Full Operational Battle Plan 1003V

The Full Operational Battle Plan 1003V was a secret battle plan for the Iraq War, published within the Pentagon on 31 October 2002. Its existence was revealed in late September 2004, by a classified Pentagon document leaked to the London Evening Standard newspaper.

The document is called Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategic Lessons Learned, and according to the Evening Standard's correspondent Andrew Gilligan it was prepared for US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in August 2003. 

The internal publication of 1003V took place eight days before UN Resolution 1441, and a month before Hans Blix and his inspectors began hunting for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 

References to 1003V on US military websites
United States military websites are littered with references to 1003V. A Google search for: "1003V" site:.mil returned 42 results as at 29 September, 2004. 

For example, an unclassified document on the website of the headquarters of the US Army in Europe, hqusareur.army.mil, describes 1003V as "THEATER CAMPAIGN PLAN 1003V-03". The document is dated 1 November, 2003. 

Another, undated, document returned by the above search states that: "5) Units authorized under message dated 272331zNOV02, DA Washington DC//DAMO-AOC-CAT// Subj: Readiness Criteria for Deployment ISO OPLAN 1003V-Final, to delete Soldiers from NCOES who the commander has determined are required to deploy with the unit to support operations will provide a memo via fax to the HRC-A NCOES Branch within 72-hours of receiving the deployment order."

That reference would suggest that military orders relating to 1003V were already in effect within the military by November 2002.

An article published in the Arizona National Guard's Heliograph magazine confirms that "1003V" was a battle plan. It states that in January 2003, "While undergoing RSOI, the RAOC linked-up with the V Corps Rear had all the soldiers 'read-on' to the Corps 1003V war-plan. The RAOC also linked-up with the 24 CSG headquarters, located about an hour's drive southeast at Camp Doha, Kuwait. After making introductions and gaining assurance that the RAOC would be assigned to the 24 CSG, key leaders made the daily journey to Camp Doha to participate alongside with the CSG headquarters conducting the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) on the 1003V war-plan." 

SourceWatch resources

 * Iraq War
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategic Lessons Learned
 * Pentagon
 * Tony Blair