Later in the battle, an Abrams tank carrying the commander of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor was destroyed by another Abrams shortly after it was hit, but not damaged, by a grenade. Three Bradley fighting vehicles with B Company, Task Force 1-41, were struck by friendly tank fire shortly after the battle began. ''Every effort was made by commanders to maintain control during what was very obvious, to those who were there, to be a very dangerous and potentially disastrous evening,’' Weisman wrote in his report. The reasons behind the incident, as described in the officers’ statements, reflect the dangers of a high-speed, nighttime ground assault using high-tech weaponry. The soldiers had gone for as long as 36 hours without sleep, according to the investigation reports. The 3rd Brigade had raced more than 60 miles into Iraq when the big battle began. ''Our equipment is so lethal that there is no room for mistakes.’'įatigue may have contributed to the problem that day. ''We knew that control (of friendly tank fire) was going to be a problem,’' he said.
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