A year after the fateful 11 September 2001 attacks, the United States began to assemble a coalition of the willing for the second phase of the war on terrorism the liberation of Iraq. The United States and coalition allies built up forces in neighboring Kuwait and prepared for war. After diplomacy failed, the air and ground forces of the assembled coalition crossed the Iraqi border on 21 March, with V (U.S.) Corps leading the attack as the main effort. The attack, code-named Operation Iraqi Freedom, isolated Saddam Hussein's bases of power in Baghdad and Tikrit. The goal was to eliminate the regime quickly with a minimum loss of life and destruction of civil infrastructure in order to rapidly transition to Iraqi civil rule capable of ensuring peace, prosperity, and freedom for the Iraqi people. U.S. Army engineers played a crucial role during the initial attack and continue to do so during the follow-on stability and support operations and rebuilding effort. Every element of the Engineer Regiment has contributed to the fight: Active and Reserve Components and civilians; combat engineers of every type (armored, mechanized, airborne, wheeled, air assault), combat heavy, construction, bridging, and topographic, as well as divers (see article on page 28), fire fighters, well drillers, and utilities/ prime-power personnel (see articles on pages 52 and 55), facility engineer detachments and teams, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). During initial combat operations, engineers assured the mobility of the ground forces, enabling coalition forces to move rapidly north and overwhelm Iraqi military forces. As the high-intensity fighting ebbed, engineers transitioned to stability and support operations, as well as humanitarian civic action (HCA), performing virtually every conceivable type of mission.


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    Tigris bridge at Baghdad, Iraqi state railways

    Engineering Index Backfile | 1948


    Operation Iraqi Freedom: Coalition Operations

    Gardner, Sophy | Online Contents | 2004


    U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Combat Trauma Registry Operation Iraqi Freedom-1 Preliminary Findings

    M. R. Galarneau / W. C. Hancock / P. Konoske et al. | NTIS | 2004


    Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07

    M. L. Brinton | NTIS | 2009