The 2nd 'al-Medina' Armored Division ( ar, المدينة المنورة الفرقة المدرعة, "

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

the Luminous") was an elite

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

of the

Iraqi Republican Guard Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...

History

Iran–Iraq War

During the course of the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...

, the division ballooned from Division to Corps size. The unit saw deployment during the Second Battle of al-Faw under the command of Major General

Hussein al-Rashid Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

, who was later promoted to the Chief of the General Staff in 1991.

Gulf War

The division's most famous engagement came during the

Battle of Medina Ridge The Battle of Medina Ridge was a tank battle fought on the 27 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between the U.S. 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Luminous Division outside Basra, Iraq. The U.S. 3rd ...

; the largest tank battle of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and the largest tank battle in American history. Despite lacking air support the division put up a surprisingly strong resistance, helping pause the Coalition advance and ultimately serving as one of the contributory factors for the halt order given by President George H. W. Bush on 28 February 1991.

2003 invasion of Iraq

During the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including ...

, the division was mostly deployed along the Karbala gap, the territory between

Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governor ...

and

Hillah Hillah ( ar, ٱلْحِلَّة ''al-Ḥillah''), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq on the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, south of Baghdad. The population is estimated at 364,700 in 1998. It is the capital of Babylon Province a ...

. The division was targeted by Coalition forces early in the war during the raid on Karbala due to its perceived status as one of Iraq's best divisions, with the division being equipped with artillery and 270

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks h ...

tanks, the most advanced tanks used by Iraqi forces. In the raid on Karbala, the division won what was considered to be the only Iraqi victory of the invasion. The division, which was deployed 50 miles south of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, straddled a heavily fortified area known as the "Red Zone." The division dispersed and embedded itself around Karbala, placing units close to homes, schools, mosques and the region's many ancient Shia shrines. Medina Division forces were also one of the units believed to have been readying for using chemical weapons during the invasion. It was claimed at the time that General

Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired general in the United States Army. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States military operations in a 25-country region, including t ...

intended to make an example of the Medina Division, hoping that the destruction of the division would shatter Iraqi morale. In the ensuing Battle of Kut, the division put up a surprisingly light resistance, with many Republican Guard forces choosing instead to desert.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2nd Al Medina Armored Division Armoured divisions of Iraq Military units and formations disestablished in 2003