(The Second Battle of Fallujah)
In April 2004, Fallujah was defended by about 1,500 Iraqi insurgents with around five-hundred of these being “hardcore” guerrilla fighters and the others “part-time” employees. By November, these numbers doubled and included virtually every insurgent group in Iraq: al-Qaeda, Islamic Army of Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna, Army of Mohammed, Army of Mujahedeen, and the Secret Army of Iraq. None of the names of these groups is important because Islamists change their names as frequently as a mother changes her baby’s diapers. One thing that does stand out, however, is that the leadership of these groups (wisely, albeit cowardly) removed themselves from Fallujah before the beginning of the Second Battle of Fallujah.
Coalition checkpoints were established to prevent anyone from entering the city, and to intercept insurgents attempting to flee. In the run-up to the commencement of combat operations, detailed imagery was obtained and used to prepare detailed maps of the city. Iraqi interpreters augmented American combat units. Fallujah the battlefield was prepped by sustained airstrikes and artillery fires. Intelligence suggested that the city’s insurgents were vulnerable to direct attack. The total of coalition forces included 6,500 Marines, 1,500 US soldiers, 2,500 US Navy support personnel, 850 British forces, and around 2,000 Iraqi security forces.
American combat forces were organized into two Regimental Combat Teams. RCT-1 was composed of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, elements of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 and Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 23, and elements of the US 7th Cavalry. RCT-7 consisted of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, 2nd Battalion, 2nd US Infantry, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, and 1st Battalion, 6th US Field Artillery. Supporting elements included Iraqi security forces, coalition aircraft, and Special Operations Command snipers. The 1st Battalion, Black Watch Regiment planned to support US troops along with D Squadron of the SAS, but British political concerns in the UK halted any involvement by British forces in the actual assault.
Ground operations began on the night of 7 November 2004. Navy SEAL and Marine Reconnaissance sniper teams provided reconnaissance and target marking along the city perimeter. A diversionary assault from the west and south began with the 36th Iraqi Commando Battalion (with US Army Special Forces advisors), the 1st Battalion, 9th US Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and Company A, 2nd Battalion, 72nd Tank Battalion, elements of the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (Reinforced), and Combat Service Support Battalion 1. Their mission was to capture the Fallujah General Hospital, Blackwater Bridge, the ING building, and villages opposite the Euphrates River in South Fallujah. This diversionary unit, under command of the US Army III Corps, would then move to the western approaches and secure Kas Sukr Bridge.
After Seabees from the I MEF Engineer Group disabled electrical power at two substations, RCT-1 and RCT-7 launched an attack along the northern edge of the city. They were joined by the 2nd Battalion, 7/CAV and 2nd Battalion, 2nd US Infantry (Mechanized). Two follow-on battalions were tasked with clearing buildings, which is an arduous task. The Army’s 2nd Brigade, augmented by the 2nd Recon Battalion and one company from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, was ordered to infiltrate the city and destroy upon contact any fleeing enemy forces. The 1st Battalion, Black Watch patrolled the main highway to the east of the city.
Regimental Combat Teams were augmented by three 7-man SEAL sniper teams and one platoon from the 1st Recon Battalion, which provided advance reconnaissance. Air support was provided by a detachment from Joint Terminal Aircraft Control (JTAC), USAF F-15, F-16, A-10, B-52, and AC-130 gunships. Predator unmanned aerial vehicles assisted in gaining intelligence on suspected enemy strongholds.
After airstrikes and the employment of an intense artillery barrage, six coalition battalions began their assault in the early morning hours of 8 November. The Marine assault was followed by Seabees, who began clearing the streets of bombing debris. By nightfall on 9 November, Marines had reached Highway 10 in the city center.
On the night of 11 November, elements of RCT-7 (1st Battalion, 8th Marines) were attacked and pinned down by small arms and automatic weapons fire in an ally. Two Marines fell seriously wounded. Sergeant Aubrey McDade led a machine gun squad. At that instant located in the rear of advancing elements, McDade rushed to a forward position and directed machinegun fire at the attackers. While under intense enemy fire, McDade rescued the wounded Marines, one at a time. A third Marine was killed during the attack; his body was soon recovered by fellow Marines. In recognition of his courage under fire, McDade was awarded the Navy Cross Medal.
According to the official after-action report, fighting in Fallujah began to subside by 13 November, but First Sergeant Bradley Kasal might disagree with that assessment. Serving as the First Sergeant, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines with RCT-1, Kasal was assisting the Combined anti-Armor Platoon as they provided overwatch for the third platoon when a large volume of fire erupted from within a structure to his immediate front. Marines suddenly began exiting the house they were clearing.
Kasal rushed to the front and determined that several more Marines were pinned down inside the house by an unknown number of enemy insurgents. He quickly augmented the squad forcing entry, encountered a shooter and eliminated him. Kasal and another Marine then came under rifle fire from the second floor; both Marines were immobilized by serious wounds in their legs. Kasal and the other Marine then became the focus of a grenade attack. Kasal rolled on top of his fellow Marine and absorbed shrapnel with his own body. A Navy Corpsman rushed forward to render aid but Kasal refused medical attention until his subordinates had first been attended to; Kasal continued directing the efforts of his Marines as the clearing operation continued. In recognition of his extraordinary heroism, First Sergeant Kasal [1] was awarded the Navy Cross Medal.
Sergeant Rafael Peralta, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, was a scout team leader assigned to Company A who, on 15 November 2004, was involved in house-clearing operations. Peralta led his team through three houses to ensure there were no insurgents were present. As he entered the fourth home, he cleared two rooms on the ground floor. Opening the third door, Peralta was hit multiple times by automatic rifle fire, leaving him severely wounded. Peralta moved to the side of a hallway to allow his team to confront the insurgent. The Iraqi insurgent then threw a hand grenade, which despite his wounds, Peralta pulled under his body. The grenade detonated, killing him instantly. Sergeant Peralta was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross medal in recognition of his selfless devotion to his fellow Marines.
By 16 November, I MEF described the lingering operation as “mopping up” pockets of resistance. Sporadic fighting continued through 23 December 2004. The Second Battle of Fallujah was the bloodiest fight of the war, and the fiercest battle involving US troops since the Vietnam War. Coalition forces suffered 107 killed, and 613 wounded during Operation Phantom Fury. Of these, 95 Americans were killed, 560 wounded. Estimates of enemy dead in this one battle range from 1,200 to over 2,000. Fifteen-hundred insurgents were captured and taken prisoner during the operation. In the aftermath of the operation, coalition forces reported that 66 of the city’s 133 mosques [2] held significant amounts of small arms, machine guns, and explosive materials.
Sources:
- Camp, Dick. Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq. Zenith Press, 2009
- West, Bing. No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah, Bantam Books, 2005
Endnotes:
[1] Sergeant Major Bradly Kasal retired from the U. S. Marine Corps in 2018. It was my honor to meet Sergeant Major Kasal at the Iwo Jima memorial dinner at Camp Pendleton, California in February 2017.
[2] This fact may go a long way to explain why most Americans are unable to trust the word or motivations of Moslems.
Fix Bayonets! 