The SU. . Army
A11 as photographed at Sierra Army Depot in 2007. At this point the tank was nearly in the exact same condition it had been in during the 2003 Thunder Runs.
FIRST INTO BAGHDAD Robert L. Cogan, Curator
The U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection, located at Fort Moore, Georgia, serves as the Armor Branch’s connection to history. Each year, thousands of Soldiers are brought through the Collection to learn the traditions, lessons, and technology development from the past to assist them in their missions of the future. Artifacts from World War I, World War II, and the Cold War make up much of the material culture displayed by the Collection. Post- Cold War (1991 and later) history, how- ever, has been underrepresented.
Over the last few years, the Collection has made it a priority to capture the story of post-Cold War Armor Soldiers, espe- cially in the areas of the Iraq War and the Global War on Terror operations in Afghanistan. The forefront of this effort has been the acquisition of several armored fighting vehicles from this period. This has been a challenge as many of these plat- forms are still in active use by the U.S. Army or earmarked for foreign market
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sales. Support from Army leaders and increasing awareness of the need for capturing history has allowed for several successes, however. One of these acqui- sitions has been a seventeen years-long effort to preserve the first American tank to enter the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in 2003.
“ANSWER TO THIS”
In late 2002, units of the U.S. Third Infantry Division deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Spring, the U.S. forward presence and force protection mission in the Middle East. As was common at the time, 1st Battalion of the 64th Armor Regiment, known as the “Desert Rouges,” deployed without most of their own ve- hicles. Upon arrival, 1-64 Armor drew M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks from the Army Prepositioned Stock (APS) staged in Kuwait, APS-5. One of these tanks, Serial Number D11338, was as- signed to First Platoon of A Company, 1-64 Armor. As the tank of the leader of the first platoon, First Lieutenant Robert Ball, it was assigned the bumper number of A11. A11 soon received the nickname “ANSWER TO THIS” on its 120 mm gun tube.
A11 would spend the next several months of Operation Desert Spring in training operations as the Third Infantry Division prepared for what would become Oper- ation Iraqi Freedom. 1-64 Armor became Task Force 1-64 as its task was organized with both armor and mechanized infantry units. In preparation for the invasion of Iraq, First Platoon was tasked to serve as A Company’s mine plow platoon. Two of the platoon’s M1A1s were fitted with plows for this role. During this time, the Third Infantry Division’s tanks received theater-made storage rack extensions that were attached to the turret sides and bustle.
On 20 March 2003 the invasion of Iraq commenced, and the Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles crossed the border and headed north to Baghdad in a three-week offensive push to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein. During the movement north, A11 took part in several small engagements and took over one of the platoon’s mine plows as mechanical issues cut First Platoon from four to three operational tanks.
CAVALRY & ARMOR JOURNAL Fall 2024
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