Dr. Dirk Ringgenberg: “Operation Northern Delay: The US Airborne Invasion of Iraq from a First-Hand Perspective”

“Operation Northern Delay: The US Airborne Invasion of Iraq from a First-Hand Perspective”
Dr. Dirk Ringgenberg
Thursday, September 7, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.

On 26 March 2003, in the first weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, USAF C17 Globemasters from 4 different Air Wings transported 1,000 paratroopers from the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade and conducted a night mass tactical combat parachute assault into Bashur Airfield, Iraq, as part of Operation Northern Delay. The operation forced the Iraqi Army to maintain approximately six divisions to protect its northern flank, providing strategic relief for Coalition Forces advancing on Baghdad from the South.

Mr. Dirk D. Ringgenberg is an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in the Department of Military History and a doctoral candidate at Iowa State University. Dirk is a highly decorated (Silver Star, Bronze Star for Valor) retired Major with a distinguished military career spanning 24 years, predominately in Paratrooper and Ranger units. He participated in Operation Northern Delay as a Captain. Dirk and wife, Michelle live in Landing, Kansas with son, Hunter.

The Ft. Leavenworth Series

The Ft. Leavenworth Series is an annual roster of lectures focusing on significant historical events, usually with an emphasis on military history. Each lecture is presented by faculty from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Established by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1881, the CGSC is the graduate college for U.S. Army and sister service officers. The esteemed faculty and guests of the CGSC provide unique and captivating insights into the history of military conflict from the ancient to the modern ages at the Dole Institute of Politics.

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics is dedicated to promoting political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bipartisan, philosophically balanced manner. It is located on KU’s West Campus and houses the Dole Archive and Special Collections. Through its robust public programming, congressional archive, and museum, the Dole Institute strives to celebrate public service and the legacies of US Senators Bob Dole and Elizabeth Dole.