COMMAND CHRONOLOGY FOR THE PERIOD 1 JAN TO 13 APR 91

File: 100896_sep96_decls8_0016.txt
Page: 0016
Total Pages: 31

Subject: COMMAND CHRONOLOGY FOR THE PERIOD 1 JAN TO 13 APR 91            

Unit: 2ND MARDIV  

Parent Organization: 2 MEF       

Box ID: BX600014

Folder Title: COMMAND CHRONOLOGY 2ND MARINE DIVISION 1 OF 10  JAN - APRIL 1991                                

Document Number:          3

Folder SEQ  #:          4


                          o       UNCLASSIFIED o

        control group, a small party of officers and enlisted men from the
        division staff and MP Company, was responsible for controlling and
        monitoring the unit flow from the assembly areas through the second
        breach. This group arrived at the cut in the barns which was the
        start of Breach Approach Lane Blue 3, at 1700. They dug in,
        established communications with the division main command posts and
        prepared for the work of the coming day.(87)


        10. COMBAT OPERATIONS - G-DAY

            The first G-Day activity was the movement of the 6th Marines to
        the assembly areas. By 2300 on G-Day-it they could be seen by the
        breach control group as they came into position.(Ss) At H-Hourp
        0530, the lead elements of the regiment crossed the line of departure
        and followed the colored lanes assigned to its battalions.(89) The
        regiment quickly closed upon the first of the obstacle belts. The
        first battalion to reach them was 1/6, at 0600. By 0615, both 2/2
        and 1/8 were reported as being at the edge of the obstacle belt in
        lanes Blue 3 and 4, and Green 5 and 6.(90) The work of Task Force
        Breach Alpha, the special engineer unit attached to the 6th Marines,
        now began. The enemy's defensive belts consisted of the two
        minefields and the wire obstacles noted in the intelligence reports.
        The task force was well provided with equipment to accomplish its
        task: 18 AAVs with the M154 three-shot line-charge system, two M60AI
        blade tanks, 16 M6OAl tanks equipped with tracked width mine plows
        (TWMP), four M60AI tanks with mine rakes, 22 AAV9 for the engineer
        squads, 15 Armored Combat Barthmovers (ACE), 39 NSO line-charge
        trailers, six MIAI tanks with TWMP, and four Armored Vehicle Launched
        Bridges (AVLB).(91)

            working under enemy indirect fire, the three CEB companies
 the minefield. Using the mine clearing line charges (MCLC)
        of the M154s, they blew lanes across the minefields. The mine plows
        then came across to clear the lanes. The mines encountered were
        various, and of the types expected. The plastic antipersonnel and
        antitank mines were usually blown out of position by the line
        charges, and then pushed out of the way by the rakes and plows. It
        was recognized from the beginning that these mines, piled into the
        windrows of sand by the side of the lane, could possibly slide back
        into the lane, presenting a danger to follow-on vehicles. DegpitO
        this, the engineers pushed on with great courage and skill across the
        defensive belts.(92) British bar mines were also encountered
        presenting their own difficulties in clearing. Their size and shape
        prevented their easy removal, so the best way to dispose of them was
        to blow them in place.

            The first lanes to be opened were Red 1 and 2 on which 1/6 was
        assaulting. By 0724, 116 was reporting that they had pushed through
        the first belt, followed by 2/2. Barely twenty minutes later 1/6 was
        past PL PANTHER, at the second breach, receiving sporadic direct and
        indirect fire. By 0850, 2/2 had conducted its second breach.(93)

            The Green lanes, used by 1/8, were not as quickly cleared as the
        Red and the Blue lanes. It was evident that the mine laying in this


                                         II-16

                                          UNCLASSIFIED

Document 31 f:/Week-35/BX600014/COMMAND CHRONOLOGY 2ND MARINE DIVISION 1 OF 10 JAN - APRIL 1991/command chronology for the period 1 jan to 13 ap:100196125355
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-35
Box ID = BX600014
Unit = 2ND MARDIV
Parent Organization = 2 MEF
Folder Title = COMMAND CHRONOLOGY 2ND MARINE DIVISION 1 OF 10 JAN - APRIL 1991
Folder Seq # = 4
Subject = COMMAND CHRONOLOGY FOR THE PERIOD 1 JAN TO 13 AP
Document Seq # =
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 01-OCT-1996