2nd Armored Division (United States) - The Gulf War

The Gulf War

The invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in August 1990 caught the division in the midst of the post-Cold War drawdown of the U.S. military. The division's 2nd Brigade could not be deployed as it was in the middle of deactivating. The division's 1st brigade, the Tiger Brigade for the war and commanded by Colonel John B. Sylvester, deployed to Saudi Arabia independently and participated in Operation Desert Storm by providing heavy armor for USMC forces in their attack into Kuwait. It was credited for destroying or capturing 181 enemy tanks, 148 APCs, 40 artillery pieces, 27 AA emplacements, and 263 Iraqi soldiers dead with an additional 4,051 captured.

The division's 3rd brigade, the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) based in Germany, deployed to Saudi Arabia in the fall of 1990 and conducted combat operations as the third maneuver brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, KS. The division destroyed 60 Iraqi tanks and 35 infantry vehicles along the IPSA pipeline. By dawn of the third day of the ground campaign the 2nd Armored Division(Forward) had a hand in the destruction of four Iraqi tank and mechanized brigades. In between the cease-fire and the official end of the war in April 1991, 2nd Armored Division (Forward) took part in security operations to ensure peace in Kuwait. The Division then redeployed to Saudi Arabia where some of its soldiers established and ran three refugee camps near Raffia, Saudi Arabia. Division relief workers processed over 22,000 Iraqi refugees between 15 April and 10 May. After turning the camps over to the Saudi Arabian government, the unit redeployed to Germany.

The Division’s attack aircraft battalion, 1st Battalion 3rd Aviation Regiment, from Fort Hood deployed to Saudi Arabia in the fall of 1990 attached to and with support from the 1st Cav also based from Ft. Hood. The battalion was equipped with the AH64-A1 Apache Attack Helicopter with a main armament of 8 to 16 Hellfire laser guided antitank missiles. For smaller targets with less armor the Apache was armed with a 30mm cannon firing high explosive rounds. A secondary weapon that could be carried instead of Hellfire missiles was the 2.75 inch rocket with several types of warhead. The battalion participated in many air strikes along the border region during the air portion of the campaign. The unit provided covering missions when the ground forces advanced into Iraq. 1st Battalion 3rd Aviation Regiment was pulled back in to Saudi Arabia after the cease fire with two squads staging in Kuwait to proved refueling and rearming services for battalion aircraft if hostilities resumed. The unit returned to Ft. Hood Texas in May 1991 and continued the deactivation that was interrupted when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The unit was deactivated in July 1991 and the Regimental flag transferred to sister unit 3rd Battalion 3rd Aviation Regiment based in Germany. The unit was transferred as a whole to Ft. Campbell KY in July/August 1991 and became the 2nd Battalion of the 101st Aviation Regiment (part of the 101st Airborne Division).