On The Scene: At Baghdad Airport

U.S. Forces Outmatch Iraqi Soldiers; Clear Runway For U.S. Planes

(CBS)  CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod is embedded with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division inside Iraq.

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The 3rd Infantry troops picked up this morning where they left off last night. They swept clean the 40 square miles of Saddam Hussein International Airport of all opposition soldiers. Clearly they're not in the desert anymore -- the terrain is hilly, muddy and full of hiding spots.

"They're all in little pieces. They don't seem to be in any kind massed coherent formation right now. That's ok, if that's how you choose to fight, we'll fight you that way," says Col. William Grimsley.

But this morning, a new group of Iraqi soldiers discovered how overmatched they are. 500 were left to guard the airport. By mid-day they were all dead, captive or had run away.

"I think his army has been sufficiently destroyed by the Air Force and by our artillery," says Capt. Jared Robbins.

The uniforms suggest American troops were facing the Republican Guard and special Republican Guard - elite units in theory. Though the build of some surrendering suggested something closer to weekend warriors. More Iraqis were killed than surrendered though U.S. troops spent much of their morning tending to the injured.

By this afternoon, combat engineers were preparing the runways for C-130's -- the big military transport planes. Helicopters could also base here providing more flexibility and support. Clearly, the airport was a critically important target, and the GIs moods reflected just that.

"Can't believe were here. Finally made it. Everybody's kind of unwinding right now. Pressures of stress is off a little bit so we can kind of relax a little bit not too much but pretty much we completed our mission," says Sgt. John Celske.

The 3rd infantry will now get help keeping the airport secure from the 101st airborne. That's just fine with the soldiers of the 3rd. In the race to Baghdad, they are the clear winners, taking the tarmac two weeks after they started their trip.