us marine in iraq operation iraqi freedom

US Marine in Iraq:Operation Iraqi Freedom,2003

RICHARD S LOWRY is a

mil itary history enthusiast

specializing in modem

warfare and particularly the

Gulf War. He has published

a number of articles in

Military Magazine and

The Marine Corps Gazette.

In 2004 he was awarded

a research grant from the

Marine Corps Heritage

Foundation and invited to

undertake his research into

the events of Operation Iraqi

Freedom. He lives in Orlando,

Florida.

HOWARD GERRARD studied

at the Wallasey School of Art

and has been a freelance

designer and illustrator for

over 20 years. He has worked

for a number of publishers

and is an associate member

of the Guild of Aviation

Artists. He has won both the

Society of British Aerospace

Companies Award and the

Wilkinson Sword Trophy and

has illustrated a number of

books for Osprey including

Campaign 69: Nagashino

1575 and Campaign 72 :

Jutland 1916. Howard lives

and works in Kent, UK.

W arrio r • 106

US Marine in Iraq:Operation Iraq Freedom,2003

Richard S Low ry . Illust rat ed by Howard Ge rrard

2

First published in Great Britain in 2006 by Osprey Publishing, Midland House.

West Way, Botley, Oxford 0X2 OPH. UK

443 Park Avenue South. New York. NY 10016, USA

E-mail: [email protected]

C 2006 Osprey Publishing Ltd.

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without the prior written permission of the copyrightowner. Inquiries should be

addressed to the Publishers.

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 10: 1 841769827

ISBN 13: 978 1841769820

Page layout by: Ken Vail Graphic Design, Cambridge, UK

Typeset in Helvetica Neue and ITC New Baskerville

Index by Alan Thatcher

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Author 's acknowledgments

I would like to thank Joanna de Vries for her unendingpatience and support throughout the development of thisbook . Thank you to Capt. Harold Qualkinbush USMC, Capt.James Reid USMC, Gunner David Dunfee USMC, GunnerySergeant Joe Muccia USMC and Cpl. Will Bachmann fortheir photo graphic cont ribut ions to this project. I wou ld alsolike to thank Joe Raedle and Getty Images for supplyingsome of the most dramatic photographs of the war. Most ofall, I would like to thank my wife Vickye; without her loveand support none of this would have been possible.

Author's note

Troy Duncan and Terrell Johnson are fictit ious characte rs.All other characters in this story are real: their real namesare used, and the accounts of their actions are accurate.Duncan and Johnson are composite characters. In the firstfew chapte rs their stor ies are typical of everyday Marines,but during the actual battle , all of their experiences arethose of actual Marines who fought in An Nasiriyah. I usedDuncan and Johnson to tell the stories of Marines whomight not otherwise have been mentioned, including Cpl.Will Bachmann, U Cpl. Donald Cline, U Cpl. Matthew Juska,Cpl. John Friend and several others.

I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to interview thefollowing about their experiences:Cpl. Will Bachmann, Capt. Michael Brooks, Cpl. NicolasElliot , HN Luis Fonseca (USN), LtCol. Rickey Grabowski,Maj. Bill Peeples, 1st Lt. James Reid, SSgt. WilliamSchaefer, SSgt. Troy Schielein, Capt. Tod Schroeder, andCapt. Daniel Wittnam.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the men and women of theUnited States Marine Corps who have chosen a life ofservice to their country.Semper FidelisRichard S. Lowry

Art ist's note

Readers may care to note that the original paintings fromwhich the color plates in this book were prepared areavailable for private sale. All reproduction copyr ightwhatsoever is retained by the Publishers. All inquiriesshould be addressed to:

Howard Gerrard,11 Oaks Road,Tenterden,Kent,TN306RD,UK

The Publishers regret that they can enter into nocorrespondence upon this matter.

Editor's note

Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of theOfficial Marine Corps website and have been stated ascleared for release.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4

CHRONOLOGY 8

RECRUITMENT 9A few good men

RECRUIT TRAINING 10Par ri s Islan d, Sou t h Caro lina • School of Infantry - every Marine a rifleman

Comb ine d Arms Exercise , Twentynine Pal ms, California

DEPLOYMENT 26Onslow Beach, North Carolina • In the desert

INTO BATTLE 32An Nasir iyah • Acro ss the Euphrates • Casualties

AFTER THE BATTLE 55Med-evac • The fight for Baghdad

GLOSSARY 60

BIBLIOGRAPHY 61

COLOR PLATE COMMENTARY 62

INDEX 64

3

US MARINE IN IRAQ: OPERATIONIRA QI FREEDOM, 2003

INTROD UCTION

"We arc j us t o rd inary guys with a n extrao rd inary job."Major Christopher Starling USMC, 2d Marine Regiment, 2004

US Marine in Iraq: Operation Iraq i Freedom, 2003 provides a n insight intoth e 2 Ist-ce 11lu ry Marine Corps - Am erica 's bravest young people ,fight ing in a n anc ie n t land. It foll ows th e story of two fict itious Marines,Tro y Duncan and Terre ll .Joh nson. Whil e th e cha rac te rs a rc fictitious,th eir ex pe rie nces are accurate and are a co m pos ite of true sto ries of realMarines who fought and di ed in th e first majo r battle o f Operation IraqiFreed om, th e battle of An Nasiriyah. Tro y Duncan a nd Terrell .Johnson a rctypica l Ame rica n teenage boys when th ey e nlist in th e Co rps . T heyquickly become yo u ng men as th ey survive th e rigors of recruit andin fa ntry training - th ey become Marines. Once th ey have co m ple tedthe ir in it ial training, the two yo ung Marines are assigned to the 1stBattal io n of th e 2d Ma rine Regiment a t Ca m p Lej eune , NC. Aftertraining, Duncan and .Joh nson de ploy to Iraq with Ca m p Lejeune 's 1stBattal io n , 2d Ma rine Regiment, part of th e 2d Marine Expe d itio naryBrigade (2d MEB).

T he fe rt ile strip of lan d th at lies between the Tigri s and Euphrates riversis oft e n called th e "crad le of civi liza tio n ," where man first developedagri cu lture an d the written word. For cen tu ries this area of the Middle East

4

LEFT A Task Force Tarawa

Marine scans the southern Iraqi

desert, watch ing for any

indication of trouble, (Courtesy

of Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

has been dominat ed by co nflict. In 1980 Sadda m Hussein took overco ntrol of th e government in a ru th less grab for power. In 1981 he invadedIra n over the long-disputed access to the Persian Gulf th rough th e Shat-a lAra b and the valuable oi lfields on the eas te rn bank of the \\~lterway. Ira nand Iraq fou ght fo r nearl y a decade to a stalemate, until in 1988 Saddamfinally reali zed th at his land grab was futil e and signed an armistice with hisIra nian enemies.

In th e sum mer of 1990 he turned on a weaker ne ighbor: his Arabenemies in Kuwait. The United States and th e Un ited Natio ns ( N)Sec urity Co unc il co ndem ned th e inva sion of Kuwait and dem anded th atIraq withdraw its tro ops, issuing Resolution 660, a nd later Resolution 66 1,wh ich placed econo mic sanc tio ns on Iraq. T he powe rs of th e Westernworld became co ncerned that the invasion of Kuwait wou ld esca late intoan Iraq i invasion of Saud i Ara bia (which borde rs Kuwait ) , and threatenth e world's o il supply. President George H.W. Bush anno unced that the

S and Allied forces would depl oy in a "wholly defensive" mission toprotect Saud i Ara bia. Im mediately, troops began pouring in from aJl overth e world in an o pe ration labeled Desert Shield. Wh en Saddam refused toleave Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm o pe ned with six weeks of bombingfrom th e most powe rful ai r fo rce ever asse mbled. On February 23, 1991Bush announced th at Saddam Hussein 's army had been driven fromKuwa it a nd declared a ceaselire.

Despi te h is e mbarrassi ng defeat in 1991 , Saddam Husse in clu ng onto power. After Desert Storm th e Un ited States, with AJlied support, hadtempo rarily de railed his effo rts to st re ngthen his inte rn ati onal posit ion.They had crippled h is in frastructure with on ly six weeks of bombing,and th en decimated most o f his military in th e 100 hours of Desert Storm'sgro und war. T his mi litary opera tion was fo llowed by th e Un ited Na tions'policy of maintaining sanc tio ns th at kept Saddam from reconstitutinghis military fo rces.

BEL OW A tank from Alpha

Company, 8th Tanks sets up

position in front of a painting of

Saddam Hussein at the garrison

of the Iraqi 23d Infantry Brigade

just north of An Nasiriyah. (Photo

courtesy of Joe Raedle/Getty

Images)

5

6

Saddam had been wo rking for ten years to recaptu re his strang leho ldo n the people of Iraq a nd to beat th e nited Nat io ns ' sanctio ns. He andmembe rs of hi s gover n men t tried to bribe nit ed Na tio ns a ndgovern mellt officia ls, as well as lead ers of industry th rough out th e worldto gc t around th e sa nc tions, Money th at was meant as aid fo r th e Iraqipeople was diverted to Saddam 's pe rson al projects. Food a nd medicinewe re co nfiscated , and th en so ld on th e black market, Meanwhile , incon traven tion of th e san ctions, Iraq con tinue d to re build its m ilitaryforces. All th e while . int ernal di ssent agains t th e dictatorship wasforbidden . Sto ries of Sadda m's "henc h me n" reg ula rly nmrdering,rapi ng. an d tortu rin g Iraqi civilia ns on a whim filled Western newspapcrs,promoting worldwide co ncern over breach es of human rights , Alo ngsidethese co nce rns were th e consta n t co n tro versies over th e manufacture ofalleged nu clea r an d biological weap ons by th e Saddam regim e.

After h is e lec tio n in ~WOO. Presid en t George W. Bush was a nx io us to

e nsu re th at th e n ited Na tio ns maintained th e sanctio ns agai ns tSadda m. Th e primary co nce rn a mo ng th e Bush administ ration a ndothe r world leade rs was that if Sad da m rebuilt his a rmy, it was highlyprobable th at he wou ld attack Israel , and that th e Israeli s wouldrespond . In th e curre n t tense cl ima te , thi s could have thrown th e e n tireMiddle East int o a rmed co nflict. War in th e Middle East would ce rta in lyslow th e flow o f oi l to the e n tire industrialized world. whi ch coulddevastat e th e world ec o nomy.

O n Septe mber 11, 2001 th e un thinkable happened . A numbe r ofte rro rists fro m a movem ent called Al-Qae da based in Afghanistan (a nd.so me th ought . Iraq ) h ijacked four plan es. crash ing two int o th e WorldTrade Ce n te r To we rs, New York. a nd one into th e Pentagon inWashington DC. This unprecedented and well-co ordinated terroristattack saw th e deaths o f 3.000 inn ocent civilia ns , The radical g ro upclaimed to act in th e nam e of Islam a nd co nde m ned th e Western world .America a nd its \fay o f life wer e pla ced unde r di rect threat in one of th efirst "fo re ign" te rro rist a tta cks on Ame rica n soi l. Presiden t Bush and hisadviso rs declared th at Sad da m had to be dealt with as part of Ameri ca's"Wa r o n Te rror, " So whil e troops were se n t to Afghan istan to hun t downmembe rs of Al-Qaeda , the Pentagon was also ordered to plan fo r th einvasion of Iraq.

Ame rica n milita ry st ra tegists kn ew th at Saddanr's power was roo tedin Baghdad. So th ey planned for a swift pcn etrating invasion that wouldquickly bring Allied for ces to th e ga tes of Baghdad - Operation ImqiFreedom. Most of th e planners thought th at th e real light would be forth e ca pital. and tha t th e thrust to Baghdad a nd passage acro ss Iraq 'sso u the rn wasteland would be rela tive ly free from a tta ck. So th e SAr my's V Co rps was o rd e red to race northwest th ro ugh th e Iraqi dese rtwith th e ;~d In fant ry Division in th e lead. The nit ed Sta tes Marineswere co m ma nded to chargc up th e middle to hold Iraqi units in place .

T he Marines would se nd th ei r 1st Marin e Expeditiona ry Force(I MEF) , I ~IEF was a sma ll corps , including Ca m p Pendleton 's 1stMarine Division , th e British 1st Arm o ure d Division , Ca mp Lejeune 's 2dMarin e Exp editionary Brigadc (2d MEB ), th e 3d Marine Air Win g (3dMAW), and all th ei r sup port ing logistical units. The three re info rcedRegimental Com ba t Team s (RCTs) of th e Ist Marine Division would leadthe Ma rine chargc to Baghdad, wh ile th e Briti sh Ist Armoured Division

sec ured Iraq 's "second" city, Basrah . Camp Lejeune 's 2d MEB was giventhe mission of keeping th e supply ro u tes clear beh ind the 1st Marin eDivision 's attack.

Design ated Amphibious Task Force-East (ATF-E), seven amph ibiousnaval sh ips ca rried th e Marines halfway around the world . 2d MEB wasthe only "East Coast" un it attac he d to the "West Coas t" I MEF. Once onth e ground in Kuwait , all of 2d MEB's aircraft were reallocated to th e 3di\IAW. BGen. Natonski red esign ated his re ma ining units as Task Fo rceTarawa in o rde r to provide an indep endent identity for the CampLejeune Marines.

As fate would have it, 2d MEB's lone Regimental Co mba t Team, RCT2, would lead the charge toward Baghdad , while the 1st Marin e Divisionsecu red the southe rn Iraqi o ilfie lds , Task Force Tarawa was ordered tomove to the Euphra tes River and to sec ure th e brid ges in and around thedesert city of An Nasiriyah. This is prim arily an accoun t of th e Marines ofthe 2d MEB and RCT-2 during th ei r fight to sec ure An Nasiriyah.

