thunder run

n. a high-speed military convoy using offensive tactics and heavy weaponry to reach a destination; generally, a route or trip involving extreme effort or danger. Subjects: English, Military

Editorial Note: This term dates from at least as early as the Vietnam War. Etymological Note: The etymological information in the 2001 citation is unverified. There is a theatrical device also called a thunder run, a trough down which cannonballs are rolled in order to simulate the sound of thunder.

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Citations: 1971 Lima News (Lima, Ohio) (Nov. 27) “Bugle Notes: Limalanders in Service” p. 10: He participated in Operation Thunder Run in which the company set the tonnage mile and maintenance record in running two truck convoys from its home base at Frankfurt, Germany, to Alconbury and Warrington in England. 1986 Michael Precker (Aug. 4) “Bush, Entourage Visit Sinai Peacekeepers” p. 1A: Another pastime is provided by the base’s 14 bars, including at least one operated by each national contingent. “When you hit them all in one night, they call it the Thunder Run,” said Sutton, a truck driver who delivers supplies to remote outposts in the desert. 1991 Rich Roberts Los Angeles Times (June 19) “The Other Side of the Kern ‘March Miracle’ Means Plenty of Water, but Plenty of Water Means Danger” p. 6: The Kern is designated a national “Wild and Scenic River."…That is followed by the Upper Kern, a series of several defined runs. The last takeout is at Riverside Park in town. The sections vary from Class III to IV, with one Class V portion—Thunder Run. 2001 Kregg P. Jorgenson Very Crazy, G.I.! (Jan. 30) p. 205: They were called Thunder Runs, high-speed gauntlet races by the mechanized infantry units of the army’s 1st Infantry Division along Highway 13, northwest of Saigon. The tactic was used to throw off the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units, which had frequently staged ambushed along the remote highway and the secondary roads that fed into it. The name Thunder Run came from the Big Red One’s fire support bases—named Thunder One, Thunder Two, and Thunder Three—that dotted the route from Quan Loi south to Lai Khe. 2003 Ralph Kinney Bennett Tech Central Station (May 13) “Tanks for the Memory”: One of the enduring images of the recent war in Iraq is a column of M-1A1 Abrams tanks barreling down the streets of Baghdad on a “thunder run,” deep into the city. 2004 Simon Dunstan Vietnam Tracks (Mar. 1) Rev. ed., p. 84: At night the outposts scattered along the route, consisting of a few vehicles and an infantry squad, were vulnerable to attack, so continuous patrols known as “thunder runs” were maintained. A run involved AFV’s moving in column with tanks in the van and other vehicles at close intervals, moving at high speed and undertaking “reconnaissance by fire” along the roadsides to trigger potential ambushes.…As in all operations in Vietnam, it was essential to avoid establishing a pattern while “thunder running.” 2004 John Kifner New York Times (May 11) “The Marines Enter Falluja, With Peace Their Aim”: The plan for the convoy had gone through a number of permutations. At first it was seen by planners as a show of strength, with preparations worthy of a major invasion, including tank support and air cover—a “thunder run,” as they called it, into the city. 2004 Tommy Franks American Soldier (July 1) p. 517: “Looks to me like a ‘Thunder Run,‘“ I said, recalling reconnaissance-in-force operations of that name I’d seen near the Y Bridge in Vietnam in 1968.…A “Thunder Run” was a unit of armor and mechanized infantry moving at high speed through a built-up area like a city. The purpose was to either catch the enemy off guard or overwhelm him with force. 2005 Sean D. Naylor DefenseNews.com (U.S.) (Mar. 21) “Making the Best Tank Better”: Tucker cited an Abrams with the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) that took part in the first “thunder run” into Baghdad as an example.

Posted 22 Mar 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend