Frank Rapier Hancock (born 23 November 1950) is a retired United States Army officer who served as battalion commander of the 1-327th Infantry Regiment during Desert Shield / Desert Storm, 101st Airborne Division. Colonel Hancock received notoriety when his Infantry Battalion, 1-327th Infantry, was the lead battalion of the 101st Airborne Division's invasion of Iraq in Desert Storm. The Division's attack would be the first part of Gen Norman Schwarzkopf Jr's "Hail Mary" flanking maneuver during Desert Storm. On 24 February 1991, the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) conducted the largest helicopter air assault in military history as it struck 93 miles inside Iraq with over 2,000 men. The Division's assault established a Forward Operating Base (FOB Cobra) which allowed the attack to sever Highway 8 in the Euphrates River Valley. Colonel Hancock's battalion was the lead battalion of the air assault and subsequently captured 344 prisoners in combat operations at FOB Cobra after attacking an Iraqi battalion-size strongpoint position which had not been identified in pre-combat intelligence analysis. The battle that occurred would be covered in numerous books to include: LTG (Ret) Dan Bolger's book "Death Ground-Today’s American Infantry in Battle", John McManus's book“Grunts”, LTG (Ret) Mike Flannigan's book “Lightning”, Tom Taylor's “Lightning in the Storm”, General (Ret) Binford Peay's Oral History, "MG (Ret) Robert Scales book “Certain Victory”, Colonel (Ret) Robert Jones book “History of the 101st Airborne”, Charles Lane Toomey's "XVIII Airborne Corps in Desert Storm" and Thomas Houlahan's "Gulf War The Complete History.'" The battle would also be the subject of a 2001 painting entitled: The Lightning of Desert Storm. In 2018 Colonel (Ret) Hancock would author the article "Thank God for Thinking Soldiers" for Infantry Magazine which discussed the battle. The battalion would receive a Valorous Unit Award for its actions.
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