Book Review - Iron Soldier's: How America's 1st Armored Division Crushed Iraq's Elite Republican Guard

• Author: Major Scott F. Romans
• Pages: 04

1998] BOOK REVIEWS 233

IRON SOLDIERS: HOW AMERICA'S 1ST ARMORED DIVISION CRUSHED IRAQ'S ELITE REPUBLICAN GUARD1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR SCOTT F. ROMANS2

Although many books have been written about the war in the Persian Gulf, few have been written from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. Tom Carhart provides this perspective in his book Iron Soldiers. Based primarily on interviews with unit members, Carhart attempts to explain how the 1st Armored Division prepared for and fought its part of the Persian Gulf War. The division's mission, as part of VII Corps, was to destroy Iraq's Republican Guard. The division achieved a higher level of mission accomplishment than did the book. While the book is interesting and informative, it lacks the depth and objectivity to explore fully the interesting issues it raises about how the war was fought by this armored division.

The book begins as one battalion of the division, 1/37 Armor, prepares to engage the Iraqi Republican Guard for the first time. After the author introduces Major General Griffiths, the Division Commander, the division G3 and G2, and some of the men, 1/37 Armor rolls off to their first engagement. As the battalion rolls forward, Mr. Carhart takes the reader back to Germany, where the division was first notified that it was deploying to the desert. From that point, the book marches forward from preparation for deployment, through movement to Southwest Asia, preparation for combat, to the actual combat operation itself. Along the way, the author introduces and resolves several subplots which fall into two main categories: those that are operational in nature, and those of a human interest appeal.

The scene for these subplots is set as the division learns that it will deploy as part of VII Corps. First, Mr. Carhart discusses the reorganization of the division-how third brigade, 3d Infantry Division, under the com-

mand of Colonel James Riley, went in place of 1st Armored Division's first brigade, and how 6/6 Infantry moved from third brigade to second brigade. He then introduces the key players of the subplots.

The most interesting pre-deployment subplot involves Colonel Snow-mont, the third brigade commander. According to General Griffiths, of all of his brigade commanders, Colonel Snowmont was the one "who looked like he may one day be the brightest star of all."3 This assessment changed, however, as General Griffiths becomes concerned about third brigade's apparent lack of enthusiasm (and readiness) as the deployment draws near. Finally, Colonel Snowmont takes himself out of command, indicating that he suffered from a longstanding medical problem that made him nondeployable.

It is this incident, as much as others in the book, that leave the reader frustrated and seeking a more definitive resolution of the issue presented. As the incident with Colonel Snowmont...