text: Mission Command
  guidance to Schwartz was to “conduct a movement to contact north along Highway 8 to
  determine the enemy’s disposition,strength,and will to fight.”
  Schwartz praised the straightforward commander’s intent and purpose. “The planning was
  simple,” he explained, “The Thunder Run mission was the simplest of all tasks that we
  were given. There was no maneuver required. It was simply battle orders followed by battle
  drills.” Based on Perkins’ intent to maintain tempo, Schwartz chose to leave all lightly
  armored wheeled vehicles at SAINTS. Departing at 0630 on 5 April,Schwartz’scommand
  included 731 men, 30 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 14 Bradley Infantry fighting vehicles, 14
  engineer vehicles,and other tracked support vehicles.
  Within minutes of moving north of SAINTS, the Americans came under sporadic small
  arms, mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire from Iraqi irregular forces firing from
  hastily prepared positions adjacent to the highway. Within an hour,the small arms fire and
  rocket-propelled grenade volleys had turned the operation into something akin to running
  a gauntlet of fire, but they did little to slow the column. The plan prohibited slowing the
  advance for specific targets, which were passed instead to follow-on vehicles by radio.
  However,this concept jettisoned temporarily when,6kilometers from the line of departure,
  a rocket propelled grenade round fired from an overpass exploded in the engine
  compartment of SSG Jason Diaz’s C Company tank, immobilizing it. As Diaz’s crew
  struggled to put out the growing fire and rig the tank for recovery, other Abrams and
  Bradley vehicles formed a defensive perimeter. Using coaxial machine gun fire and main
  gun rounds, the column repulsed several dismounted attacks and approaches by suicide
  vehicles. Several Americans were wounded. Since Perkins’order emphasized momentum,
  LTC Schwartz decided after a half hour delay,to renew the northerly advance and destroy
  Diaz’s tank with incendiaries to keep it out of enemy hands. With the spearhead about
  halfway to the airport, Iraqi small arms fire fatally wounded SSG Stevon Booker, an A
  Company tank commander, while a nearby Bradley was disabled by rocket propelled
  grenade fire that also wounded the driver. In this case, the delay was short, with the
  wounded men placed in other vehicles and the Bradley rigged for towing. Soon the column
  was back on the move.
  Schwartz’s force turned in the direction of the airport at the intersection of Highway 8 and
  the Qaddissiyah Expressway,the main east-west thoroughfare between the airport west of
  the city and downtown Baghdad. Hundreds of paramilitary fighters and military personnel
  continued to fire on the column from all directions, only to fall victim to the Americans’
  overwhelming firepower. After a total travel time of two hours and 20 minutes,the column
  arrived at the airport.
  COL Perkins concluded that the reconnaissance in force had completely surprised the
  enemy. “[The Iraqis] thought that they could bloody our nose enough on the outside of the
  city … that we just would not push through block by block,”Perkins explained. The raid
  had cost five casualties (one killed and four wounded), one Abrams tank destroyed, and
  one Bradley heavily damaged. Iraqi losses were estimated to be at least 1000 fighters
  killed, one T-72 tank, and 30 to 40 BMPs (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhotys) destroyed, and
  the elimination of a large number of light vehicles and countless roadside bunkers.
  The operation demonstrated that United States armored forces could penetrate Baghdad
  at will,while suffering minimal casualties. The operation provided excellent indicators of
  enemy tactics,strength,and fighting positions. LTG Wallace and MG Blount praised the 5
  April“Thunder Run.”They envisioned the operation as a prelude to additional armored
  missions in and around the city that would disrupt the Baghdad defenses with the ultimate
  goal of regime collapse. Using the lessons learned on 5 April,Perkins launched a second,
  larger operation on 7 April,which resulted in the occupation of downtown Baghdad and
  the final fall of the Baathist government.
  Donald P. Wright