T he Marin es of RCT-2 fough t agains t a determined enemy co mposedof en trenche d regu la r so ld iers of th e 11th Infan try Division , localmi litia , Ba 'ath Party loyalists and fana tic Fed ayeen fight ers arm ed withAK-4i s, RPGs, RPK machine guns, tanks, technicals, mortars, andart illery. It is impossib le to te ll how man y Iraqis actually participatedin th e battle . At th e first sign of trouble most Iraqis abandone dth eir un ifo rms, melt ed into th e civilian population , and fought incivilian clothes. Estima tes of ene my stre ng th ran ge from 2,00 0-5,000arme d Iraqis.

Task Force Tarawa Marines fought for a wee k to sec ure the bridgesand ro utes throug h An Nasiriyah , whi le 1st Marine Division 's th reeRCTs crossed the Euphra tes River and proceeded north to th ei robjective - Baghdad . US Marines and sold iers of the 3d Infan try Division

LEFT Marine officers and Staff

NCOs serve meals to enlisted

Marines on the flight deck of

USS Ponce. The Marines learn

from the start of their training

to treat their staff sergeants

and superiors w ith the utmost

respect as part of the Marine

ethos and, in turn, officers and

NCOs take care of their Marines.

One longstanding tradition is that

the enlisted men are fed before

their leaders . (Photo courtesy

Gunner David Dunfee USMC)

7

arrived at thc outskirts o f Baghdad a t nearly th e same tim e. The gdIn fa n try Division swc pt westward to th e Saddam Airport, whil e th cMarin es moved int o easte rn Baghdad.

T he invasion of Iraq bcgan officia lly O il March 20 , 200g. Baghdad wasfo rm ally sec u re d by S fo rces o n April 9, 200 3, but was not co m ple te lyclea re d of co nve n tio na l c ncmy forces until Apri l 12. T he sta tue o fSaddam Husse in fell on April 9. On May I, 200 g Preside nt Ge o rge W.Bush announced thc e nd o f major co m bat opera tio ns in th c Iraq War.Howeve r, US troops re ma ined , and sti ll remain in 2006, co nd uc tingstab iliza tio n o pe ra tio ns and he lping th c Iraq is to rebuild th cirinfrastruct urc .

CHRONOLOGYJanuary 6January 16

January 28

February 1February 4

February 11

February 17

March 9March 19

March 20

March 21March 22March 23

March 23

March 23

March 24

March 25

April 2April 10

April 11May 18May 19June 24

June 29

8

2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2d MEB) formed .Amphibious Task Force-East (ATF-E) and 2d MEB leave the NorthCarolina coast and begin their transatlantic journey to the Midd le East.ATF-E and 2d MEB cross the Straits of Gibraltar, entering theMediterranean Sea.ATF-E and 2d MEB transit the Suez Canal, entering the Red Sea.ATF-E and 2d MEB transit the Bab el Mandeb Strait, entering the Gulfof Aden.ATF-E and 2d MEB sail through the Straits of Hormuz, entering thePersian Gulf.2d MEB, now named Task Force Tarawa (TFl), disembarks at KuwaitiNaval Base and moves by air and land to Camps Shoup and Ryan inthe northern Kuwaiti Desert.TFT reports all of its units are cornbat ready.TFT units begin movement to Assembly Area Hawkins in preparationfor the invasion of Iraq.The President of the United States announces the beginning ofOperation Iraqi Freedom.TFT units conduct breach operations and begin moving into Iraq.RCT-2 arrives at Jalibah Airfield.3d Battalion, 2d Marines secure western Euphrates River crossing forthe tst Marine Division movement to Baghdad.US Army 507th Maintenance Company takes wrong turn and isattacked while moving through An Nasiriyah. Casualt ies number 11soldiers killed and six taken prisoner.1st Battalion, 2d Marines move to secure the eastern bridges in AnNasiriyah. Casualties number 18 Marines killed and dozens wound ed.2d Battalion, 8th Marines fight to maintain control of An Nasiriyah'seastern Euphrates River bridge, while lead elements of the 1st MarineDivision brave Ambush Alley to push toward Baghdad.3d Battalion, 2d Marines return to RCT-2 in southern An Nasiriyah tosupport 2d Battalion, 8th Marines' effort to defeat the enemy in thecity and secure the highway leading to the eastern bridges.An Nasiriyah declared secure, RCT-2 packs up and moves north .TFT defeats remnants of the Iraqi 10th Armored Division and seizes AIAmarah.TFT units secure AI Kut airfield.2d MEB returns to the ships of ATF-E.ATF-E and 2d MEB begin the voyage home.Most of the sailors and Marines of 2d MEB return home to CampLejeune.USS Kearsarge arrives off Carolina Coast , bringing the remainingsailors and Marines of 2d MEB home.

RECRUITMENT

A few good menIn Atlan ta, Georg ia, hidden in a rare ly visited str ip mall across from apopula r shopping ce n te r, is a grou p o f go vern ment offices. The windowsa rc ado rn ed with glamorous posters and mi litary insignia. Two distinctg ro ups o f people frequent th ese offi ces: spit-and-polish so ld ie rs, sailo rs,a irmen, and Marines, eac h servi ce vyin g for th e attention of th e youngmen and wom en in th e second group .

Local teenage boys and girls are drawn here ou t of curios ity. Most a restill in high schoo l. Some have either grad ua ted o r dropped ou t. All arelooking for a j o b o r a way ou t of their cu rre n t lives. Nine out o f tcnap plica n ts to the Marine Corps fai l to qua lify, as th e Marine recruitmentpolicy favors h igh schoo l grad uates who have not had major problemswith thc law. T he Mari nes arc loo king for intclligc nt young men andwome n who can beco me an asset to the Corps.

O ne of our co mpos ite cha rac te rs, Troy Duncan , is a typ ica l 19-yca ro ld, first-yea r histo ry majo r, who had just started co llegc wh en th e WorldTrade Ce nte r towe rs cru mbled to th e ground . He had e n te red co llcgebe ca use he wan ted to teach , bu t he was not sure if he belonged therewhen thc plan es struck. Duncan hardly slept th at nigh t. T he imagcs ofthose crumbling buildings had changed h is life. Lying in bed with hiseycs wide opcn , he sta re d at the cc iling for hou rs. By gam, hc kn ew whathe had to do. .J ust as his fath er had done before him, and his fath er'sfa the r, hc had to find a place to make his mark. He would join th cMa rines. There he kn ew he cou ld make a difference .

By Gam on Septe mbe r 12,200 I, Duncan was waiting for th e rccruitingo ffice to open. Around 6.g0am , a no the r young boy about Duncan 's agesaun tered up. Te rre llj ohnson , ou r o ther co m pos ite charac te r, had co meto th e Marines for nearl y th e samc reason as Troy Duncan . He wanted todo somcthing positive with his life .J o h nson had fini sh ed high school andsta rte d looking for work. He had tri ed working at Taco Bcll for a fewweeks. Then he found ajob at th e local Barncs & Noble - he loved books.Withoul saying a word , he sat down next to Dunca n and pu lled out atatt e red co py of FiKht Cl ub, opened it and began to read.

By Sam, the line had grown to a half dozen young men . A new,no nd escrip t car pulled up in to th e parking space at the fro n t doo r lab eled"Rese rved USMC" and a Marin e staff sc rgeant climbed out of th e dri ver 'ssea t. T he sergean t was dressed in neatly pressed blue trousers with a redst ripe running down th e side of th c legs, a kh ak i sh in a nd th e distinct ivewhit e Marin e Co rps hat. He quickly o rdered the boys in to th e office.

Duncan followed the staff sergea n t to h is desk and explained that hewant ed to join th e Marin e Corps. T he staff sergeant gave hi m thestandard e n listmen t form , severa l pa ges lo ng, fu ll o f questions like:"Have yo u ever used recreational drugs?" "Have you eve r been co nvictedof a crime?" The Marine Co rps has always sought to recruit th e best ofth e best in th e tradition of "the few, th e proud," and it co n tin ues to doso, att rac ting yo ung men and women from a broad spec tru m o f societ y.Th e Marine Co rps is th e youngest of all th e Am erican military servi ces:th e age of th e average Marine is around 24 yea rs, and th e re are nearly19,000 tcenagers in th e Co rps. After th e initial questi onnaire th e nextste p for th e pot ential Marines is th e test . Duncan and J ohnson both 9

10

RIGHT Two Mar in es reci t e

t he Oath of Enlistment at a

Mil itary Entrance and Processing

Station for Recruiting Station,

Sp ringfield, MA. Th e ceremony

is a hallmark event for those

entering military serv ice. (Photo

courtesy Staff Sergeant Jonathan

Age e. USMC)

passed and two weeks lat er returned to th e parking lot, eac h armed witha small duffl e bag.

Before arriving at th e Marine Corps recruit training depot, ParrisIsland , SC, and beginning th eir lives as Marines th e new recruits areoffic ially sworn into th e Co rps. th cir first important expe rie nce of Marinetradition. The honor of thi s occasio n is impressed upon th em by th ei raccom panying staff se rgeants. A Marine office r lead s th e ceremony,asking th em to "Raise your right hand and rcpcat afte r me:"

I do so le m nly swea r (o r affirm ) th at I will support and defend th eCo ns titu tio n of th e nited Stat es agains t all e nem ies forcign anddomestic; th a t I will bear true faith a nd allegiance to th e sa me.That I will obey th e o rders of th e President o f th e nitcd Sta tesa nd th e o rde rs o f th e office rs ap poin ted over m e, according toth e regulations and the niforrn Co de of MilitaryJ ustice. So helpme God.

RECRUIT TRAINING

Parris Island, South CarolinaWhcn th e new Marines are ushered off the bus at Parris Island , oftenbewildered a nd exhaus ted, th ey perfo rm yet an other lasting tradition .The Dr ill Instru cto r (0 1) g reets th em as th ey ge t o fl th e bus a nd o rde rsth em to lin e up, placing th ei r fee t o n th e four ro ws of 15 sets of yello wfootprin ts th at are painted in fro nt o f th e Rece iving Ba rra cks Co mpany.They are told to turn a nd look a t th e man besid e th em, who will be th ei r"buddy" th ro ug ho u t the training process.

Parri Island takes in th e recruits from th e easte rn half of th e na tion ,while th e Marin e Co rps Recruit Depot , San Diego , train s Marines on th ewest coast. The dividing lin e is the Mississippi Rive r. J o h nson , Duncan ,and the o th er new recru its would spe nd th e next 11 weeks being moldedinto Marines at Parris Island. They would be subjec ted to the Mar ineCorps' e thos for 24 hou rs a da y. From the moment th ese young men andwomen ste ppe d off the bus and planted th e ir feet o n th e yellowfoo tprints, th ey were being res ha pe d in to ni tcd Stat es Marines,

Dun can and J ohnson , like all new recrui ts, spe n t the first few days oftheir I I weeks of training drawing un iforms and equipme n t, undcrgoingph ysical and dental exams, having vaccinations and ge tting th ei r firstMarine haircu t. On en listme n t th e Marine Co rps provides its men andwome n with personal equipme n t, from their socks to their Ked arhelmets, At th e start of th eir Marin e ca ree r, recrui ts wear on ly th eir utili tyunifo rm s. These are th e equivalen t of the army's Battl e Dress n iforms(BDUs) , cxcept that th e Marine uti lity uniform ha s a unique camo uflagepatt crn and cach one has th e fam ous "Eagle, Globe , and Anc hor"ste nc iled on th c breast pocket.

T he rec ru its were split up in to i s-man platoons. There were enoug hnew recru its to form four platoons. The four platoon s were gro upc d ina "se ries." Each plat oon was broken down into squads and , o f co urse,cvc ry rec ru it had a buddy. T he new Marines are quickly schooled in theCorps' struc ture.

Marine Enlist ed Ranks

ENLISTED RANK

E-1 Private

E-2 Private First Class

E-3 Lance Corporal

E-4 Corporal

E-5 Sergean t

E-6 Staff Sergeant

E-7 Gunnery Sergeant

E-8 First Sergeant/Master Sergeant

E-9 Sergeant Major/M aster Gunnery Sergeant

Marine Officer Ranks

OFFICER RANK

0 ·1 Second Lieutenant

0 ·2 First Lieutenant

0 ·3 Captain

0-4 Major

0 -5 Lieutenant Colonel

0 -6 Colonel

0-7 Brigadier General

0-8 Major General

0 -9 Lieutenant General

0 -10 General

In th c weeks th at fo llowed, they would abso rb th e co mmo n tasks ofmilitary life . They would learn to march and talk like Marines. Theywou ld Ica rn how to take care of th em selves and their un ifo rm s andeq uipme n t: and th ey would lea rn th e basic skills needed in a Marin e 'sda ily lifc.

The recruits also received th ei r first introduction to th e "soul" o f th eMarine Co rps when th ey undertook lessons in th e Corps' co re values /-/0 11 01; Courage, an d Commitment. In th e Co rps th ese are not idly spo kenwords, th ey a rc a tradition and way of life . These values a re engra ine d inevery asp ect of recrui t trai ning. Ho nesty and in tegrity arc expected of 11

12

RIGHT A US Marine drill

instructor at Parris Is land, South

Caro lina. (Photo courtesy USMC)

eve ry recrui t. T hey are taught th at th e o nly way to lose is to quit. Theyare co nd itione d with a regim e of di et and exe rcise to turn th em intophysica lly fit warriors. T hey learn how to handle and ca re for thei rM16A2 rifle as if it we re an exte ns io n of th eir body.

T he pla toon began learning marksmanshi p skills in the classroom,befo re being taken to the rifle range. Two platoons would fire in th emorning, whi le the o the r two would "pull bu tts" (chang ing ta rge ts andkeeping sco res). Pulli ng butts was a more impo rtant part of th e recruittraining than it seemed at fi rst: he re , the rec ruits learn ed what itso unded like when they were being sho t at. Each bullet , travel ing fasterth an th e speed of sou nd, gene rated a mini so n ic boom. If yo u were clos eenoug h to the flying bullet, you co uld hear the d istinct ive crac k of thepassing projecti le .

