A Woman at War by Molly Moore

Author:Molly Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Maxwell
Published: 1993-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Iraqi action to date has been disjointed and unprofessional from a tactical point of view. For example, two columns of tanks came down into the LAV area this morning. They were unaccompanied by infantry, and artillery did not fire in their support. We killed four to five vehicles with TOW missiles, and air and artillery were called in on the rest of the column. I do not know if we will find this to be true throughout Kuwait as we proceed northward, but if so, it bodes well for us.

“My biggest fear, as H-hour approaches, is the indirect fire systems…. A lot of tubes still remain that can be fired on us. We expect that artillery to shoot chemical rounds, but we believe we are prepared to handle them. Our counter-battery plan, using aviation and artillery, will enable us to place accurate fire on enemy batteries that are shooting. Thus far, their artillery has proven to be fairly inaccurate. I believe that once we are through the barriers and begin to move, they will have a difficult time targeting us…. Thus far, he has not moved his forces very quickly.

“What the enemy does not seem to be able to deal with is our rapid use of supporting arms, and the way we are able to combine them in the attack or in the defense. Because we are limited in space, there will not be a lot of fancy maneuvering in this battle. What I hope will prove successful is our ability to bring fire to bear quickly and accurately, thus enabling us to take advantage of whatever movement avails itself to us.

“The success of the plan hinges on concentration of force and brute power initially. Once through the breach, we will be able to expand and maneuver in order to attack the enemy. If things go reasonably well, I expect to take our objective at Al Jahra within four days. If required to capture Kuwait International [Airport], we could find ourselves involved for a little longer. It seems to be well defended, and we will have to go about its seizure rather carefully.

“I am leery about the effectiveness of the amphibious demonstration. Mines have completely hamstrung most of our naval force. It’s a damn shame that we are not equipped to deal with his relatively primitive but extremely effective weapon. I hope it will be a lesson learned for the future, but I doubt it…. Fortunately, my plan does not depend upon naval gunfire, because getting fire support areas swept of mines appears to be unlikely at this point. If we do not have a credible demonstration, however, I will be forced to fight many more forces northeast of Kuwait.

“We have spent hours over our plans…. We are ready to handle the barriers…. From having an extremely limited amount of mine-clearing equipment to now having enough to do a two-division breach is very gratifying.

“Fires are blazing in the oil fields, apparently set by the Iraqis. Smoke is causing us problems,

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