Discussion on Size Force, 2BCT Faced During Thunder Run, 7 April

[John Osborne]

Discussion on what size force did the 2BCT, 3ID face when they did their Thunder Run on 7 April into Baghdad?

I’ve finished making the OOB for all three TFs from 2BCT, 3ID along with their support units. I’ve finished making the overlay for 2BCTs Thunder Run. I’ve finished the OPORD for both sides. Just need to finish coding the terrain data on the Baghdad map. What’s holding me up is the size of the OPFOR. I’ve read both books “Thunder Run†and “On Point†and it’s not clear on what the size force that they faced during the battles.

Any idea on what the forces should be on the "Thunder Run" scenario?

John Osborne

 

[MajorH]

Perhaps you might do a series, each with a different Iraq order of battle and setup. Some light, some medium, some heavy.

 

[Dr Zaius]

By the time this thunder run was conducted, organized Iraqi resistance at the division+ level was well on its way to complete disintegration. The most organized force the Iraqis fielded was the Medina Republican Guard division, which was largely destroyed in the fighting around Karbala. The units gathered in and around Baghdad were experiencing large scale defections and had virtually no functioning command structure left by this time. That being said, a limited number of Iraqi battalions and brigades were able to put up respectable resistance for a limited amount of time.

I watched these battles develop electronically from the relative comfort of a battalion TOC in the rear. Without getting into specifics (partially because I can only remember so much, but also because I'm not certain it's okay to openly discuss every aspect of this yet), these battles seemed very confused and I'm not sure we had completely reliable information on exactly which units we were facing, or what their status was. We did, of course, have a reasonably accurate overall picture of enemy units in that area, but there were also a number of units that had broken apart and were doing whatever they could. I tried to keep as up to date as I could while all this was going on, but I had tasks of my own to accomplish and this stuff developed so fast it wasn't terribly easy to know what was happening. Perhaps others here are better qualified than I am to expound on this.

I have the books you're talking about and those are--unfortunately--about the best thing I can recommend at the moment. I would like to see some more detailed analysis published as well. I do not know if there is anything coming out from CMH in the near future or not.