Afte r rifle qua lificatio ns, the weeks flew by. The rec ruits underwentacademic testing, dri lls, and inspections. On the next to last wee k o ftra in ing, the recrui ts rece ived Basic Warrio r Training in which th eylearned fundam en ta l field skills. T hey learned how to dig a fighting

pOSitIOn. They learned abo ut personal hygiene and how to keepth emselves and th eir equipmen t clean in the field. They learned how toread a map and navigat e with a co mpass . Then th ey learned how to fastro pe and finally th ey were se n t to th e gas cha mber.

The gas cha mbe r has been a part o f eac h military se rvice 's recruittraining program for man y yea rs. Whil e th ere is so me valu e in trainingrec rui ts in th e proper p ro cedure for donning a gas mask and a need todemonstrate th e co nse que nces o f not properl y seating it, th e gaschamber "even t" ha s become more a rit e of passage than a trainingexe rc ise. The recruits are taken into a block building, told to don th eirma sks and th en tear gas is se t off in th e closed room. Always, th e recruitsare ordered to remove their ma sks and then leave the gas-filled chambc rin an orde rly fashion.

T he fina l week tak es th e recruits to th e "Crucible ." It is a severe testof pati ence and fortitude , and is th e final tri al of Marine Recru itTraining. The Crucible em phasizes teamwork under stress. The rec ruitsge t eigh t hours of slee p durin g th e entire 54-hou r exe rcise. They march40 mil es in those 54 hours and receive two and a hal f ~[REs (Mea lsRead y to Eat), which th ey must ra tio n to last th e e nt ire exe rc ise. MREsare th e S milit a ry's high-t ech field meal , and have been specificallydeveloped to provide th e ca lo ries, vitamins, and nutrien ts required fortro ops fighting in th e field. They are lightweight and packaged forext re me ly long shelf lives. The foo d is packaged in a tough plast ic pouchth at is ac tually alumin um foil and plastic layered togethe r.

The Cruci ble is design ed to test the recruits to their utmost and toteach them that it is together, ra the r than alone, that they are un stoppable.

ABO VE During their school

of infantry training Marines

are taught vital f ieldcraft skills,

including how to navigate a

grid coord inate. Here Marines

at the School of Infantry are

taking part in a vehicle land

exercise to become more

efficient in deployment

environments. (Photo courtesy

UCpl. Zachary R. Fran)

13

14

It is a gruc ling mental and physical challenge that th e recruits must pass tobecome Marines. Toward the end of th eir trial , Duncan and J o hnso n , likeall thei r co mrades, had never been so tired in th eir e n tire lives, bu trem ain ed determined. With th e e nd in sigh t, all the rec ru its were spurre don by a re ne wed encq:,'y. The dri ll instructors begin "[ody calls:' J ody ca llsare a responsive cadence, named after a fictional charac te r "[ody" whoseluxu rious lifestyle is co ntrasted with mili tary depriva tions. J od y is thepcrson who stays at home, d rives the Mari ne 's car, and gets th e Mari ne 'sswee the art whi le the Ma rin e is in recrui t tra ining. T he exhausted recruitsj o ined in :

Way back when at th e dawn of tim e .In th e heart of Death Vall ey where th e sun don't sh ine.The rough est tough es t fighter ever kn own was madc .From an M-16 and a live g re nade.He was a lea n mean green fighting machine .He pro udl y bo re th e titl e of US Marine ,

By th e tim e they reached the Parad e Deck a nd the half-size replica ofth e famous lwo .lim a Memo ria l, J oh nso n , Duncan , and th e o the rs hadmarch ed oyer 40 mi les in a litt le oyer two days. They were sho ut ing outth c cadence at th e top of th eir lungs and marching in unison . Theco m pa ny sto pped a t th e memorial and th e men groundcd their packs,pla ced th eir hea vy Kevla r helme ts o n th eir packs and donned th eir caps.The co lo rs were rai sed on th e memorial and th e re was a sho rt ce rc mony.T he d ri ll instru cto r presented eac h ma n with a n Eaglc , Globc andAnchor insign ia, shook the ir hands and for the first tim e said, "Goodwork, Ma rin e ."

T he last week was a n ant i-climax. T he new Mari nes sp c n t most of th etim e preparing to leave Parris Island . Most wo uld return ho me for asho rt leave before they went to th e Schoo l o f In fan try. At th e g rad ua tio nce rc mony, J o h nso n a nd Duncan not o n ly emerged as Marines, but alsoas best friends. They both go t o rde rs to th e Sch ool of Infa n try at Ca m pGc igc r, No rt h Carolina .

School of Infantry - every Marine a riflemanParris Isla nd had turned Dunca n and J oh nson into Marines but thei rtraining was far fro m com ple te . Afte r a short leave they re ported to th eSchool of In!;111 try (SO l) a t Ca m p Ge ige r, with in th e gia n t Marin e Co rpsco m plex at Cam p Le jeune . North Ca ro lina. SO l wou ld provide thetransition from boot ca m p to th e operating for ces. Every year 18,000Marines undergo realistic, aggress iyc, and sa fe training a t SO L T heschool tu rn s th em int o Marine warriors.

The School of In fan try is brok en down into two training batt ali onsfor e n try-leve l Marines, Marin es who will be assigned to th e in fant ryrcport to th e lnfa n try Traini ng Batt a lion , whil e a ll o the r Marin es a rcse nt to thc Mari ne Co m bat Tra ining Batt alion . No matter what rheirjobin th e Marine Co rps, fro m public affairs , to mot o r tra nspo rt mcch anic,to supply cle rk, every Marine is trained to be , firs t a nd fo rem ost , arifle ma n . "Every Ma rine a rifle man" is a tim e-h onored co ncep t th at hasset the Mari nes apart eve r since the Co rps' inception in 1775, wheneycry man who volunteered was requi red to bring his own musket.

Duncan.johnson , and all th e Ma rines a t SO l learned to become o newith the ir rifle . T hey learned to live th e creed fi rst pllt forward by MGcn.William H. Rupertus USMC soo n afte r th e japan ese attacked PearlHarbor in Decembe r, 1941 :

T h is is my rille . T he re a re many like it , but this o ne is m ine. It ismy life . I must master it as I must master my life . Without me myrifle is usel ess. Without my rifle , I am usel ess. I must fire my rifletrue . I must shoot straigh te r tha n th e e nemy who is trying to killme. I must shoo t him before he shoo ts me. I will. My rille a nd Ikn ow th at what co un ts in wa r is not th e rounds we fire , th e no iseo f our burst , or the smo ke we mak e . \\'e kn ow th at it is th e hitstha t co u n t. We will h it. My rifle is human , even as I am human ,because it is my life . T h us, I will learn it as a brothe r. I will learnits wea knesses, its stre ngths, its parts, its accesso ries , its sig h ts andits barrel. I will keep my rille clean a nd read y, even as I am clea na nd rea dy, Wc will become part of eac h o the r. Before Go d I swea rthi s crecd . My rifle and I are th e defende rs of my co un try. We areth c maste rs o f our c nemy. We a re th e savio rs of my life. So be it,until vict o ry is America 's and th ere is no e nemy.

Every Marin e , regard less of Military O ccupa tio na l Specialty (MO S), istra incd in co mmon skills. T hus , both bat talions co nd uc t nearl y iden ticaltraining in th e first seve ra l weeks. The training is designed to furtherc ngrain th e Co rps' co re values of HanOI; Courage, and Commitment in toe\'e ry new Marine and prepare him or he r mentally, physically, andmo rally for thc cha llenges of 2 Ist-ee n w ry warfare .

J ohnson and Duncan reported in to studen t ad m inistra tion whereth cy were assigned to th eir training unit. Du rin g the first days th ey wereissued field gear from supply and a rille from th e a rmory. T he first weekswe re fill ed with co m mon skills train ing. Duncan and J ohnson spen t manyhours in th e classroom and o ut in th e field wat ching demonstrati ons.th en rc pea ting th eir newly learned skills. Every day had tim e se t asid e forPhysical Training (PT). Slowly, but surely, th ei r bodies we re co nd itio nedto the rigo rs o f co m bat. T hey also learned the basics of being a Marineinfantryman , and they di scovered everyth ing th ere was to kn ow abo utth cir M 16A2 rifle . T hey carr ied th eir rill es everyw here. The learned totak c th cm apa rt , c1ca n th em, and put th em back togc th er - blindfolded.Th ey becam e Marine Riflemen ,

T he US Army first fielded th e M 16 rifle during th e Vie tna m War, inth c early 1960s. T he initial sho rtc o m ings of thc dcsign were worked o utover th c next severa l years a nd an impro ved weapon . th e 1\116A2, wasfirst adop ted by th e Mari ne Co rps in 1983. Marine in fant rym an havebeen ca rrying th c MI 6A2 ever since . It is a lightweight, a ir-cooled , ga so pera ted , magazin c-fcd wcapon d esign ed fo r e ithe r three-round burstsor se m i-a u to matic, single-shot fire. T he rille uses NATO sta nda rd!'i.fi6m m am m un itio n ca rried in 30-ro und maga zin cs. T he wca po n isaccura te a t ra ngcs of up to fiOO met e rs and has a maximum effec tivera ngc o f 800 met e rs.

T hey also learned how to usc th e o ther Icthal tools of th eir trad e .T hey learned how to o pera tc th e M203 gre na de launch e r, an a tta chmc ntfor th eir rill e th at co uld hurl 40m m gre na dcs mo re th an 200 mete rs int o 15

16

ABOVE 1I2d Ma rines continue

to f ight Iraqi t ro ops north of

An Nasiriyah. (Phot o courtesy


cncmy positions, They were taught to th row standa rd grena des and firelight- and medium-weigh t machine guns. They learn ed how to shootAT-4 and Shoulde r-launc hed Multi-purpose Assault Weapon (SMAW)rocke t , and how to se t up and detonate Claymore mines, In addi tion toth eir weapons training, th ey stud ied basic map rcad ing a nd landnavigati on skills, and were tra in ed in basic radi o operatio n,

Ano ther important part of th ei r modern-day training was Icsso ns innu clear, biological, and chemica l (N BC) war-lighting skills. They lea rn edhow to don th ei r Mission Oriented Protective Postu re (MO PP) suitsquickly and to co ntinue fighting while wearing th e bulky prot ect ivega rme nL'i and gas masks. T hey also p ract iced firin g their M l fis whi le cla din their MO PP ge ar. A MO PP suit will pro tect th e wea re r from radi oact ivepart icles, chemical, and bio logical ag enL'i. It co ns ists of h eavy, charcoallined pants a nd a hooded j umper, heavy rubber glovcs, a nd booti es, aswe ll as a gas mask wh ich can filte r tiny pa rticles fro m the air. T he e n tiresuit is designed to be wo rn over the utility un ifo rm and pro tective bo dyarmor. O nce a Ma rin e has do nned his i\'IO PP suit, he is com plete lye ncased in a protective outer laye r of clothing, but the heavy ga rmc n tshinde r his a bility to maneuver and light on th e battl efie ld . T he Marinemoves mo re slowly. His vision is hampered by the gas mask. It becomesd ifficult to co m munica te with o the rs and shoot stra ight. T he Ma rin eshate the suit. They are ho t, bulky, and uncom fortabl e . Psych ologically,th e ,'er)' tho ug ht of needing to wea r a MO PP su it in to battlc isfrigh teni ng because every Marine knows wha t th e sui ts arc meant top rot ect against - n erve gas, biological age n ts, a nd rad ioactive mate rials.

T he Marine stu den ts were taught basic offensive maneuvers a nddefensive tactics. They were taught how to co nd uc t pat rols and how to

LEFT A Marine from 1st

Battalion, 2d Marines in MOPP

suit at Camp Shoup, Kuwait.

Marines du r ing the long w ait

in Kuwait, and during the in itial

combat operations in Iraq, lived

under the shadow of potential

nuclear, biological, and chemical

(NBC) warfare. The MOPP su it

is designed to protect the wearer

from NBC affect s. (Phot o

courtesy Gunner David Dunfee

USMC)

move a nd fight in urban terrain. They learned how to handle encmypri soners and the basics o f battlefi e ld fi rst aiel. All th e whil e th cyco n tinued their daily PT and physica l co nd itio n ing, with martia l a rtstrain ing and regul a r 15km (9.3 mi les) ro ad march es.

Once th cy have co m ple ted th eir basic in fa n try training th e Marin esa rc sp lit int o groups according to th e ir Military O ccupati onal Spec ialty(Ma S). All of thc non-infantry Marine grad uates had moved on to theirspecia lized i'vlOS training. but th e infantrymen re ma ined at Cam pGeige r for another five weeks to co nd uct specifi c MaS training.

Marine In fantr y Mili tary O ccupational Specialties

MOS SPECIALTY PROFIENCY

0311 Marine Rifleman M16A2, SAW, M240 grenade launcher, andinfantry tactics

0331 Machine Gunner .50 cal. and 240G machine guns

0341 Mortarman 60mm and 81mm mortars

0351 Assaultman SMAW and demolitions

0352 Antitank Guided Missileman Javelin and TOW

They were th en split up to undergo specialized tr aining requi red inth eir particul ar in fantry spe cialty. All of th e co mbined skills wou ld beneeded within a Marine rifle co m pa ny. Most Marines were assigned to03 11 training. Ma rine Rifleman . O th ers lea rn ed h ow to handle .maintain a nd em ploy th e o th e r weapons in a Marine rifle com pany,

T he riflcmcn would receive eve n more advanced infantry training intacti cs and weapons. T hey lea rn ed to fire and ca re for th e M249 SquadAuto matic Weapon (SAW). The machine gu n ne rs go t adva nced trainingon th e maintenan ce and care of th e 240G medium mach ine gun and th cve ne rable .50 cal. machine gun . Ant itank Guided Missile rnen learned th e 17

18

intricacies of th e T O W and newer J avelin missiles, a nd Morta rm enlearned how to quickly se t up and fire bo th th e lightweight 60 mmmortars a nd th e heavie r 8 1mm mortars used a t the battalion level.

