The 1st Armored Division is the oldest and most prestigious armored division in the United States Army. From its desert tank battles against Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, beach landing at Anzio to the end of the war in the Italian Alps. Maintaining a forward presence in the Cold War in Germany, its stunning victories in the Persian Gulf War to the Global War on Terrorism in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In peace or war, the "Old Ironsides" Division has amassed a proud record of service to America. The current home of the Division is at Fort Bliss, Texas.
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In September 2007, in the midst of a national debate about troop levels in Iraq and, more broadly, about the US strategy in Iraq, the 1st Armored Division Headquarters deployed again to Iraq. General Petraeus? surge strategy was in effect, with major counterinsurgency operations across the country. ?This is a pivotal and historic time for the 1st AD, for the forces in Iraq and for the nation,? said Brig. Gen. James C. Boozer, a deputy commanding general for 1st AD at the time of the division?s deployment. The division began its deployment the same day Petraeus delivered his Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq, concluding that "the military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met."
The division, commanded by then-Major General Mark Hertling, conducted a relief in place with the 25th Infantry Division and assumed command of Multi-National Division North, headquartered in Tikrit, Iraq, on 28 October 2007, just as Colonel MacFarland?s Anbar Awakening was being lauded for pushing AQI out of Anbar. At the time in northern Iraq, enemy attacks averaged 1,800 a month, the Iraqis had little trust in their central government, and the unemployment rate was staggering.
General Hertling assumed responsibility of all Coalition Forces in Northern Iraq. Multi-National Division North was composed of five Maneuver Brigade Combat Teams, a Combat Aviation Brigade, a Fires Brigade, and an Engineer Brigade. The division had responsibility includes the Iraqi provinces of Ninawa, Kirkuk (formerly at Tamin), Salah ad Din, and Diyala along with Dahuk, and As Sulaymaniah. The area included the critical cities of Tal Afar, Mosul, Bayji, Tikrit, Kirkuk, Samarra, Balad, Baqubah, Dahuk, and Sulaymaniah. Arbil province remained aligned as a separate Multi-National Division, North-East. The division area of operations included ethnic fault lines between Arabs and Kurds, religious fault lines between Sunni and Shia Muslims, numerous tribal regions, and the complexities involving significant Former Regime Elements. 1AD immediately applied an aggressive mix of lethal and non-lethal counterinsurgency tactics, as maneuver battalions worked in a partnered capacity with State Department officials and Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Commanders worked to apply a focused lethality, protecting the Iraqi population while killing insurgents in large volumes.
Rather than viewing every Iraqi as a potential enemy, 1AD took a page of Colonel MacFarland?s playbook, building relationships and getting cooperation from the Iraqis against Al Qaeda and minimizing the number of enemies for U.S. forces. Soldiers were asked to use courageous measures of restraint, often putting themselves at risk to avoid killing civilians or damaging property.
The strategy worked and over a 15-month tour, northern Iraq demonstrated monumental change. The Iraqi government developed slowly, but had systems of economy, infrastructure development, and security in place. More importantly, the Iraqi people believed in their security forces. The progress in the region came at great cost with 104 U.S. soldiers assigned to 1AD killed and 891 wounded. The Division conducted RIP/TOA with Headquarters 25th Infantry Division on 8 December 2008 and conducted a successful redployment back to Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Germany.
