My name is dave drexler and i served with c co 1508th pir, 82nd airborne division during operation urgent fury. On this day in 1983, members of the 1st and 2nd ranger battalions, 82nd airborne division, marine corps 8th marine regiment, us army delta force and navy. The operation succeeded, but flaws in its execution revealed weaknesses in joint operations. How the invasion of grenada was planned with a tourist map and a. The five rangers from my 175th ranger a company who died in grenada, during the battle of urgent fury are photographed above.
American forces sustained 19 killed and 116 wounded. Photo by department of defense grenada lies between puerto rico and venezuela and was an unlikely location for a. The fighting was part of operation urgent fury, the u. Invasion of grenada, operation urgent fury youtube. The department of defense called the invasion operation urgent fury. Army rangers were sent to seize the airfield at point salines. Gunny mooch wrote the definitive history of operation urgent fury. Operation urgent fury, the 1983 invasion of grenada. Operation urgent fury on october 19, 1983, grenadian prime minister maurice bishop and a number of his top aides were executed by the peoples revolutionary army pra, on orders from a radical new political group known as the revolutionary military council. The main objectives on the first day were for the 75th ranger regiment to. The tale they tell of operation urgent fury is intensely personal. As the helos landed, teams of hospital corpsmen rushed to help carry stretchers.
Operation urgent fury successes their main objectives were to capture the point salines international airport and pearls airport, and rescue u. Army black hawk helicopter lands at point salines airfield during operation urgent fury. Urgent fury was an airborne operation, a joint operation, and a very shortnotice contingency operation. I clench my static line, hanging on to it with my back muscles screaming beneath the weight of my parachute, weapons and rucksack, the stench of vomit in my nostrils. On 1 april 1943 the 2nd ranger battalion was formed at camp forrest, tennessee, along with the 5th ranger battalion. Ranger mcgraw, the bryan staggs flag, and operation urgent. Rangers from c company, 1st battalion, 75th ranger regiment, during. An army ranger gives an on ground account of the war in. On the first day of the invasion, the us forces ran into moderate resistance which included dshk machine gun fire, zu23 antiaircraft guns and btr60 apcs, together with small arms fire by cuban and grenadian.
Given the codename operation urgent fury, the invasion was ordered by u. On 25 october 1983, united states army rangers, as part of a sevennation task force, led the invasion of the tiny caribbean island of grenada. Operation urgent fury and its critics army university press. Operation urgent fury 1983 shadowspear special operations. When the island was taken over by pra backed by the soviet union, oct,2583. Operation urgent fury from the warriors perspective on facebook.
The rangers had little time to prepare for their role in urgent fury, the invasion of grenada. When rangers were taking point salines on grenada during operation urgent fury, they faced greater opposition than expected. Highly trained parachute force that specializes in hostage rescues. Mark rademacher, pfc marlin maynard, and sp4 mark yamane. Joseph metcalf iii, usn, commander, second fleet, took command of the urgentfury joint task force, whichincluded elements ofall the military services. So far, urgent fury was a perfect example of how not to conduct an airborne operation and was shaping up to be an unmitigated disaster. An airtoair right side view of an ah1 cobra helicopter firing its 20mm cannon during a mission in support of operation urgent fury. During the day, the rangers on the ground captured the airport and fanned out to secure the surrounding area. Cuban forces sustained 25 killed, 59 wounded, and 638 combatants captured. As a result, the rangers began landing more than 30 minutes behind schedule, and the successive drop waves took 90 minutes to complete in daylight and initially under heavy enemy fire. The planning and execution of joint operations in grenada 12 october 2 november 1983 ronald h.
Rangers provided security for the desert one landing strip and were set to play a significant role in the planned rescue of us citizens from tehran. Grenada operation urgent fury veterans home facebook. Special operations forces in grenada, 1983 by mike markowitz june 3, 20 rangers from c company, 1st battalion, 75th ranger regiment, during operation urgent fury, oct. Rangers stole a bulldozer for an assault on point salines americas. The following excerpt is from a forthcoming book about operation urgent fury and life in the rangers. In october 1983, 23rd air force participated in the sevenday operation that led to the successful rescue of americans from grenada. Dod photo located 1,530 miles southeast of miami, fla. Urgent fury was a success, but not without the inevitable tragedies of battle. Operation urgent fury grenada photo gallery by oly olson. How the invasion of grenada was planned with a tourist map.