Bo th J ohnson a nd Duncan wa n ted to be riflemen. By the tim e th eygrad uate d fro m SO l, th ey we re mentall y, physicall y, a nd mo rallyprepared fo r the challe nges of 2 1st-cen tu ry warfare. a nd anx io uslyawaited their assignments. To th ei r plea sant surprise , they were assignedto the same unit, both receiving o rde rs to the lst Battalion o f the 2dMarin e Regiment across th e river fro m Cam p Geiger, in Cam p Lejeune.

Combined Arms Exercise, Twentynine Palms, CaliforniaDuncan and J ohnson were now ready for assignme n t to a n o pe ra tio nalMarine in fantry regiment. T he 2d Marine Regimen t existed in severaldi fferent forms at the beginning of th e 20th ce n tury, Portions o f the 2dMarin es se rved in Chi na, th e Philippines, Haiti , and Cuba . It was notuntil World War II th at th e regiment made history when it fou ght ad et ermined enemy for co n tro l of a tin y coral atoll in th e So uth Pacific ,o n Tarawa in 1943 - o ne o f the bloodiest battles in Marine his tory. T he2d Marine Regime n t suffe red heavy casualties in one of the first la rgescale am ph ibious landings in th e Pacific cam paign , thus ea rn ing th emono wh ich th ey follow today, "Kee p Moving." O n Tarawa, th eir 3dBat tal io n pressed th e a ttack throug h shallow waters a nd obstacle-stre wnbeach es to defeat the J apanese defende rs, winning the title of the "Bet ioBastards," a title th at th ey proud ly carry to th is day.

T he 2d Ma rine Regiment of th e 2 1st ce n tury had become o ne of thefinest figh ting regiments of any mil itary o rga n iza tio n a nywhe re in th eworld. T hey had modern equip ment, professional lead ership, and morethan 5,000 Marines trained in thc traditions o f th c Marine Co rps. T hcregiment had three infantry battalions and th e su pport of 2d Ta nkBattalion , 2d Light Armored Reconnaissan ce Battalion , and 2d AssaultAm ph ibian Battalion , not to mention th eir close tics with th e 10thMari ne Arti lle ry Regimcnt at Cam p Lejeune and th e Ma rin e aviato rsac ross the New River,

2d Marines' th ree in fantry banal ions eac h occupied facilit ies o nthree pa rall el roads within Ca m p Lejeune. Down the road from cachbattalion was th e regimcntal headquarte rs. T he mode rn Marine Corps'basic fighting unit is th e infantry battalion . I t is th e building block fromwhich all la rger un its are assembled . Seldom docs a n e n tire regime ntdeploy or fight as a co mp le te e n tity.

Today, th e Marine Exp editionary nit (MEU) is deployed most o fte n.The Marines developed MEUs and mad e the m Special O perationsCapable ( ~'I EU-SOC) . Each ME spen t six-mon th deployments at seaaboard S Navy am phibious sh ips. Two ME s were usually afloa t a t anyone time. They we re America's "9 1I" fo rce , able to respond to anyworldwide eme rge ncy in a matter of days, a nd ca rrying everyth ing theyneeded to co pe with an)' co nt ingency. The ME 's Ground Co mbatEle me n t (GCE) was basically a Marine infantry batt alion . T hey weresupported b), a platoon of AAVs (Assault Am ph ibia n Vehicles) , a platoonof tanks, LAVs (Light Armored Vehicl es) , and an a rt ille ry ba tte ry.

Each MEU also had an Air Co mbat Elemen t (ACE), whi ch co n ta ineda handful o f just about every type of a ircraft in th e Corps' invento ry,The re we re a few CH-46 Sea Knight a nd Huey hel icopters, as we ll as a

couple of CI-I-53 Sea Stallions to lift Marines ash ore. There were so meAI-I-I Co bra Attack helicopters for close air support (CAS) and a fewHarriers for deeper reconnaissan ce and heavier CAS missions.

The 2d Marine Regimen t su pplied its battalions to th e MEdepl oyment sche d ules on a ro tating basis. At th e end of each depl oymentMarines are p romoted , transfe rred , and so me eve n fini sh th eiren listments . Once they have taken so me tim e off and some havetran sferred ou t, a new set of Marines a re brought in to rebuild thebatt alion . Months a re th en spe n t rebuilding the newly formed batt alionwith a full tra ining sche d ule. In 2002, the 2d Marine Regimen t'sbattalions were eac h in a diffe rent ph ase of this stagge red cycle. The 2dBattalion was in th e middle of its building and training p rocess. It wouldbe th e next to deploy with a ME .

The Ist Battal ion had just returned from an MEU deployment andth ey were in a reconstitution phase when J oh nson and Duncan arrived .The co re of 1/ 2d was its three rifle com pan ies (Alpha, Bravo , andCharlie), each contain ing three infantry an d one weapons platoon . Theweapons pla toon provided ea ch com pany co mmander with so meheavie r wea pons. They had 240G 7.62mm machine gun teams, a 60m mmo rta r sect ion , as well as assault and sniper teams. Dun can and Johnsonhad bot h been assign ed to th e 3d Platoon of Charlie Co mpany.

BELOW 1st Battalion, 2d

Ma rines tra in ing in th e Kuwait i

desert. On arrival in Kuw ait

the Marines conducted many

training exercises to pull

together their expertise and

acquaint themselves with the

type of terrain that they would

be f ighting in . Th is would be the

last training opportunity before

pushing off int o Iraq . (Photo

courtesy Gunner Dav id Dunfee

USMC)

19

RIGHT Aboard t he USS Ponce

on the way to wa r. Here the

Marines are seen in their desert

camouflage un iform s. Unlike th e

woodland camouflage pattern

on their MOPP su its, these were

designed to help them blend in

w ith thei r combat environment.

(Photo courtesy Gunner David

20 Dunfee USMC)

The co m mande r of th e 1st Battalion was a career Marine . Hc hadrise n th rough th e e nlisted ran ks to sta ff se rgea n t and th en le ft th e Corpsto ge t a college ed uca tion . He returned as a sec o nd lieutenant a ndwo rked his way up from platoon leader to co mpa ny com mande r, a ndth en to battali on co m ma nder. He was a n o ld-school Marine , a"Musta ng." He lived fo r th e Co rps and spe IH every day of his lifepreparing to tak e his Marines into battl e. A sto ic leade r who ran hisbatt alion by th e book , he care d for eac h and every o ne of his men , butnever showed it.

Wh en a com mande r first tak es over a battalion , he has th e p rivilcgeof selecting a ca ll sign that he will use in all radi o transmi ssions. LtCo\.Rickey Grabowski had se lected "T imbe rwo lf" as his call sign . He felt th atth c daily lives of th ese predato ry animals th at traveled in packs close lyresembled how Marines fight togethe r. So , th e e n tire battalion came tobe kn own as th e "T imbe rwolves." As th e com ma nd ing office r, Gra bowskiheld th e design ati on of "Six." His intelli gence office r, th e S-2, wasTimbcrwol f 2; th e ope ra tio ns officer, th e S-3, was T imbe rwo lf 3, and soo n . T imberwol f 6 kn ew he had th e most important job in th c MarineCo rps - co mmand of an inf an try battalion.

More and more new faces showed up every day, and soon th eTimberwolves were nearly back to fu ll stre ng th. Thc batt alion comma nde rsched uled training for every day. Charlie Company's commander too k thctime to ge t to know his Marines. Capt. Dan Wittnam was ano the r"Mustang" who had risen through the e nlisted ranks to becom e an office r,Duncan and J ohnson respected him immedi at ely Wittnam was tou gh , yctfair, He took an int erest in all of his men .

T he lot of a pea cetime Marine is to train , train , and th en train somemore. Duncan and J ohnson 's days were filled with classes, exe rc ises, andPT. Soo n th e battalion staff began preparing for a Combined ArmsExercise (CAX) , when th e e n tire battalion could be pulled togethcr into

a co he re n t unit. The battalion would train as a mech anized in fantrybatt alion . A Com pany of AAVs fro m 2d AAV Batt alion , a com pany o ftanks from 2d Tank Battalion and the Ist Batt alion of th e 10th Marin eArtille ry Regim en t would support th em in th e exe rcise. In ad dit ion, th eRegim enta l Co mmand gro up would attend th e exe rcise to practice th eirskills of fighting as a Regim ental Combat Tea m (RCT ).

An RCT is a Marine regim ent fully eq uip ped for co mbat. T heregimen t's three in fantry battalions are usually su ppo rted by a battaliono f a rt ille ry, and a t least a com pany eac h of AAVs, LAVs and tanks. T heRCT usually works with a co mple te Marine Air Group (MAG), co nsistingof a ro tary wing lift squa dron and an attack squad ro n producin g a warfighting Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGT F). T he RCT Com mandclemen t planned to attend CAX with 1/ 2, and th en th ey would rotateth e "Be tio Bastards" in to replace th e Timberwolves in a "Super-CAX."

Everyone in th e battalion and the reg imen ta l headquarte rs workedfro m dawn to dusk for nearl y a week preparing to travel to th e desert.T hen o n a cold Monday morning, th e Timberwolves, along with th eMarin es in th e regimen ta l headquarters, loaded o n to buses th at wouldca rry th em to waiting aircraft for their day-long j ourney across th eUn ited Sta tes to th e Marine Co rps Air, Gro und Com ba t Ce n te r(MCAGCC) in Twen tyn ine Palms, Californ ia.

Hundreds of th ousands of Mari nes have train ed a t th e ce n te r nearTwe ntyn ine Palms since its in ception in 1952. T he vast expanse of th ebase in th e sou the rn Califo rn ian desert is ideal for training and live-fi reexe rc ises. The te rr ain in the gian t facility varies fro m flat wasteland, to

ro lling sandy desert, to mountain s and valleys. Twentynine Palms is ab leto support regimen ta l-size training exe rcises within its massive borders.T he Marines man euver and fire upon a ficti tious enemy, Opposin gForce (O PFO R), kn own th roughout th e Co rps as th e Mojavian s.

CA)( provid es a 22-day, inten se , live-fire , combine d-arms trainingcourse. Th er e are a series of progressive exercises, starting at company leveland working up to a finale. All th ree of 1/ 2's infantry compa nies were

AB OVE Infantry from 1st

Battalion, 2d Ma rine Regiment

on maneuvers at CAX in the

southern California Desert.

(Photo courtesy USMC)

21

22

AB OV E A Marine Light

Armored Vehicle during CAX

at Twentynine Palms, California.

(Photo courtesy USMC)

integra ted with the AAV company. Each rifle platoon would rid e in threeAMTRACs or AAVP7 armored assault tracked amp hibio us vehicles.

T he AAV, th e lat est ve rsio n of Marin e tracked landing craft, en te redth e Marine Co rps in th e early 1970s. It was design ed to ca rry ~5 Marin esfro m sh ip to shore, pro viding pro tection from small arms lir e and smallpieces of sh ra pne l. Its a lu min um alloy hull allowed movemen t th roughth e wa ter at up to 13kph (8m ph) and ro ad speeds of up to 72kph(45 m ph). Whil e th e light armor increased vehicle speed, it providedvirt ua lly no protect ion from larger calibe r wea po ns.

T he AAVP7 is equippe d with a MK-19 au to ma tic gre nade launch erand a .50 cal. machi ne gun located in a sma ll turret on the right fro nt o fth e veh icle. The vehicle com mande r rid es in the tu rre t, o r "up-gu n" asit has come to be kn own . T he up-gun ca n pro vide vehicle prot ectio nand su ppressive lire in support of its infan try after th ey d ism o un t. T hereis a large ram p in the rear of the vehicl e wh ich is d ro pped to load andd ismou n t Marines and equipmen t. T he roof of the troop com partmen tcan a lso be opened , allowing Mari ne rifleme n to stand o n the be nchesand lir e from with in th e track.

Duncan and J oh nson d id not like rid ing in th e hot met al boxes.Their a lumin um alloy hulls seemed to provide little protection , and th e"trac ks" seeme d to be not hing more th an big ta rge ts. But th e tracke rMarines were very p roud of th eir veh icles. There was a strangerelatio nship be tween th e in fantry "gru n ts" and th e trackers. Mosttracke rs believed th at th eir vehicles were th ei r domain and tha t it wasth e vehicle co m mande r's j ob to "captain" th e track. T hey believed th atwhi le th ey were moving, th ey were in cha rge and th e in fantry Marineswere o n ly passe ngers in "the ir" vehicle . In fact, the tra ckers had th e irown independen t co mmand struc ture. Each ve hicle had a com ma nder.Each th ree tracks had a sec tio n lead er, wh ich was usually th e most sen io r

of th e track com mande rs in that section . One of th e track com ma nde rswas th e AAV platoon se rgea n t a nd anothe r was th e platoon lead e r. Whi lemoving, e ither on land or in th e water, th e AAV plato on man euveredand fough t as a n armored platoon .

O nce th ey arrived at th ei r destinati on , the in fantry com mande rswould d eploy th eir tro ops and th e trackers would p rovide covering fireto th e grun ts on th e ground. O ne of LtCol. Rickey Grabowski's g reates tchalle nges during CAX would be to in tegrate his in fantry Marines andtr acke r Marin es in to a sing le fighting fo rce tha t co uld quick ly switchfrom AAV to inf an try co m ma nd and back aga in.

