Hi guys,

I´m planing to do a big OIF Diorama with some U.S. vehicles on the road to Baghdad. Just today i recieved my two M1A2 Abrams, my two M2A2 ODS Bradleys, and my M923 big foot.

Now my questions :

Are there any sites in the net, where i can find a list of the companies, Divisions and regiments and of their vehicles ?

or maybe some of you could help me with this.


On the Diorama, all vehicles should be in the same company, so i should use the same decals for all vehicles, shouldn´t I ?



My second question :

The U.S. army usually painted their vehicles in this desert colour and the Marines used this 3-ton- camo, didn´t they ?

Is it possible to show on the Diorama a M1A1HA from a Marine company and also a M1A2 from the army ? I think with the different camouflages, it would look a little bit more interesting, but i want to built it like in realitiy, so if they didn´t ride together strait to Baghdad i should decide between Army oder Marines.


What do you think ?

Should there be any other interesting vehicles like AAVP´s oder M113´s, oder... let me know what would look.

I hope you can help me !!!


cheers

USMC and 3ID units fought in different areas and didn't really come into contact with eachother. They did not fight mixed. 3ID units were mostly sand, pretty much all combat vehicles were. Some support vehicles were camo and/or green as well. USMC had a mix of camo and sand combat vehicles. M113 is still very much in use and was seen in large numbers in 3ID. Also, the tanks and Brads could be from two different Bns within the same BDE, since they are task organized by swapping PLTs and COs to maximize the capabilities of each for the current mission.

Here is more info I have gathered from others and my own experience there:



OIF 1 Order of Battle


3rd ID units:

1ST BRIGADE (took the Baghdad airport in heavy fighting)
2-7 IN
3-7 IN
3-69 AR
1-41 FA
11 Eng (Sgt Smith helps fight off a large Iraqi counterattack at the airport, and is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously)
3 FSB

2ND BRIGADE
3-15 IN (very heavy fighting at Obj Curley during 2nd thunder run - almost overrun)
1-64 AR (heavy fighting in both thunder runs)
4-64 AR (heavy fighting in 2nd thunder run)
1-9 FA
10 Eng (saved the day during 2nd thunder run)
26 FSB

3RD BRIGADE (entire brigade went through the heaviest urban fighting of the war on April 7 repelling an intense Iraqi counterattack)
1-15 IN
1-30 IN
2-69 AR
1-10 FA (destroyed 2 Iraqi tanks with direct fire from their M109s)
317 Eng
203 FSB

3-7 CAV was Division CAV Squadron (lead major assaults in Karbala and Najaf)
1-39 FA (MLRS) was divisional. (fired large preps at Karbala and Baghdad Airport) My unit.
703 MSB was divisional.
1-3 ADA

Missing the MPs, signal, and chem units.


The unit with the side stowage bins was 3-15 IN and Bradleys cross attached
to 1-64 AR and 4-64 AR of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd ID. No other
Bradley units of the 3rd ID had the racks. Every vehicle I have seen had
two racks, one on each side. Also, most Bradleys in these units also carried
two jerrycan racks made by the same local vendor. But they were easily lost,
so that is not a necessity.

3-15 IN fought in Najaf, as did 3-7 CAV. There are some famous photos of a
3-15 Bradley approaching a bridge in Al Hillah with a woman trapped between
enemy forces and approaching US forces. 3-15 IN also fought very hard at
Objective Curley in the fight for Baghdad. They were essentially surrounded
at that overpass and fought off many attacks by Syrian jihadists/mercenaries. They were nearly overrun in that fight.

Of note, it was very common for soldiers to hang their duffle bags from the
sides of their Bradleys. A common sight was to see blue tape around these
duffle bags. The tape was used for ID purposes when there were hundreds of
bags lying around waiting to be picked up. Infantry used blue. Also, if you
do a 3-15 Bradley then the battleboard and sideskirt number will be in the
40s. 1-64 numbers would be in the 50s and 4-64 in the 60s.



1ST Marine Division units:


During the Marines main assualt north out of Kuwait, the thrust was broken into 2 main groups, the main ground element, with I MEF moving into Basra in support of the British. The main group was broken down in 3 main Regimental Combat Teams (RCT-1, RCT-2, and RCT-7).