Just an fyi this was the 1st successfull military operation since well before the vietnam era. Group of soldiers, 3001200 total, capable of independent combat missions. Operation urgent fury had been under way for more than twentyfour hours, yet the rangers and first wave of paratroopers from the 82nd airborne had barely advanced beyond the perimeter of the airport at point salines. On october 25, 1983, approximately 600 rangers from two ranger battalions parachuted onto point salines airfield to rescue american medical students who were being threatened by the marxist regime that had taken over the island government. Urgent fury veteran recounts cobra crash 20 years later. Army spent much of the decade after its retreat from vietnam rebuilding itself into a supremely capable, allvolunteer force. In the full light of morning on the first day of the operation, helicopters transported wounded to guam. This framework provides the foundation and evaluation criteria needed to determine whether urgent fury was indeed operational art or just the application of overwhelming combat power.
The department of defense began to work on plans for an invasion, code named operation urgent fury. Cole joint history office office of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff washington, dc 1997. Together with the bombing of the marine corps barracks in beirut that same month, the experience of operation urgent fury added impetus to efforts to reform the joint system which were already under way. Ive heard numerous times that this is the best book on operation urgent fury, the u.
He is posting sections from the work as bearing the burden. As a participant of the operation i was eating my wifes birthday cake when i received the alert notice to go i bring an eyewitness perspective to many of. Codenamed operation urgent fury, the multinational intervention resulted in. The second surprise, considerably less pleasant, was that the fighting was both intense and very close.
Some critics even contend that, although the operation was an overall success, major flaws were uncovered in every area, including planning, intelligence, equipment and interservice cooperation see mr summaries, pages 7980. The 2nd bn of the rangers would be closely behind the 1st and jump in. Three years later, the battalion took part in operation urgent fury, which saw a and b companies perform an impromptu air assault on the point salinas international airport in grenada. Rangers stole a bulldozer for an assault on point salines. President ronald reagan to counter threats by grenadas marxist governments to nearly 1,000 american nationals including 600 medical students living on the island at the time. See more ideas about invasion of grenada, grenada and us army rangers. Urgent fury veteran recounts cobra crash 20 years later submitted by. Formed in the aftermath of the failed 1980 iranian hostage rescue, task force 160 was the result of the armys quest to build an aviation unit specifically designed to support special operations. This transcript and others will be published in their entirety when that book is finally released. The invasion of grenada, codenamed operation urgent fury, was a 1983 united statesled invasion of grenada, a caribbean island nation with a population of about 100,000 located 100 miles 160 km north of venezuela. The first operational test of the armys special operations aviation capability came in operation urgent fury, the 1983 rescue of american students on the caribbean island of grenada.
Army rangers gather their gear at point salines airfield during operation urgent fury. On october 25, 1983, nearly 2,000 united states marines led an invasion of the caribbean island nation of grenada. Jun 7, 2014 the island of grenada a rescue opp to recover and extract american medical students from harms way. Rangers parachute into battle during operation urgent fury. Of those, airborne assaults are almost always among the most complex, being heavily dependent on both ample time to prepare and good intelligence. In fact, there literally is nothing in that movie remotely similar to operation urgent fury. Within hours of receiving orders to move, ranger units were marshaling at hunter army airfield, georgia, prepared to board cs and mcs for the ride to grenada. Operation urgent fury the invasion of grenada, october 1983 the u. It is a story of men trapped, and rescued, of men sent to war with orders to hold down the damage.
Hi oly, i was with the 1505th 82nd airborne during operation urgent fury. People tend to forget that this was worldwide frontpage news and that we lost american lives during the invasion. Schwarzkopf, grenada, and the rangers by iassen donov jan 22, 2017. The united states invasion of grenada began at dawn on 25 october 1983.
The grenada invasion by ltc jd lock on 25 october 1983, united states army rangers, as part of a sevennation task force, led the invasion of the tiny caribbean island of grenada. But costly or not, operation urgent fury was a successful operation that set in train a number of necessary tactical, operational, and strategic reforms that changed the shape of the u. The executive order to execute operation urgent fury was issued at 1654 on saturday, 22 october. Two us army ranger battalions, a brigade of the 82d airborne division, a marine amphibious unit mau, the navy aircraft carrier uss. Trujillo later served in special forces, and with dea operation snowcap. Rangers remembered mission urgent fury invasion grenada. Triggered by a bloody military coup which had ousted a fouryear revolutionary government, the invasion resulted in a restoration of constitutional government. Nearly 8,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines had participated in operation urgent fury along with 353 caribbean allies of the caribbean peace forces. Marine corps sikorsky ch53d sea stallion helicopter hovers above the ground near a soviet zu23 antiaircraft weapon prior to picking it up during operation urgent fury, the u. Their order from top to bottom of page is pfc russell robinson, sgt.
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