Another challe ng e would be to integrat e tanks in to his fightingforce . T h e MI A I Abrams tank is 70 tons a nd p ro vides un equaled armorp rotection . Propell ed by a hel icopter turbine e ng ine , it ca rries a 155mmgun co n tro lled by a fire co nt ro l syste m th at can point a nd shoot o n th erun at a moving ta rget ove r 1.6km ( I m ile ) away, a nd hit with th e fi rstshot - every tim e . If th e main gun isn 't fierce e noug h, th e crew also hasa .50 cal. and 240G 7.62 m m machine gu n aboa rd.

T he battalion sta ff had seve ra l cho ices as to how th ey would use th eirtanks with in th e battalion . The tan k company could be kept togethe ra nd used as a fourth man euver uni t. It co uld be broken up a nd aplatoon given to eac h in fantry co mpany, or Gra bows ki could use acombina tion of the two formatio ns . He decid ed to use a co ncep tem ploye d by th e Army and deve loped co mpany team s. Two o f hi s threeco m pa n ies would remain pure mech anized in fantry, eac h com panyridi ng in 12 AAVs. Bravo Co mpa ny would be split up and m ixed with histank co m pany to produce two independent team s. Team Ta n k would betank heavy, co n tain ing two tank plato ons a nd th e two ad di tio na lcom mand tanks (te n tanks in all) married with a sing le infantry platoon ,ridi ng in th ree AMT RACs. Team Mech would co nsist of th e remainingBravo Co m pa ny in fantry platoons and its weapons platoon , and infantryco mpany com ma nd, all riding in n ine tracks plus a single ta nk plat oonof four M IA I tanks.

T h is gave th e T imbe rwolves four maj or man eu ver un its: Alp haCompany, Charlie Company, Tea m Tank, and Team Mech . Grabowski alsohad a wea po ns compa ny to integrate int o his mech an ized infantry batt alion .T he weapo ns co mpany containe d snipers, assault teams with hem)' machineguns, and Si\'!AW rockets,Javelin missile team s, the batt alion 's 8 1nun mortarplatoon and the battalion 's only armo red HMMWVs (High Mobility MultiWheeled Vehi cle, or "Humme r.") The 16 armored HMMWVs were split in totwo eight-vehicle Combined Ant i-Armor Teams (CAAT ).

Each C,.\ AT had four ve hicl e-mou nted TO\I\7 missile launche rs andfour sco u t ve h icles with e ithe r .50 cal. machine gu ns o r MK-19 gre na delaunche rs. All th e CAAT ve hicles carried a n ad d itio na l SAW. Grabowski'sCAAT sectio ns we re th e most versatil e in the entire battalion . T h e fastand agile HMMWVs could be used as scou t ve h icles or as a fast-movingan ti-armor force . T he team s of eigh t co uld be broken down in to sectio nsof four ve h icles o r pairs of two to p rovide wide-ranging protection fo rth e batt alion 's flanks. T hey co uld be quickly re position ed to deal withnew th reats o r cond itions on th e battlefi eld. CAAT was Grabowski's mostnimble maneu ve r unit.

The batt alion 's o rga nic art illery asset was its 8 1mm mortar platoon .Eigh t HMMWVs each carried an 8 1nun mortar tea m. Whe rever Grabowski 23

24

AB OVE A small electric turret,

or " up -gun" perched above a

Marine AMTRAC houses a .50cal. machine gun and a MK19

automatic grenade launcher. The

track commander typically mans

the up-gun. (Photo courtesy

USMC)

wen t on th e battlefield , th e "S Is" were sure to be close by. Grabowskisp read the rem ainin g assets of his wcapons company througho ut hisin fantry compani cs. The snipe r team s, 240G mach inc gun teams, andassault teams with th ei r SMAV\' and j avel in rockets were spread evenlyamong Alpha , Bravo , a nd Cha rlie com pa nies, giving h is com panycommanders even more firepower and flexibility.

CAX was th e perfect e nviron men t to work o ut all o f these det ai ls andto pull evcryonc toget he r int o a fight ing batt alion. T he exe rc ises sta rt edsmall, with inf antrymen at co mpa ny level working with tra cke rs a ndtanke rs o n the little det ails that would mak e the diff erence in a realfight. T he tracke rs and infantrym en practi ced loadi ng up , movem ent ,stopp ing in a he rr ingbone fo rm ati on , a nd deploying Ma rin es. T heypracti ced what to do if a n AMT RAC we re to break down. T he ir 'j umptrack" d rills were like a rehearsed "Ch inese lire d ri ll" (a dan gerous stu n tof d isembarking fro m a vehicle whi le sto ppe d a t a traffic ligh t, a popularte rm and trick in th e US durin g th e 1960s) . Every Mari ne kn ew whe reto go , as they wo uld leave a small team with the brok en -down veh icle ,g ra b essen tial eq uip ment a nd split the remain ing Marines betwee n theo the r two tracks in the platoon . T he two re maining tracks would becrowded, but no one would be le ft behi nd .

As th e exe rc ises progressed , th e com pany co mma nde rs practi cede m ploying o the r weapons th ro ugh th eir Fire Support Tea m (FiST) . T heFiST travels with the co mpa ny co mmande r in his com mand track , somcride in the com pany' s mortar track . Each infantry co m pany has its ownorgan ic 60mm light mortars. T hey a rc th e co mpa ny co m manders '

pe rsona l indirect fire asset and ca n quick ly supp ly supporti ng fire ,smoke , and illuminati on to the infantry. It is th e j ob of th e FiST tocoo rd ina te any heavie r suppo rt fro m o the r un its.

T he FiST leade r is th e co m pany' s weapons plat oon leade r. He hasra d io m e n a n d Ma ri nes to assist him in m ainta ining situa tio na lawa re ness and co m m un ica tio ns with h is co m pany co m ma nder, th ebatta lion 8 1nu n morta r p lat oon , suppo rt ing art illery units , and aircraftp ro viding close-air-suppo rt. T he FiST usu ally has two o the r o fficers, aFo rwa rd O bse rve r (FO) and a Fo rward Air Co n tro lle r (FAC) . T he FO isa ttached if there is a Ma rine a rt ille ry un it taking pa rt in th e operatio nand two of th e three inf an try co m pa nies have a FAC attached.

T he FO is a n o ffice r o n loa n to the infantry co m pa ny fro m thesupporting a rt ille ry uni t. He kn ows all o f th e office rs in th e artille ry uni tand ca n p rovide an a rtilleryman 's persp ective o n th e battle back to h isuni t. Likewise , a ll FACs are Marine avia to rs who rot at e to a n in fan tryun it lo r a to u r of du ty, T he FAC p ro gram is o ne o f th e most importantfact o rs co nt ribu ting to th e Co rps ' ab ility to provide over-the-s houlde rclose a ir suppo rt. T he FACs o n th e gro und lea rn what it is like to be o nthe rece iving e nd of close ai r sup po rt, and they "talk th e ta lk" o f th epi lo ts in th e air. T h is close co m m un ica tio n be tween air a nd gro u ndun its p roduces a n air-gro und co m ba t fo rce unequaled in the world .

O nce the Marines o n th e g ro und we re co mfo rtab le wo rk in g with o neanother, the co m panics moved o n to real co m bined arms exe rcises. T heFiSTs trai ned lo ng ho urs on pla nn ing missions and ensuring smoo thcoo pe ra tio n be twee n the aircraft and artillery, He re is whe re th e Un itedSta tes Marine Co rps excels. It tak es true p ro fessionals to light in aco m bined arms e nviro n men t. T he weapons that can be e m ploye d o n asingle call for lire are le thal: a misp laced air-to-ground m issile o r art ille rybarragc co uld be deadly to th e Marines o n the ground. Remem be r,"frie nd ly lire" is anythi ng but. A CAX is th e only place th a t FO s, FACs, air

BELOW A Sea Stallion

helicopter training in the

Southern California desert

during a Combined Arms

Exercise. (Photo courtesy USMC)

25

26

offic e rs, Fire Support Coord inato rs (FSCs), and company and battalioncom ma nders can hone th eir co mbine d arms skills. So, much of th e tim eat CAX is devoted to int egrating art illery and aircraft into th e ;\ IAGT F.

After many days of training, th e en tire batt alion ca me together for afinal exe rc ise (FINEX) . He re th e battalion 's staff would try to bring it alltogether. The battalion Air Ollice r (AO ) would orches tra te th c air battl e .handing over inco ming aircraft to his FACs. The FSC would cho reogra phth e indi rect fire battle , usin g his co mpany FOs a nd th e battalion 's 8 1mmmortars . T he FSC a nd AO needed to maintain co nstant com mun ica tio nto coord ina te th e two battles. With out sync hron ization , a flying arti lleryshell could hit an incoming helicopter. All th e wh ile, th e batt alioncommander and his sta ff need ed to maintain situational aware ness of thca ir, ground , a nd artillery battle , a nd di rect their maneuver units towardwin ning th ei r obj ectives. Even in tra ini ng , directing a Marin e in fantrybatt alion was not an casy task. It took th e conce rted, coo rd inated effo rtof dozens of professional Marine o lliccrs and th e cool head a ndligh tning-fast decision-making skills of its battalion com ma ndc r.

The T imbe rwolves passed their fina l exe rc ise with flying co lo rs.Christmas was rapidly appro ac h ing when Dun can , Johnson, a nd thcTimberwolves returned to Ca mp Lej eune.j ohnson and Duncan plannedto fly horn e to Atlan ta togcther. Duncan and J ohnson were bothpromot ed to co rpo ra l in December 2002. It was no surprise to a nyone inth e company. Ca pt. \Vittnam personally pinned on th ci r new ra n k in asmall cc re mo ny at a com pa ny mu ste r o ne morning. Then , he made th ea n no unce mc nt. "It looks like th ere is a possibility th at th c Presid entco uld order us to Iraq." T he co mpa ny reacted with e n thusiasm. Wittuamwent o n, "The battalion com mande r has told me th at an yon e who hasleave should take thc hol iday tim c to be with fam ily, Evcryoue m ustbe back by j a nu ary G. Dism issed." Charl ie Compa ny scattered . Marinesgo t o n th ei r cell ph ones o r ru sh ed to public ph ones to make th eirholiday a rra ngcme n ts.

DEPLOYMENT

Onslow Beach, North Carol inaAfte r a decad e o f budget cutbacks, th e 2d Marine Regime n t was short o fequipmen t and perso n ne l. They wou ld ha ve a ha rd tim e putting aco mple te RCT toget her a t this sho rt notice . T he 2d Ba ttalio n hadalready deployed with an MEU, leaving th e regime n t with on ly twoin fa n try batt alions, and 3d Batt alion 's "Be tic Basta rd s," who were shortby nearl y 100 Marin es. T he co m ma nd ing gc neral of th e 2d MarineExped itionary Brigade scrambled to fill th e 2d Marines' ra nks. Hereached across Ca mp Lej eune and "choppe d" th e 2d Battalion of thcEighth Marine Regiment ("Amcrica's Battalion") to th e 2d Marines,Then he cont acted Camp Ge igc r at j ew Rive r and grad ua ted scores ofyou ng Marines fro m th e 50 1seve ra l weeks ea rly.

By th e tim e Dunca n and j oh nson return ed from th e ir ho liday break ,the Ma rines of the regiment were mobi lizing. T here were severa l da ys ofmayh em, working from befo re dawn to we ll after th e su n went down ,preparing to e mbark th e e nt ire rcgime n t. Pape rwork needed to be filledout. Beneficiari es we re updated on insuran ce policies. Wills had to be

co m ple ted and signe d. Equipme nt needed to be inventori ed, insp ected,and packed, and Marin es had to be load ed ab oa rd their ships .

T he 2d Tank Batt alion , all but one co mpany of the 2d Light Arm oredReconnaissance Batta lion , and the 2d AAV Battalion , had alread y beenrea llocat ed to th e Ist Marine Division. T he regiment would have toma ke do with a sing le LAR and AAV Co mpa ny. With no tank units le fta t Ca m p Lejeune , th e ge ne ra l asked for Mari ne reserve uni t.'; to fill in .Alpha Co m pa ny o f th e 8th Marine Rese rve Tank Battalion was ca lled toreport for duty. Within 72 hours, th ey had asse m bled at Fort Knox andwere bu ssed to No rt h Caro lina j ust in tim e to emba rk o n the ir sh ips .

T he US Navy swu ng into ac tio n in th e first week of 2003 and se n tseve n sh ips o f Am ph ibious Task Force-East (AT F-E) to th e wat ers off theNo rt h Ca ro lina coast. T h ree of the seven were "big deck" sh ips: USSBataa n, USS Sai/HIII , and USS Kearsarge were so me of th e largcst craft inth e US Navy. T hey looked like aircraft ca rrie rs, but were ac tuallyspecially design ed to carry Marin e aircraft - he licopters and VerticalTake O ff and Landing (VT O L) Harriers. In ad ditio n to th ei r ma ssiveflight deck and airc ra ft han gar decks, th ese ships had a "well deck ." T heentire aft end of th e sh ip co uld be flooded down and gian t ste rn doorsco uld be ope ne d to allow Marine amphibious vehicl es and land ing cra ftto swim in and out of the ship.

Whil c USS Portland, USS Ashland, USS Po nce, and USS GU I/s/O l/ Halldid not have flight decks, th ey did have well decks and small helicopterland ing pads. T he fleet, which became kn own as th e "Mag nificen tSeve n," loaded ove r 7,000 battle-ready Marines of th e 2d MEB. T heyturned eas tward and headed out on a month-long j ourney tha t wouldtake Task Force Tarawa halfway aro und th e world to fight a modern-daywar along the anc ient banks of th e Eup hrates Rive r.

LEFT Ships of Amphibious Task

Force-East (ATF-E) carrying Task

Force Tarawa Marines to war.

