullet rich environment and need to be prepared to fight like infantrymen. New training progams now teach all soldiers that they could be required to engage the enemy face to face.
Posted by: TomR at March 24, 2008 10:26 AM
God bless those troops, and thanks Jim and WT.
My tour in Vietnam was in transportation, the prior 3 years were spent stateside, in European theater training or training for deployment to Korea or to aid Israel. Where our Commanding Officer, a Captain and a former Korean war Sgt., drummed infantry tactics into each and every member everytime we were on the road, on a field manuver or simply hanging around base, it was always treated as a tactical situation. He was worse than a mother hen, with his 50 mile pass limitation and Cinderella leaves. Everything had better be working too, including your weapons, he spared no one and many a weekend pass was cancelled for additional training in weapons and tactics. Once in country, we got our gear off the transports in Danang, armed and moved out, it took most of that first day to navigate the wonderful Hai Van Pass and it's then less than one lane roadbed under random sniper fire, spending the first night at Hue then arriving at our destination at nightfall the second night between Quangtri and Dong Ha. That very night half the company set about putting up tents and posting security, the other half were handed a hand drawn route map to a base just outside Khe Sahn and we were off on a night mission without an armed escort. It went off without incident and we hauled most of the supplies back, they were unaccustomed to getting supplies on time and had over ordered their capacity for what we had hauled. We were scared but confident in our capabilities because that old Captain had kept our feet to the fire, that bold night move took everyone by surprise but built our confidence even more and we usually had a heavy gun truck escort into the area after that. Like Tom says we found ourselves in a bullet rich environment quite often, on more than one occasion is was literally face to face and all that training saved the lives of my brothers. The Korean war was the last place where front lines and rear areas meant anything and even in Korea the rear eschelon troops had to battle, often hand to hand when like in Vietnam we were overrun at some of the strongest firebases and outposts. Most branches of the military seem to forget that all are basic riflemen with some higher skills applied, congress looks at their role and cuts the budget for combat arms training after boot camp. Stick around a combat zone and you will get challenged, they might be friends during the day but they sure have a habit of attacking at night, you have to stay proficient at both skills.
I feel the same way Lynn. May God watch over and protect them all.
Posted by: Jack at March 24, 2008 05:22 PM
Lynn, yes it is hard a loved ones and a family too, they serve in ia very special way. Your nephews are in my prayers every day.
Posted by: Wild Thing at March 24, 2008 11:32 PM
Tom, thanks so much for the information about the 507th Maintenanace Company. It helps to understand how things happen too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at March 24, 2008 11:34 PM
Jack thank you so much for sharing about your experiences about this.
Posted by: Wild Thing at March 24, 2008 11:38 PM