RCT-1 was comprised of:
3rd/1st Marines
1st/4th Marines
2nd/23rd Marines
2nd LAR
1st/11th Arty
A co, 1st Tanks
C co, 2nd Eng Bn
AAV's from both 2nd and 4th Assault Amphib Bn


RCT-2 was comprised of:
1st/5th Marines
2nd/5th Marines
3rd/5th Marines
1st LAR
2nd Tanks
2nd/11th Arty
Bravo Co 1st Eng Bn
Bravo Co 4th Eng Bn
AAV's from both 2nd and 3rd AABn


RCT-7 was comprised of:
1st/7th Marines
3rd/7th Marines
3rd/4th Marines
3rd LAR
1st Tanks
3rd/11th Arty
Charlie Co 1st Eng Bn
AAV's from both 2nd and 3rd AABn


Task Force Tarawa was used, from the initial assualt out of Kuwait, with the British to secure the port city of Basra, was called I MEF and consisted of units from 2nd MARDIV, elements of 1st MARDIV, 1st UK DIV, and 1st FSSG.

1st/2nd Marines
3rd/2nd Marines
2nd/8th Marines
1st/10th Arty
2nd AABn

After Baghdad fell, Task Force Tripoli was formed to move north into Tikrit area, was a fast moving unit, light on tanks:

1st LAR
2nd LAR
3rd LAR
2nd/25th Golf Co Marines
5th/11th Arty

Dont forget 101st had TF -270 Armor from 1AD attached. Also 173rd ABN had the IRC from USAEUR attached (1st ID)

Be sure to research what unit you plan to model BC many of the Abrams on the push to Baghdad were M1A1 Heavy's. I know for a fact that the 3-69 AR were m1a1's. Alot of the M1A2's were brought in later in the war.

Missed the M1A2 bit above...

All 3ID and USMC tanks were M1A1HCs. M1A2s didn't show up till late Apr-May '03 with 4ID (M1A2 SEPs) and 3ACR (standard M1A2s). 1st Cav also brought M1A2s later, in '04, as well. Only 3 Corps (1CAV, 4ID, and 3ACR) have M1A2s. All other Army and Marine units use M1A1HCs.

True M1a2's were brought by 3ACR and 4th ID

I needed that info, Thanks


Happy Modeling
(++) 1:35


PS: This is only my option but I think HeavyArty is becoming are OIF expert.

Hey Gino, thanks for the in-depth list...it makes sorting all the info a heck of a lot easier.

Just to help out, a M923 was mentioned. What would the markings for the supply guys vehciles look like? I know what they are for the local National Guard, but not what OIF would be.

ok guys, thanks.

I decided to do the Dio with Marines, so i could use both camos.

I think i´m going to use 1 or 2 M1A1HA, 1 M2A2, and another vehicle, maybe an M1046, or an M1025, but not sure about that.

Would be nice if you could tell me what numbers and signs i had to paint on the vehicles, to make them all part of one divison.

maybe photos would be nice.


Are the Tamiya Decals any good for this job ?


thanks for answering again !

Sorry Martin, but Marines do not have M2A2 Bradley's.

AAVs would be the ticket!

Depends on the unit for the bumper #'s. Most supply vehicles were in the 40 bumper numbers though.

Doesn´t matter. thank you for information.

So i think maybe two M1A1HA´s one with desert camo and one with 3-ton-camo.

I think a AAVP would be nice too, let´s see, what my dealer will sell to me...

and a wheeled vehicle, maybe, if there´s enough space...

Martin,
I noticed you also asked about decals. These are two sets from Echelon and are pretty nice. Since you are thinking of doing a couple of Abrams, these would be perfect.

Somewhere out there is a diorama of troops deploying from an AAVP on a bridge that would give you some ideas. I'll try to find a link

This one, by Jim Carswell at M-L maybe.



More here.

Thats the one. That many vehicles , a lot of attention to poses and setting will be needed to not look like one of those wooden pose '70s state fair dioramas we all used to do and see. Theres some good Abrams convoy on city street pics at prime portal too