The Battle of An Najaf: 25-28 March 2003
The city of Najaf sits astride important highways leading north to Karbala and Baghdad. Rather than simply bypassing the town as had been done with Nasiriyah and Samawah, the 3rd ID decided to isolate the town to prevent it from being used to stage attacks on American supply lines. The plan was to seize the major bridges in Al Kifl, a town north of Najaf, and Abu Sukhayr, a town south of Najaf. The northern bridge at Al Kifl was codenamed Objective Jenkins and the southern bridge in Abu Sukhayr was codenamed Objective Floyd.
On 25 March, AH-64D Longbow Apache attack helicopters of the 11th Aviation Regiment were tasked with carrying out a long-range penetration mission against armored forces belonging to the An Najaf Division of the Iraqi Republican Guard that was stationed in Najaf. Instead of providing close air support near the front lines, helicopters would be used in a similar way to attack aircraft.
Mission:
Take objetive FLOYD and sup
