How to knock out a Brigade TOC

[Culpeper]

While tanks were securing ground in downtown Baghdad their TOC, which was 11 miles away, received a direct hit from an unguided surface-to-surface missile. It KIA a few soldiers, destroyed several vehicles, a lot of equipment, and shut down the TOC completely for over an hour. Now, remembering back when I was just a ROMAD radio operator I was told never to transmit more than I had to, and that was just with the small radios available at the time. Sometimes we forget the basics. I guess the TOC was transmitting like FoxNews and an unguided missile became a guided missile. Apparently, someone was on the ball and knew in what direction to fire that missile. Ironically, the TOC was celebrating their brigade's morning advancements at the time of the strike. The rest is history. Lesson learned but how to prevent it?

[Jimbo]

They got hit more by being located in an easily identified facility/compound than sigint.

[RTK]

While tanks were securing ground in downtown Baghdad their TOC, which was 11 miles away, received a direct hit from an unguided surface-to-surface missile. It KIA a few soldiers, destroyed several vehicles, a lot of equipment, and shut down the TOC completely for over an hour. Now, remembering back when I was just a ROMAD radio operator I was told never to transmit more than I had to, and that was just with the small radios available at the time. Sometimes we forget the basics. I guess the TOC was transmitting like FoxNews and an unguided missile became a guided missile. Apparently, someone was on the ball and knew in what direction to fire that missile. Ironically, the TOC was celebrating their brigade's morning advancements at the time of the strike. The rest is history. Lesson learned but how to prevent it?

If I remember correctly, transmitting grids in the red is not a good method for success.

I believe your quote is from the 3 ID Division AAR for OIF. It goes into quite a bit of detail on this specific event.

[Culpeper]

Is it online?

[SWJED]

Is it online?

... Global Security has a lot of the early AARs to include the 3 ID's here.

[SSG Rock]

Don't have time to check SWJED's link, I will read later.

Jimbo has it right, the TOC was indeed hit because it was established at a well known Iraqi warhouse in an industrial district.

[RTK]

... Global Security has a lot of the early AARs to include the 3 ID's here.

I relooked it last night - its not in there. I do know there was an after operations review that detailed that incident. I'll have to go back through my stuff where I saw it.

[SSG Rock]

In "On Point" the fact that the TOC was located in the warehouse is noted, but does not mention that as the reason it was hit. Since I helped write this book I can tell you that it was written far too early to allow full analysis.

But, as I am currently reading COBRA II, and read about the 2 BCT TOC attack just last night that Trainor states unequivically that the attack occurred due to it's location at the warehouse. A well know location to the insurgents.

[Culpeper]

Fig 203 shows the blast hole. Can anyone tell if that rocket came straight down? What is that stuff hanging off that horizontal pole in the right foreground? How far away was the tent that housed the command center? "On Point" states it was within a few feet.

[120mm]

Are sure it was an "unguided" shot? Haven't the bad guys for years combined a "lucky shot" from an indirect fire weapon with a stealth "sapper" attack in order to allow the "sapper" team to get away?

Of course, I haven't read the associated background paper....

[Culpeper]

Well, the FROG-7 is an unguided free rocket over ground weapon. It was a lucky shot considering it landed a few feet from the command tent.. Or was it? I don't know that much about this weapon's accuracy. It's a "battlefield" weapon designed to land in an area. Not a specific spot as far as I know. And that blast hole doesn't look like anything other than from straight above detonation and according to reports was nearly a direct hit on the command tent.

[Tom Odom]

Correct on the FROG rocket--that's why as an unguided system it was never classed as a missile.

[Culpeper]

In "On Point" the fact that the TOC was located in the warehouse is noted, but does not mention that as the reason it was hit. Since I helped write this book I can tell you that it was written far too early to allow full analysis.

But, as I am currently reading COBRA II, and read about the 2 BCT TOC attack just last night that Trainor states unequivically that the attack occurred due to it's location at the warehouse. A well know location to the insurgents.

I have just finished reading Cobra II and I have to disagree on the authors' take on the attack. The authors did not unequivocally come to the conclusion that it was because the TOC was in a well known geographic area. The authors hedged around the entire subject in one small paragraph.

Welsey thought the Iraqis had scored a one-in-a-million shot and decided to reestablish the TOC in the same vicinity...[however] one military intelligence officer...thought it had been a mistake to use the facility in the first place. The Iraqis, he reasoned...knew the geographic coordinates of their own facilities and could easily target them. [p. 402]

The TOC was hit by an unguided rocket. It was nearly a direct hit on the communication tent. I'm still of the opinion that the transmission grid of the TOC turned an unguided rocket aimed at the general vicinity into a guided rocket that ended up with a direct hit on the TOC communication apparatus. Basic radio discipline broke down and created the right atmosphere for the end result. Also, the authors described the weapon simply as a "surface-to-surface" missile. I'm sure the authors knew it was an unguided rocket weapons system that hit the target. The authors were very specific about missile types used by the Iraqis throughout the book except with the attack on the TOC. There are also no end notes for the incident in the book.

[120mm]

Oops. Repost