During the long journey aboard

ship to Iraq the Marines played

video games, watched war films,

read magazines, newspapers,

and letters from home over and

over to pass the long hours.

(Photo courtesy Gunner Dav id

Dunfee USMC)

27

28

RIGHT Marine CH-46 Sea Knight

helicopters on the deck of USS

Saipan, preparing to shuttle Task

Force Tarawa Marines ashore.

(Phot o courtesy Capt. Er ic Griggs

USMC)

Even with th e reserve tank com pany, th e regiment o nly had enoug hvehicles to "mech-u p" a single battalion. The Timberwolves werese lec ted to lead th e regiment, so th ey were given th e armo r assets . Thereserve tankers of Alpha Co m pany, 8th Tanks and th eir 14 MIAI tankswere assign ed to the 1st Battalion . Alpha Co m pa ny o f th e 2d AssaultAmp h ibian Battalion was also choppe d to 1/2 with its 40 AMTRA Cs,enoug h to transport all three o f th e 1st Battalion 's infantry co m pan ies.Co l. Ron Bailey's o the r two infantry battalions would have to rid e in 7ton trucks.

Duncan and J ohnson ended up o n th e oldest of th e sh ips o f th e"Mag n ificen t Seven", th e SS Ponce: It was a miserable trip. The Marineswere pa cked into berthing areas from th e deck to th e overhead. Therewas no way to get an y privacy. They had to wait in line for chow, to tak ea shower, to mai l a le tte r, or to use the few telephones avai lab le forcalling home. T hey co n tin ue d to train in the ship 's we ll d eck. T hehighl iglll of the day would be when they were ordered topside for PT ora ship 's d rill. Most of their da ys were spent be low decks in the cro wdedtroop areas. At least th e my food was good.

The Mari nes longed to arrive at their destination and to ge t off th ecro wde d ship. They passed th e tim e by working out, playing vide o andboard ga mes , and watching war movies. Duncan and J ohnson spent lon ghours talking abo ut th e co ming war. Each da y brought a host of newrumors - Saddam had been killed or he had fled th e COl Ill II)' - but th ese rious co nversation ce nte red on th e debate in th e nit ed Nations.Would th e international body avoid war? The Marines wondered out loudwhether th ey would be co mmitte d to battl e o r sent back th e way th eycame. They also talked abo ut go ing int o battle . Duncan and J ohnson hadbeen training for over a year for th e co ming battl e - o the rs mu ch longer,They all wondered how th ey would react to th e sound of ho stile fire .

T hey worried whether th ey would live up to th e traditions or th eMarine Corps o r if th ey would falter, o r, worse yet, cower. They wereMarines. T hey all kn ew that th ey could not let th e Co rps down : Honor;Courage, C Olli III itment. T hey all prayed they wou ld live up to th e ir co revalues. As the days ro lled past , th e flotilla negoti ated the Stra its ofGibra lta r and th en th e Suez Canal.

Security was tight th rough these na rrow passages. Sni per a ndmachine gun teams lined th e rai ls o r th e sh ips. Once th rough th e ca nal,th e uni form or th e day changed to desert camo uflage . T he mood or theMarines and crew cha nged too. T he Marines became more se rious as itbecam e cleare r th at they were actually go ing to war. T he sh ips'crewmem be rs began trea ting th e Marines with more resp ect , a nd th eeveryday bantering between th e sa ilo rs and Marines all but sto p pe d .

In the desertFinally, ATF-E a rr ived at its destinati on, th e Kuwaiti Naval Basejust sout hof Kuwait City. T he 2d MEB quickly un loaded a nd head ed for th e cam pslocated in th e northern Kuwaiti desert. As 2d lvlE B arrived , th ey foundthat all o r thei r air assets had been realloca ted to th e 3d Marine AirWin g to sup port th e ove rall I MEF effo rt in the invasion . 2d MEB wasrenam ed Task Fo rce Tarawa. With the loss of Marine Air Group-29 a ndmost o r its se rvice support battalion, Task Force Ta rawa was litt le morethan a partially reinforced Ma rin e in fantry regiment.

Charlie Compa ny d rove through Kuwait 1'01' hours, avo id ing thepopulated areas. It was nearl y nightfall when Duncan , J oh nson and therest of Cha rlie Compa ny arrived at Camp Shoup, which was litt le moreth an a spit of sand in th e middle o r th e desert. The Sea bees (naval

ABOVE Marines training on

flight deck of USS Saipan while

in t ransit from their North

Carolina home to wa r in Iraq.

The M16A2 r ifl e was the most

commonly used weapon by

the Marines in Iraqi Freedom.

It has many advantages: it is

lightweight and air-cooled,

with an accurat e firing range

of 500 meters. It also has many

disadvantages. It does not pack

a very heavy punch. Several

rounds are requ ired to stop a

charging enemy soldier. It is also

prone to jamming in the sandy

desert. (Photo courtesy Capt.

Eric Griggs USMC)

29

30

ABOVE Marines transiting the

Suez Canal on their way to war

in Iraq. (Photo courtesy Capt.

Harold Qualkinbush USMC)

co nstruc tion batt alion ) had scrape d up a berm all around the perimeterand a dozen Ge ne ral Purpose (GP) tents dotted th e inside of the cam p.Dozen s more were being erected as Duncan and J ohnson ro lled to a stop.

'T h is is it." The first se rgeant announced. 1st Sgt. Jose Henao was anative of Sou th America . He had moved to the US with his parents whenhe was a teenager. He loved his adopted country, kn owing what it waslike to gro w up in a lawless land . At 18, th ere was no question in hismind. Hejoined th e Marine Co rps, hoping that one da y he co uld returnand bring peace to his nati ve land. ow, nearl y 20 yea rs late r, he was th ese n ior enlisted man in Charlie Co m pany.

Every man in th e lst Batt alion devot ed th e next seve ra l days to

se ll ing up ca m p. T hey erected massive GP ten ts with Marin e Corps 'precision in stra igh t ro ws. There were no floors in th e tents , no airco nd ition ing, and th e Marines lived out of thei r slee ping ba gs on th esandy floor. Some en te rp rising men found discarded sheets of plywood,which th ey strategically pla ced like bed room throw rugs.

They built a chow ha ll tent and se t up latrines. Once th ey had se tt ledin , th ey began dail y sche d ules filled with training, se nd ing out sec uritypatrol s, manning Cam p Shoup's sec urity post.~ and PT. LtCol. Grabo wskiwanted to keep his men bu sy - it would help pass th e tim e. In theirle isu re tim e , the men fashione d baseballs out of tape and playedstickba ll. They had o rga nized box ing and wrestling mat ch es and movies.

One en te rprising tank platoon leade r found a Pizza Hu t at a largercam p farth e r to th e rea r. He and his wingman bought a dozen pizzasand a case of Pepsi and brought it back to th eir Marines. That night ,Blue Pla toon had a party of so rts , T he e ntire platoon gathe red ill theBlue 's tent and ate co ld pizza , drank warm Pepsis, and cha tte d lo ng int oth e night th rough o ne of th e worst sands to rms of th eir stay. Sands to rmsocc u rre d regularly, and so me were worse th an othe rs. At best, th ey

would e mbe d a fin e powd e r in everyth ing . At worst , th ey would rip te n tsta kes from th e grou nd a nd blow d own tents .

It didn 't take lo ng fo r th e Ma rin es of Task Force Tarawa to starttalking of how good th ey had it on th e sh ips. Living in th e Kuwait i desertwaiting to go to war was a miserabl e experie nce. T h en the mail arriveda nd morale impro ved immediat ely. Soon embedded re porte rs arrivedwho would be tr ave ling to wa r with the Ma rines. T hey hac! advancedeq uip ment that would allow th em to transmi t live from the batt lefi e ld .T hey also hac! sate llite te lepho nes , which th ey o fte n le t the Marines useto call home.

ABOVE American military

encampment in the northern

Kuwaiti desert. This was just

one of many camps that were

sprinkled throughout northern

Kuwait. The camps were often

hit by sandstorms, making

the lives of the Marines very

uncomfortable. (Photo courtesy

Capt. Eric Griggs USMC)

LEFT RCT-2 Marines cleaning

their weapons in Camp Shoup in

preparation for their attack into

Iraq. (Courtesy of Joe Muccia

USMC) 31

32

RIGHT Reg imen t al Combat

Team-2 (RCT-2 ) Marines playing

vo ll eyball at Camp Shoup in the

Kuwaiti desert. (Photo courtesy

of Jo e Raedle/Getty Images)

On the morning of March 19, there was a flurry o f activity arou nd th ecamp. T he en tire regim ent was packing up to move. Vehicles were beingload ed and so me of th e ten ts broken down . Task Force Tarawa's o rde rshad come in. On th e 20 th, RCT-2 would move to Assembly Area Hawkin sat th e Kuwaiti bo rd e r. On th e morning o f th e 2 1st, th ey would a tta ckint o Iraq .

INTO BATTLE

O n March 2 1, 200 3, V Corps swept northwest th rough th e Iraqi dese rtto a last-minute turn toward Baghdad through th e Karbala Ga p , wh ileth e Marines of I MEF would cross th e Eu phra tes a t An Nasiriyah . Th eywould cha rge up th e Tigri s Rive r alo ng the class ic invasion ro ute tha tth e British used in World War I. The first battl e of An Nasir iyah du rin gWorld War I was a bloody fight between th e Brit ish and th e Tu rks. T heBrit ish cap tu red the city, losin g 500 dead and killin g as many Turks, aswell as an un told n umber of Nasiriyans . Now, histo ry would repeat itse lf,as the 2d Marine Regimen t cha rge d o ut o f the Ara bian dese rt towardthis an cient city. Task Force Tarawa wou ld "kick open the door" and th een tire 1st Marin e Division would cross the Euphrates and race towardth e ce nte r of Sadda m Hussein 's power - Baghdad.

An Nas iriyah was th e first Iraqi population ce nte r o n th e road fromKuwait to Baghdad. Its population was primaril y Sh i' ite Muslim s whowe re not sympa the tic to Sadda m Husse in and his regime. Ameri ca n warplanners hoped that th e Iraqis in An Nasiriyah would surre nde r withlittl e or no resista nce.

While hoping for a qu ick success, th e 2d Marine Regimen t'scom mande rs planned fo r a figh t fo r con tro l of th e bridges across theEup hrates River. 1st Batt alion had been reinforced with tan ks andAMT RACs, and the Timberwolves had planned to seize th e eas te rnbridges rega rdl ess of the amoun t of resistan ce.

Task Force Tarawa Marine

2a 2b

A

D

An Nasiriyah

G

Marines on Parade \, "',

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.... ,,\ ... "

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\,

If~- ""\

Alter two long days of travelin g across th e Iraqi desert in th e crampe dco nfines of th ei r hated AMT RAC, Dun can a nd J ohnson we re abo ut asmiserabl e as th ey had ever been . T he)' would rather be back in th eCruc ible at Parris Island th an riding in thi s hot meta l deathtrap . Lat e o nMar ch 22, th ey had sto ppe d for th e night in an o pen area at th e edge ofth e dese rt. Small tu fts of grass sprinkled th e landscape - a sign tha t wate rwas nea rby,They stoppe d well aft e r su nse t, depl oyed Marin es for sec urity,and dug in for th e nigh t. Duncan and his squa d dug a no the r lightingposition out of th e soft, gravelly sand , and se t a watch whi le th e o the rstri ed to ge t so me slee p.J ohnson dri fted off to slee p for what seemed likeo nly a few minutes when th e first sergea n t woke him . "Moun t up," hetold J ohnson , a nd th en moved on to a no the r squad. J oh nson woke th e

LEFT A Marine opens his first

mail since leaving Kuwait. The

package contained chewing

tobacco and candy, alon g with

a letter f rom his w ife. (Phot o

co urt esy of Jo e Raedle/GeUy

Images)

41

=

42

ABOVE Regim ental

Headquarters at Camp Shoup,

Kuwait. (Courtesy of David

Dunfee USMC)

re ma ining membe rs of his squad , a nd th ey packed up and climbed in toC2 l l with th ei r ge a r. Rum or had it tha t today's trip would be short.

As th e night of th e 22 m l became th e morning o f th e 23rd , th ebattalion was a hea d of sched ule . Eve ryone could see a str ing orI igh ts ona nearby highway. The Army was movin g west with th eir headlights o n asth ough th ey were o n a weekend maneu ver up 1-95 in th e middle of aru sh ho ur. Ca pt. Wirtn am had to ld Dunca n that they on ly had to moveabou t 40 km (24.S mil es) to their block ing position just so u th o f a towna long the Euph ra tes Rive r.

J oh nso n and Duncan we re both assigned to th e 3d Pla too n of Ca pt.Wittnam 's Cha rl ie Co m pany, but since their promotions to corpora l,th ey were se para ted when they bo th beca me assista nt sq uad lead e rs. It isalways very strange fo r a Ma rin e no t to have his buddy at his shoulde r,bu t the ir new ranks brought new resp onsibil ities, and eac h worked hardat becoming a good NCO.

Capt. Wittnam had 12 tracks to ca rry his co mpa ny, C20 l- C2 12. Eachsquad of th e first platoon rode in C20 I, C202 , and C203. Seco ndplat oon 's squads we re assign ed to C205, C206 , and C207. Lt. Mike Seel y's3d Plat oon manned C209, C2 1O, a nd C2 11.J ohnson and his squa d ro dein C2 l l, wh ile Duncan 's squad had been assigned to C209. Lt. See ly wasa hard-ch a rging Ma rin e . His men wo rshiped h im. T h ey ofte ncom mented th at they would fo llow Lt. Seely a nd Cap t. Witt nam in to hell.

