Soldiers fight as they are train to fight. On 23 March 2003, the 50ih Maintenance Company from Ft. Bliss, Texas in an unprecedented rapid advance of the ground campaign towards Baghdad made a wrong turn due to a navigational error combined with the effects of the operational Optempo, acute fatigue, and harsh environmental conditions. The end result 11 soldiers were killed, seven were captured and nine were wounded (including some of those captured). This paper is not intended to point blame but to understand and learn to mitigate the risk if we ever are face with a similar situation.

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