720th
March 2003 Battalion Time Line
~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association History Project ~
This Page Last Updated   2 April 2008
89th Bde.
 
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17 March The Ultimatum President George W. Bush issued an ultimatum for Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein and his sons to enter into exile within 48 hours or face military conflict. Saddam defiantly refused, thereby setting the stage for the order for war to begin.
 
Operation Iraqi Freedom-I (Gulf War II) Begins
 

19 March Operation Iraqi Freedom-I (Gulf War II) Begins U.S. Stealth bombers and Tomahawk Cruise Missiles struck "leadership targets" in and around the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Soon thereafter, air attacks began against Iraqi targets in southern Iraq, followed by missile attacks from Iraq toward U.S. military positions in the Kuwaiti desert. The stated goals of the US lead Coalition were the disarmament of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and his Baath political party.

20 March, Iraq The Ground War Begins U.S. and British ground forces advanced into southern Iraq, entering the port city of Umm Qasr, near the major Iraqi city of Basra, while a second wave of air attacks hit Baghdad. The Iraqi militia (known as the Saddam Fedayeen), and holdout troops resist Coalition forces.

 
The 720th Deploys
 

21-25 March, Fort Hood, Texas The 720th, minus the 410th MP Company, began deployment movement to Kuwait to await assignment to the Iraqi theatre in support of the 3rd Infantry Division and V Corps attack on Baghdad under Operation COBRA.

23 March, Fort Hood, Texas The 401st MP Company deployed to Kuwait.
 
Date Unknown, Kuwait As the 3d Infantry Division crossed the berm into Iraq, personnel from the 720th Military Police Battalion headquarters (Fort Hood, Texas) arrived in Kuwait and prepared to download unit equipment and conduct RSOI [reception, staging, onward--movement, and integration] operations.
3rd ID
 

Date Unknown, Iraq The 2nd platoon of the 410th MP Company was attached to the 220th Military Police Company (Colorado National Guard) and moved from Camp As Salayah, Qatar, forward to Convoy Support Center (CSC) Scania, Iraq, located on Main Supply Route (MSR) Tampa 100 kilometers south of Baghdad, were they conducted Maneuver and Mobility Support Operations (MMSO).

Date Unknown, Iraq The 1st Platoon of the 410th MP Company moved to Baghdad, Iraq with the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) where they performed Personal Security Detail (PSD), access and physical security at Cobra Base. Cobra Base is the former Abu Ghyriab presidential palace in Baghdad. Coalition Forces Land Component Command was replaced by Coalition Joint Task Force 7 around mid-June and began to report directly to the CENTCOM.
 
 
23 March, Iraq Coalition forces seized two major airfields in western Iraq, and controlled parts of Umm Qasr, Basra and Nasiriyah. Armored and mechanized forces advanced to within 100 miles of Baghdad and forced a crossing of the Euphrates River at Nasiriyah, where Iraqi forces put up a stiff fight. In northern Iraq, the U.S. launched an attack with 40 to 50 cruise missiles on forces of two radical Islamist parties opposed to the Pro-U.S. Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). These two groups are Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam), believed associated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida and Komala Islami Kurdistan (Islamic Society of Kurdistan). U.S. forces also began airlifting troops into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq to open a second front against Iraqi forces.

27 March, Iraq Fierce fighting erupts in the city of Samawah. U.S. forces are faced by up to 1,500 Iraqi irregulars at a bridge over the Euphraties River. They take control of the bridge and continue the advance to Baghdad. In northern Iraq, paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade parachute onto an airfield to open a northern front against Iraqi forces. Within days, Kurdish Peshmerga troops of the PUK, along with U.S. special forces units, assaulted the stronghold of the Ansar al-Islam group along the Iranian border.

30 March, Iraq U.S. forces advanced as far north as Karbala, where large battles with Iraqi forces took place. Major combat continued at Najaf, Nasiriyah, Basra and other locations with Iraqi guerrilla forces belonging to the Saddam Fedayeen. Surgical bombing raids on Baghdad and other Iraqi cities continued, as did Iraqi attempts to hit Kuwaiti-based targets with SCUD missiles. Six hundred British commandoes attacked near Basra, destroying Iraqi tanks and capturing nearly 300 prisoners.