T h ird Pla toon was Ca pt. Wittn am 's "go- to" p latoon, so he p lannedfo r C209 , C2 10, a nd C2 l l to tak e th e lead o f the co m pany whe n theye n te re d An Nasiriyah . Wittnam would fo llow 3d Pla too n in hi s co mpa nycom mand track , C204. The weapons plat oo n leade r would fo llowWitt na m with th e co mpa ny FiST team and a portio n of th e mortarsec tion in the mortar track , C20S. T hey would be foll owed by Ist a nd 2dplat oons while th e co m pany first sergea nt would tak e up th e rea r of th eco lum n with the ambulance track, C2 12, and a co uple of HMMWVs.

As Charlie Co m pany mounted up, th enight \\~L~ black and clear: Billions of pinheadso fli gh t punctured th e blackened night sky.Asth ey waited in th e Ira qi desert . Ca p t. Wittnamwen t th rough th e plan in his head for th ethousandth time.

An NasiriyahThe 2d Marine Regime n t and its batt alionsta lls had been plann ing thi s mission sinceth ey were a t sea. Everyone an ticipa ted litt leresistance in An Nasiriyah , but st ill plannedfo r th e worst. RCT-2 would ap proa ch AnNasiriyah from th e so u th . The Ist Batt alionwould move to with in Itikm ( 10 miles) of th eEas te rn Euph ra tes River Brid ge and es tablisha defensive line . At the sa me tim e , ~hl

Battalion would dri ve no rthwest alo ng Iraq 'sHigh way I and re lieve 3d In fan try Divisio nUnits who had taken the H ighway I bridgeove r th e Euph rat es Rive r the day befo re, With~~d Batt alion holding th e Highway I bridgeI(ikm ( 10 miles) west o f An Nasiriya h, 2dMarin es would wait for th e o rder to movenorth to sec ure the easte rn bridges th roughthe city.

O n co m mand , 2d Battalion , 8th Marin eswould move up behin d the Ti mberwolves asthey raced to sec u re the Euph ra tes River andSaddam Ca na l Brid ge . Du ring th e planningstage, th e primary co ncern ce n te re d o n th e-lkm (2.5 miles) urban st re tch be tween theEuph ra tes River and th e Saddam Canal,wh ich bo rd ered th e city o n th e north . Early o n in th e planning, it wasclubbe d "the Mogadishu Mile" and th en "Am bush Alley."

T he -lkm (2.5 mil es) stre tc h was lined with buildings se t back o n hathsides o f the road. Sco res of alleyways a nd hundreds of windows anddoorways provided a m ple cover for Iraqi fighters. So , th e Marinesdecided tha t if they e nc o un te re d resistance , they wo uld tak e a hard rightturn a fte r th ey cro ssed th e Eu ph ra tes and th ey would skirt th e built-upa reas in An Nas ir iyah o n th e east side o f town .

Alpha Co m pany would cro ss th e bridge first and m ove into positi onsto defend th e Eu phra tes Rive r Bridge . Team Tank would foll ow Alphaove r th e fi rst b rid ge , fo llowed by Team Mech . The battali on co m manderwo uld foll ow the lead co m pa n ies in hi s HMMWV, two co m ma nd tracks.a nd a d ozen o the r sm all tru cks. Charl ie Co m pa ny would be the lastac ro ss th e Eu p hrates.

Ca p t. Wittnam had two alte rn a te courses o f ac tio n . T he first was to

fo llow th e battali on co m mand a nd th e lead co m pan ies o ff to th e eas t, o r.if resistance was light , follow th e lead com pa n ies stra igh t th roughAm bus h Alley. Charl ie Co m pany's m issio n was to secu re the SaddamCa nal Bridge in the no rth. Either way, a ll Wittnam had to d o was foll ow

ABO VE Cha rlie Company

Marines dug in to muddy fighting

holes after a ra iny night north

of An Nasiriyah. (Photo courtesy


43

RIGHT LtCol. Rickey Grabowski

t alks w ith the Timberwolves at

Camp Shoup on the day before

the y move north to invade Iraq.

(Photo courtesy of Joe

44 Raedle/Getty Images)

Gra bo wski's co m ma nd group ove r th e Eup h rates Rive r and co nti n ue o ntrack until th ey reached the Saddam Ca nal.

By 3a m on March 23, 200 3, th e Timberwolves were moving. T heyd rove up on to a paved ro ad and headed north. They passed a largeint ers ection with Highway I and co n tin ue d north. LtCol. Grabowskihalt ed his armore d co lum n just north of a cloverleaf inte rsection andwait ed fo r a report fro m his o peratio ns office r th at all o f th e battalion 'svehicles had made it north of th e in tersection ,

Sta nd ing o n th e darkened ro ad, LtCol. Grab owski look ed so uth andcould not beli eve th e sigh t before him. A co lu m n of trucks was ra cin gnorth with headlights blazing. Marines are not supposed to travel in warzon es with their headlights on ; in fact , th ey are not supposed to showan y ligh ts. Grabowski was a t first fu rious. Then he learned th at th esewere not vehicles fro m his battalion.

His orders were to rel ieve a unit of the 3d Infantry Divi sion which was tohave preced ed him up Route Moe (Highway 7) the day before, so hereason ed that th ese were 3d Infantry Divi sion vehicles. Grab owski orderedthe road cleared as 18 Army vehicl es raced by like they were late for payday.

Several so ld iers in th e vehicles wondered as th ey passed why th eywere ove rtaking co mba t units. This was th e doomed 507th Maintenan ceCo mpa ny. T heir co mpa ny co mmander was hopelessly lost. He shouldhave ta ke n his co lu mn northwest on Highway I at the inte rsect ion ,Instead, he foll owed, th en passed, Gra bowski's Marines. A~ th e 50 7thdisappeared in th e Iraqi darkness, th e Timberwolves moved up on th croad and headed north to th eir first objective, th e 20th orth ing.

The S military ha s segmented maps of th e e n tire ea rt h into 100kmgrid squa rcs. Eac h 100km sq ua re has a unique designati on . T he ci ty o fAn Nas iriyah is locat ed in th e 38 RPV grid squa rc . Mo re precisely, th eeas te rn Euph ra tes River Bridge is locat ed a t 38 RPV 209 344. Wh cn usin ga three-number grid coord inate syste m, each increment sign ifie s 100met e rs and th e grids are read fro m west to east and so uth to north.38 RPV 000 000 would lie at th e southwest co rne r of th e grid squa re,and 38 RPV 999 999 would lie at th e northea st co rner.

So the coo rd inate in our exam ple wou ld read 38RPV, a uniquequadrant on th e face of th e eart h, 209 East and 344 North. Airmen ,so ld ie rs, sa ilo rs and Marines break down th e coo rd inates into Ikmgrid lines. The bridge in An Nasiri yah is approximately at th e 21stEasting and almost halfway between th e 34th and 35 th Northing.

The Timberwolves arrived at th e 20th Northing an hour ahead ofsche d ule and began to o rganize th eir defenses. Alpha and CharlieCo m pan ies fan ne d ou t on eithe r side of th e ro ad. The gro und wasmuddy and severa l tracks becam e stuck. They were pulled ou t andmoved to d rie r grou nd .

The co u n tryside was so wet that 1st Batt a lion, 10th Marines art ille ryhad no place to se t up behind th e Timberwolves, so LtCo\. Grab owskirequested permission to pu sh forward an other 2km (1.2 mil es) to th e22nd orthing, to make room for the big 155mm guns.

As Team Tank moved out, they came u nde r fire . T he Iraqis hadpositioned the ir so uthernmost sco uts in m ud-brick bui ldings o n e ithe rside of the road lead ing in to town. Machine gu n and small-arms fireerup ted arou nd Grabo wski 's lead tanks and CAAT veh icles.

Mean while, the 507th had trave led over the easte rn Euphra tes Rive rBridge , all the way north throug h Ambush Alley, over the Saddam CanalBridge , continuin g north another Ikm (0.6 miles) to High way 16. Theyturned left and drove another 2.5km (1.5 miles) before they encounte redan ot her "T" int ersection. They turned right and went a short distancenorth before the 507th's commande r finally rea lized he wa s lost.

He commande d his sold iers to lock-and- load and to turn the co nvoyaro und. By now, eve11' Iraqi with a gu n in the ent ire city was awake. The507th 's return j ourney would be velT different. As they made their first leftturn to retrace their path , the Iraq is ope ne d fire fro m both sides of theroad. Iraqi army regulars and black-clad armed men were everywhe re .

BELOW A Marine sp eaks through

an interpreter with local Iraqicamel herders just south of An

Nasiriyah on Ma rch 23 , 2003.

The Marines are taught t o use

many skills beyond f ieldcratt and

f ighting, one of the primary of

these be ing negot iat ion and

diplomacy. (Courtesy of Kev in

Ellicot USMC)

45

BELOW 1/2 Marines wait

a longsi de the ro ad fo r orders

t o move int o An Nasiriyah on

March 23 , 2003. (Courtesy of

Kevin Ellicot USMC)

They were running up on th e road , some trying to ge t in fro n t of the"chicles, o thers trying to grab on and climb aboard. The doom ed convoyaccelera ted, tI) 'ing to ge t out of the "kill zone."

T he enemy raced behind th e co nvoy in pickup trucks. In th e lead,th e co mpa ny co mmander's HM~I\\'V missed th e turn so uth that wouldtake th em back to th e Sadda rn Ca na l Bridge. As th e lead veh iclescon tin ue d cast, others realized that th e com ma nder had missed histurn . They radioed ah ead to a lert him and th e n th e co nvoy had to turna ro und again .

The com pa ny co m ma nder turned his agile HMl\ IWV quickly, as didth e next two lead vehicles. As th ey raced back west, th ey passed th e o the rdoomed trucks. As th ey approac hed th e turn so uth , th e Iraq is we red rivin g headl ong in to the America ns . The America ns turned hard le ft,j ust as th e Iraqi pickups veered rig h t. The second S 5-to n tru cksideswipe d th e Iraqi technical , kn ocking it o ff th e ro ad. Then th e three

S trucks raced so uth, over th e Saddam Canal, through Ambush Alley,and ba ck over th e Euph rates Rive r Bridge, all th e whil e dodgingobstacles and Iraqi so ld ie rs and taking h eavy lire .

They raced so uth for another 2km ( 1.2 mil es) and over a rail ro adbridge , whi ch was being defended by a co mpany of Iraq i tanks andinfantry, All three vehicles were now bullet-ridden and so me had blazingtires. O ne of th e so ld ie rs noti ced a US tank in th e distance and nervouslyth ought to himsel f, "Ma n , I hope he doesn 't shoot, 'cause M I tanksdon 't miss."

Team Ta n k had nearl y sile nced th e encmy fir e when one of th e tankgu n ners saw trucks approac h ing fro m th e north. He trained his maingu n . ready to lire , and th en h e reali zed th at th ey were S vehicles. TeamTank held its lire and Cap t. Troy King and th e three lead vehicles racedsouth a nd skidded to a stop at th e Marines' position .

"We were ambushed," he told Ma], Bill Peepl es, th e Marine tankco mma nder. "I have so ld iers still up there ," he exclaime d, as he moti onednorth , back up th e roa d . M;~. Peepl es rem ounted his tank and o rde redhis tan k platoon forwa rd. nder incrcasin g lire , th ey raced up the roa d toli nd eve ra l aba ndone d vehicles just south of a rail ro ad brid ge.

46

They found ten so ld ie rs hunkered down in a trench along th e side o fth e ro ad. Maj. Peeples pulled his ta nk up next to th e so ld iers a ndan other o f his tanks flanked th e so ld iers o n th e o the r side of th eirtrench. Marines jumped from th eir tanks to help th e beleagu e redso ld ie rs. Alpha Com pany se nt th eir ambulan ce track fo rward to evacua teth e wounded . All th e whil e , th e tankers were locked in a gu n battle withth e Iraqi defenders.

Tea m Ta n k's FAC reported "Ma rines in Con tac t," a nd Cobraheli copters swarmed int o th e battle . "Hawk" directed th e Marine pilotstoward enemy ve h icles in th e western tr ee line and requested that th eysea rch alo ng th e road for more stranded so ld ie rs. T he a tta ck heli coptersand tanks proved to o much fo r th e defenders a nd th e Iraqi su rvivorsquickly faded away into th e desert.

LtCol. Gra bowski orde re d his tanks back to refu e l a nd his in fan tryco mpa nies to clea r th e bui ldings on eithe r side o f th e road. T h e n hebegan to se t his battalion into defensive positions so th at he could holdthi s positi on unti l he received th e o rde r to move north a nd secure th ebridges in An Nasiriyah . No sooner had th e tanks headed so uth th an th eregimenta l a nd bri gade com ma nders showed up a t Grabowski's CPo

When to ld of the am bush , BGen . Rich ard Na to nski o rde red th eT im be rwo lves forward. Grabowski ordered his Tea m Mech , minus th eirplatoon of tanks, and one of his CAAT tea ms fo rward. Bravo Com pa nypush ed ahead with a co rdo n of CAAT vehicles. T hey rea ch ed th erai lroad bridge a nd , as th e first track cres ted th e bridge , th e battalionradi o net crac kled , "TANKS! \Ve have e ne my tanks o n both sides of th eroad ." T he co lum n halt ed, th e lead track ba cked down fro m th e crest o fth e brid ge and several CAAT HM iVIWVs raced up o n to th e brid ge . T heyo pe ned fire with th eir .50 cal. machine gu ns whil e th e TOW gu n ne rsze ro ed in with th ei r deadly missiles and fired. T he m issiles screamedacross th e battlefield, trailing a wak e of smo ke. A di rect hit, o ne tankdown . T he TOW ve hicles worked in a ro u nd-ro bin fashi on . After firing ,th e HMMWV would d rive down off th e bridge to be replaced with aread y To\"r ve h icle. T h e Marin es were rel oading, ze roing in , and firingin rapid succession .

