I’m with a company from the Third Infantry Division, a company that includes infantry and Bradley fighting vehicles and tanks. They were able to advance fairly far into Iraq without encountering any significant resistance. But yesterday (Sunday 3/23/03), for the first time, as they were crossing a checkpoint, they started coming under mortar fire. The Iraqi soldiers were shooting rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s rifles at them. The company managed to make it through that fight without any casualties, but it was a harrowing experience for many of the soldiers here who’d never been in combat before.
All told though, it wasn’t significant resistance and this company has yet to face any kind of equal battle. The U.S. soldiers are riding in Bradley fighting vehicles and tanks, and the Iraqi soldiers that they’ve been fighting so far are armed only with shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns.
The troops here were able to take dozens of Iraqi prisoners, whom they rounded up and turned over to the military police that follow along with this company. At this point, the U.S. troops are regrouping and getting rested. They’ve had very little sleep in the last two or three days, only taking two or three hours at a time, if they can manage it. They’re taking a little break now and then there’s every indication that they’re going to continue their march north.
