HMMWV Humvee 1980-2005 by Steven J. Zaloga

Author:Steven J. Zaloga
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HMMWV Humvee 1980–2005: US Army tactical vehicle
ISBN: 9781849089685
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2011-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

A Marine M1045A1 TOW carrier of Task Force Tarawa during fighting near Nasiriyah, Iraq, in April 2003. The Marine HMMWVs had many small modifications prior to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, including the addition of the commercial Gypsy Rack to the rear of the vehicle to provide more stowage for prolonged operations. (Cpl Gordon Rouse, US Marine Corps)

This photo was taken on July 22, 2003, in Mosul, Iraq, moments after the gunner on this M966A1 TOW carrier of the 101st Airborne Division fired a TOW missile at the building where Saddam Hussein’s two sons were hiding. Both Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed in the assault after they refused to surrender. (Sgt Curtis Hargrave, US Army)

By the summer of 2003, it was clear that the number of UAHs in Iraq was too small. There was an immediate effort to shift as many UAHs to Iraq as quickly as possible, and by August 2003 there were about 2,950 UAHs in the theater, amounting to about one-fifth of the HMMWVs. The daily skirmishes and ambushes not only involved combat formations such as infantry units, but combat support units involved in convoy duty. At first, the skirmishes with insurgents in the summer of 2003 involved mainly ambushes with small arms and RPGs, but by the fall the use of roadside bombs and mines increased rapidly. Troop casualties were far higher during the pacification efforts than during the actual military campaign.

Furthermore, the nature of the campaign led the US Army to adopt tactics that placed a much greater emphasis on the HMMWV for close-combat missions. Tanks were not appropriate for urban missions or patrolling, so a number of armor units were reorganized into motorized units. A typical example was Cobra Company, 1/34th Armor, which in September 2003 switched from a conventional tank company organization of 74 tankers and 14 M1A1 Abrams tanks to a new configuration with 85 troops in three line platoons with a single M1A1 tank for fire support and 15 M1114 UAH “gun-trucks.” The gun-truck companies are somewhat akin to traditional cavalry, providing mobility and some capability to fight on the move, but mainly they provide transport for the troops who dismount to conduct patrols, with some troops remaining with the vehicles and providing overwatch with the crew-served weapons.

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