21/03/2026
Twenty-three years ago USMC RCT-1, RCT-5, RCT-7, and the 3rd Army Infantry Div, along with accompanying support units, crossed the Line of Departure from Kuwait into Iraq.
There were no existing friendly encampments or "green zones". Everything surrounding them was potentially, and oftentimes, hostile. In an effort to minimize any collateral damage, command elements would typically send parties of intel personnel and interpreters to make liaison with leaders or representatives of the local cities & villages and notify them of US troop movement with the intention of allowing for the citizenry to either evacuate or shelter in place while US operations were conducted; such information was then oftentimes extrapolated by the very combatants and insurgency that US troops were seeking out and was used to their disadvantage.
This initial wave of US forces received no correspondence from home during this initial period of ongoing combat operations.
Upon taking custody of enemy prisoners of war, US troops were ordered to share their own rations of MRE with them as a show of good faith & humane treatment.
After being engaged by enemy personnel, the logistical unit that had been trailing behind the infantry units then decided to return to Kuwait without giving notice to the combat element they were supporting: leaving them with no logistical support as they pressed forward.
ROE changed constantly during this volatile time, the op-tempo was unrelenting, but despite this, these infantry operators pressed on, wrought with extreme fatigue brought on by sleep deprivation that could span for days.
