Heavy Metal: A Tank Company's Battle to Baghdad

by Jason Conroy, Ron Martz

Overview

During the Iraq War, coauthor Capt. Jason Conroy commanded Charlie Company, which was part of Task Force 1-64, 2d Brigade Combat Team, part of the U.S. ArmyAÆs 3d Infantry Division. A tank unit equipped with mammoth M1A1 Abrams tanks, ConroyAÆs company was literally at the tip of the U.S. ArmyAÆs spear and one of the first elements into Baghdad. Veteran journalist Ron Martz was embedded in Charlie Company. Together, from the unique perspective of an armor unit that was in nearly continuous combat for four straight weeks, Conroy and Martz tell the unvarnished story of what went right and what went deadly wrong in Iraq. Conroy and his soldiers were able to overcome supply shortages, intelligence failures, and miserable weather to battle their way into downtown Baghdad, a place where they were told they would never have to fight. Heavy Metal evaluates the ArmyAÆs performance, including its use of tactics that were developed during the war but for which the soldiers had never trained.

Through the exciting personal stories of the young troopers of Charlie Company - who experienced a very different war from what was seen back home on TV - Heavy Metal tells us much about the qualities of todayAÆs American soldier, about twenty-first-century desert and urban warfare, and about how the Army should prepare to fight future wars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597973373
Publisher:	Potomac Books Inc
Publication date:	01/31/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Ron Martz writes on defense issues for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His books include Solitary Survivor: The First American POW in Southeast Asia (with Lawrence R. Bailey, Jr.; Brassey’s, Inc., 1995) and White Tigers: My Secret War in North Korea (with Ben Malcom; Brassey’s, Inc., 1996), which Publishers Weekly praised as "exciting reading." He lives in Roswell, Georgia.

Capt. Jason Conroy, USA, is now stationed with the Army’s Space and Missile Command in Huntsville, Alabama.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
1. Point Blank: The Battle for Mahmudiyah
2. Rock of the Marne
3. The Making of Charlie Company
4. Operation Desert Spring
5. The Wait in Kuwait
6. Heavy Metal and Rock & Roll
7. Sand and Fury
8. Cobras Lead the Way
9. The Night It Rained Mud
10. The Battle for Najaf
11. Checkpoint Charlie
12. The Road to Baghdad
13. Thunder Run I
14. Sorting Things Out
15. Thunder Run II
16. Rooting out the Remnants
17. Baghdad Bedlam and Other National Treasures
18. Beyond Baghdad
19. Epilogue
Appendix: Charlie Company Roster and Vehicle Assignments
Glossary
Index