Krepinevich's--"An Army at the Crossroads"

[Gian P Gentile]

RJ...

Think you have the wrong question... 4ID didn't fight up to Baghdad, they came later... 3ID and 101st did the OIF 1 fighting, 4ID convoyed up unless I'm mistaken, and if I am mistaken... that means they were firing up stuff they had no business shooting...

Might also want to see Fiasco for some insight into 4ID

Come on Hack, can you help an old Sams brother (and small group classmate) out?

You are correct that 4ID didnt fight our way up like third ID, the marines, and the 101. We did convoy, although the BCT that I was XO for, 1st BCT, did a modified convoy tactical road march and movement to contact all in one since we thought there might be some contact on the way. In 1BCT we combat loaded tanks, bradleys, etc on the back of hets with crews on board.

As an aside, what is often overlooked about 4ID was our quick, efficient, and effective combat loading of the entire division in a matter of weeks out of south texas ports in February 03. None of the other army divisions did anything like it in terms of time constraints and pressure to load correctly for operational movement across turkey and then into combat. Of course it all didnt turn out that way, but our out-load was in my mind well done.

But back on point, the only thing I shot at on the way up was a pack of dogs that were coming at me in a group of palm trees where I was taking a leak; and it was a warning shot to boot.

You really should move beyond the fabrication created by Ricks's book about 4ID of being the Westmoreland incarnate wanting to fight world war II all over again in the sunni triangle instead of the central highlands. That fabrication is just that, yet sadly it seems to have become conventional knowledge. I was there in Tikrit as BCT XO and we did some shooting but it was at sh...t bags who needed to be shot!!!

So again, at least for old tail-gating sakes, can you help a brother out here and move past Ricks flawed portrait of 4ID in 03??

gian