Comments on: Chapter 3 – The Push http://lima37.com/blog/2009/02/01/chapter-3-the-push/ Lima 3/7 in Iraq, 2003 to 2007 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:27:01 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Tom O'Neil http://lima37.com/blog/2009/02/01/chapter-3-the-push/comment-page-1/#comment-2211 Tom O'Neil Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:51:23 +0000 http://lima37.com/blog/chapter-3-the-push/#comment-2211 CPL Ronny Spruell actually fired the first rounds of the war for 3/7 at the Police Station on the other side of the border. We ran over (100) 81mm rounds on the city and(26) Hellfires into various targets. LTC Bill Dunn, Forward Air Controller, was controlling (2) Divisions of Snakes at once, just bringing them into Attack positions as they orbited behind us, and using a SOFLAM designator to squirt targets. We were taking small arms fire for most of the afternoon albeit light and inaccurate. Our Cobra's observed white flags and I remember LTC Mike Belcher looking at me and saying, "finish up the air and cease as I am going to push the battalion through. We dismounted off of our OP (Police Tower on the Kuwait Border) and mounted up in our tracks. The engineers had breached the roadblock on the Iraqi side of the border with D7s. We slowly pushe the battalion through the breach; an M1 Abrahams hit a mine right behind our Command Track and Sustained a mobility kill. We pushed through the town and did not receive any contact. I had my M16 oriented outboard and we rolled on up to Az Zubyr, home of the 32nd Mechanised Infantry Brigade. CPT Tom O'Neil Company L Fire Support Team Leader 3d Battaliom, 7th Marines Operation Iraqi Freedom I CPL Ronny Spruell actually fired the first rounds of the war for 3/7 at the Police Station on the other side of the border. We ran over (100) 81mm rounds on the city and(26) Hellfires into various targets. LTC Bill Dunn, Forward Air Controller, was controlling (2) Divisions of Snakes at once, just bringing them into Attack positions as they orbited behind us, and using a SOFLAM designator to squirt targets. We were taking small arms fire for most of the afternoon albeit light and inaccurate. Our Cobra’s observed white flags and I remember LTC Mike Belcher looking at me and saying, “finish up the air and cease as I am going to push the battalion through. We dismounted off of our OP (Police Tower on the Kuwait Border) and mounted up in our tracks. The engineers had breached the roadblock on the Iraqi side of the border with D7s. We slowly pushe the battalion through the breach; an M1 Abrahams hit a mine right behind our Command Track and Sustained a mobility kill. We pushed through the town and did not receive any contact. I had my M16 oriented outboard and we rolled on up to Az Zubyr, home of the 32nd Mechanised Infantry Brigade.

CPT Tom O’Neil
Company L Fire Support Team Leader
3d Battaliom, 7th Marines
Operation Iraqi Freedom I

]]> By: Halepaska http://lima37.com/blog/2009/02/01/chapter-3-the-push/comment-page-1/#comment-11 Halepaska Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:08:33 +0000 http://lima37.com/blog/chapter-3-the-push/#comment-11 Test Test

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