Soon , nine Iraqi tanks lay sile n t on th e battlefi eld. Ta n ks were not th eo nly threat at th e brid ge. Iraq i machine gun ners were firin g on th eMarines fro m bui ldings on eithe r side of th e road . Black-clad figures

BELOW 1/2 Marines deploy

south of An Nasiriyah on March

23 , 2003. Cobra heli copters arew aiting for th eir turn to support

the Marin es further north. (Photo

courtesy Capt. Harold

Qualkinbush USMC)

47

48

co uld be seen lobbing mortar shells a t th e Ma rin es fro m a distant roof,and small-arms lire was com ing fro m many locatio ns. Bravo Com panyand th e CAAT teams poured cont in uous streams of fire downrangetoward th e enemy. Mo re Cobras and fix ed-wing aircraft swooped intoth e battle, direct ed by Bravo Co mpany's FAC - "Mouth ."

The Marines d efeated a dug in tank com pany that was supported byinfantry and hea vy weapons in sho rt order. Within half an hour, th efighting had subsided to intermittent sniper fire. Grabowski had Alphaand Charlie Companies fan out again during th e light. Bravo Com pa nyand CAAT he ld th e road , and Alp ha and Charl ie tra cks protected th eflan ks. LtCo\. Grabowski was not going an y further unti l his tanksret urned to lead the way. T he T imberwolves waited for what seemed likean e te rn ity un til the first p latoon of tanks appeared. Team Tank andCAAT im mediat ely pus hed over the Railro ad Bridge toward j asiriyah .Bravo Company's Team Mech followe d Team Ta nk. Grabowski 's Alp haCo mmand Group fell in behind Team Mech . Alp ha Co m pa ny movedba ck up onto th e raised highway beh ind Gra bowski. Cha rl ie Co m pa nye nded up last in th e armore d co lum n. T h is would cha nge th e plann edorder of assault on th e Euph ra tes River Brid ge. Bravo Co m pa ny a nd th eCo mma nd Group would be first across th e rive r, foll owed by Alp haCompa ny. Charlie Co mpany would have to kee p in touch with theirba tta lio n co mmande r to know wh ich route th ey had taken.

As Charlie Company was movi ng up onto the road , C~09 aborted . Itjust qui t moving. T hird Sq uad had trained fo r this in CAX and inKuwait. They quick ly abandoned th e dead tra ck, leaving a fire team toprotect th e cripp led ve hicle, and jumped aboard C~ I0 and C~ I 1. Wh enCharlie Company's lead platoon was forc ed to sto p, Cap t. Wittnamordered 1st Platoon into th e lead . The 1st and ~d platoons ro lled pastSeely, Du nca n.jo h nson , and the rest of 3d Platoon as they scrambled \0

board C~ 10 and C2 11.Seely took over as the infantry co mmande r in C21 1, whi le Dunca n

jumped into th e back ofJ o hnso n 's tra ck. The troop co m part men t waswe ll over capac ity and Marines climbed onto the roof of the track toma ke room fix the extra me n. Duncan a nd J oh nso n climbed overMa rin es and forced their way forward and up onto th e bench. T hey werestand ing betwee n the legs of th e Ma rin es sitti ng inside , un abl e to moveth e ir feet without pushing the Marines below aside.

Dun can a nd J oh nso n stood back to back at th e front of th e track,M I()s resting o n th e sa nd bags th at were used Ior add itio na l pro tect ion .Dun can was righ t behind See ly. He could hear him ye lling a t his dri ve r,"Push ! Push ! Push !" C2 11 lurch ed forwa rd and raced north trying toca tch the tail e nd of th e co mpany.

Across the EuphratesCAAT and Team Tank rea ch ed the Euphrates Rive r first. They drove upon the large structure to lind th e city of An Nasiriyah and Ambush Alleyahead. From h is position several vehicles back , Grabowski thought ,"T here is no turning ba ck now. \\'e are co mm itted ."A~ soon as th e CAATHMivlWVs and the tanks reach ed th e northern bank of th e Euphrates,a ll he ll broke loose . Flashes erupted from every window and doorway.More e nemy lire rained down from sand bagged rooftop positions, andshots rang out from th e so uthern bank of th e river.

T he Marines o pe ned fire with everyth ing th ey had and immedi at elytook a hard right turn toward th e eas te rn side of the city. Vehiclesco n tin ue d to pour over th c Euphrates River Brid gc behind Team Ta n k.Bravo Co mpany's re mai ni ng tracks cla nge d ove r the bridge. T he n LtCol.Grabo wski was up on the bridge racing forward in to a fierce battlc . T hetwo com mand tracks drove into th e city, foll owed by th e dozen HM ivIWVsin the co lo nel's c nt ouragc. T hey all took a right turn and d isappearedin to the narr ow alleyways on th e easte rn side o f the high way.

T he alleys were so narrow tha t th c tanks were kn ocking ove r ca rts,a nd a t th e na rr owest points crum bling wallsjust to gct through . As BravoCo m pa ny a nd th c com ma nd gro up push ed to thc cast, Alpha Com pa nycrested th c bridgc . Wh en th ey reached the northern bank, th ey fannedo ut o n e ithe r side of th c ro ad and stop pe d . Bulle ts co n tinued to fly.

A2 12 was the last tra ck over, Inside th e trailing track, Alp haCo m pany' s first se rgea n t noti ced a civilia n taxi foll owing th em over th cbridge . He and several o the r Marines fran tically waved to th e taxi drive rto go ba ck. Th ey did n 't want civilians to ven tu re into th e fircfight. Asthey motioned , th e taxi cres ted the bridge and fo ur Iraqis jumped outand began fi ring at them. The Marines re tu rned fire , killin g all four.Seconds later another tax i appeared. It was immediately tak en out. T heTimbe rwol ves had ca p tured th e Euphra tes River Bridge , but now theywere surro unded .

T hc Marines in Alpha Co m pa ny's tracks n ervously wait ed in th c hotmetal box es. Finally, th e familia r order came, "Dismo un t!" a nd eac htrack 's heavy metal ramp fell. The Ma rin es poured out as the e n tire riflecompany depl oyed . As Alpha Co mpa ny's Marin es foug h t to defend th eirnewly captu re d prizes: Bravo Com pany reach ed the eas te rn edge of thecity a nd o pcn te rrain . T hey fan ned out in to an o pen fie ld . T he tracksg roa ne d and slowed, the n stoppe d . They we re stu ck. Some had sun k inmuck to th eir chassis. There was no tim e to war n th e o thers - tanks sunkto a halt , a nd HMMWVs slid int o the goocy mess, The easte rn thrus t was

LEF T 2d Battalion, 8th Div is ion

Marines on the Southea stern

Euphrates Riv er Bridge on the

morning of March 24, 2003.

Note that they are dress ed in

full woodland ca mouflage MOPP

ge ar, w ith w ebbing, and the

Marine on the far left is carrying

his M16A2 rifle . (Photo courtesy

USMC) 49

BELOW 3d Battalion, 2d Division

Marines moving through the

breach in the border berm

between Kuwait and Iraq.

(Photo courtesy Capt. Harold

Qualkinbush USMC)

co mplete ly bogged down . Man y veh icles sat moti onless. Then th e eas te rnroofto ps e ru pted with snipe r fire.

More and more buildings popped up alo ng th e road as Cha rlieCom pany reach ed the suburba n outskirts of An Nasiriyah . T hey passedan ind ustriali zed area with warehouses on th e le ft and la rge o il sto ragetanks on th e right. As they were approaching a lush stand of date palms,th ey noti ced th e largest struc tu re th ey had seen since leavin g Kuwait.J ust as th ey closed o n th e rea r of Alpha Co m pa ny, th ey saw a la rgeco nc re te bridge risin g in the distan ce: the Euphrates River Bridge hadto be a t least four sto ries ta ll.

C2 110 and C2 11 gro u nd forward , now at th e ta il e nd o f the co m panyand the batt a lio n. Duncan could see Charlie's lead track cres t thebridge. just as C20 I disap peared from sigh t, sho ts rang o ut. At first th ere po r t.s we re in th e distance. The Iraqis must have been firin g fro mnorth of th e Euphrates. Then to Duncan 's surprise, he heard crac ks.The so u nd was identical to th e mini so nic booms in the butts . Then hehea rd the ping of meta l hitting metal. C2 11 was be ing sho t at. Everymi n ut e or so , another ping o r crac k wo uld get Duncan 's a tten tio n .

LtCol. Grabowski tr ied to radio Charlie Com pany to warn Capt.Wiunam not to co me east, but he co uld not ge t through o n th e rad io.He tri ed and tried to co n tac t Wiunam , but there was no answer. Capt.Wittnam was pressin g over th e Euphrates Rive r Bridge behind AlphaCo m pa ny. As Wittnam cres ted th e bridge , he co uld see Alp ha Co mpa nyin defensive positions be low, but Bravo Com pany was nowhere in sigh t.

Witt na m mad e a command decision in the blin k of an eye . Heorde red Charlie Company straigh t up Am bush Alley. Afte r all, his orde rswere to sec ure th e Saddam Canal Brid ge , and he th ought that BravoCo mpa ny had probab ly go ne straight north. Even if th ey hadn 't , hisco mmande r's in ten t was clear. Charlie was to sec u re th e northern bridge.

50

CasualtiesCharl ie Co mpa ny pus heel straigh t ahea d th rough Ambush Alley, C W Ie nc oun te ring the fie rcest fire . Almost c\'c ry new alleyway shelte re d a nRPG o r machin e-gu n team. Rocket trails filled th e str ee t. So me whizz edwild ly in to the sky, o the rs were nca r m isses. A few RPGs hit th ei r ta rgetwith a thud a nd did not explode. T he gun ncr in th e lead tr ack was firin ga t everyt hing a nd a nything in his path .

Armed Iraq is poured into th e stree ts, wildly firin g AK-4is. RI'Gs . andmachine guns at th e adva ncing a rm o red co lumn. The Marines werere turning th e fire with even grcatc r fe ro ci ty a nd deadl y acc uracy. All th ewhi le , Charlie Company's tra cks ke pt movi ng . An a ma zin g II or the 12tra cks mad e it through th e gau ntle t. Duncan and J oh nson could see th eSadda m Canal Bridge in th e distan ce when a thunde rous explos io nro cked the ve hicle . An c ne my RPG had finally found its mark. T he rocke thit in thc right rear of thc track and spewed hot shrapne l into th ecro wded lroop co mpart mcnt. AIlJohnson could see was smoke billowingout or th c troop compart mc n t. "Glass is dead," one Marine yelled o ut.

Lt. Seely slap ped the tra ck drive r o n h is helmet. "Co! Co! Co, " heo rde red . Then he asked Dun can how many casualties th crc were , bUIDuncan co uld n 't tell. T here was 10 0 mu ch smo ke pourin g ou t o r th etr ack . He on ly kn ew th at th e Ma rin e next to him had been hi t. He wassc rcam ing in pai n . Duncan a nd J ohnson bo th lifted th e woundedMarine up on to thc track roo f'. His right Icg was blccding heavily; a largcmet al sha rd had sliced int o his thi gh .J ohnson quickly tied a to urn ique taro u nd his Icg to slow th e bleeding.

Mean whil e , Sgt. BiIZ, C2 11's drive r, was racin g fo rward at full speed.He was dri \'in g over, aro u nd and through obstacles in his path . Hepassed a co uple of tra cks and drove up ove r the Saddam Ca na l Brid gc.Irailing a co lum n of oi ly bla ck smoke . He raced ove r the bridgc andgro u nd th e crippled veh icle to a halt right in th e middle of th e ro ad .about 200 met ers north of the canal.

Seely hi t Bitz on the helme t aga in , "Dro p the ramp. Dro p th e ramp."T he grc nade had damaged the ra m p a nd it would not ope n . See lyj um ped from his hatch a nd moved alo ng th c top or the troopcom pa rt mcn t. "C e t out! Ge t ou t," he ordered .

Sgt. Will iam Scharer had been rid ing in C20 I a t th e head or th eCo mpa ny. C2 11 had co me to rest within met e rs or Sch arer's track. Hera n over and opened th e small ba ck door, th e re for just such a ncmerge ncy. Smo ke billowed o ut , followed by the Mari nes. Joh nson a ndDuncan handed an injured man , Mead, down from th e to p or th e track,a nd th en th eyjumped down 10 try to ga ther the ir sq ua ds a nd help withth e casualtics . They both raced to th e rear or C2 11. O ne Ma rine hadnearl y lost his leg, and his fell ow Ma rin es were o rd ered to ge t him to th eco rpsmcn as qu ickly as possible . T he Ma rines scoo ped up th e casua ltiesa nd ca rried thcm down off th e road , o ut or th e lin e of encmy firc .

Duncan a nd J ohnson gra bbe d a wounded Ma rin e a nd , dodging thcbull ets th at were slapping agai ns t th e side of th e burn ing track . randown the side o f th e ra ised road and plopped their load on th e gro undat a hastily a rranged aid sta tion . Co rp sme n began working on th eMarine immediately. In addi tion 10 Mead a nd Glass, th e re were twomo re wounded Ma rin es. One had a severe leg wound and a Gun ny hadbeen tempo ra rily bl inded. 51

52

As th e co rpsme n were tending to th e wounded , Lt. Seely wasdeploying his Marin es. He sent seve ra l to th e berm east of th e road , a ndhe ordered the rest \0 follow him to the western side of th e road. T heroad was ra ised above the surrounding te rrain and th e ene my wasswee ping the roa d with machine gun and sma ll-arms fi re. Seely wen t first,not knowing how many of h is me n wou ld follow. All te n of th e Marinesfollowed th eir platoon leade r ac ross th e eleva ted road to th e western sid e.The Mari nes dove for cover in a water-filled dit ch along th e side of th eroad. Sudden ly, a Marine splashe d down almos t on top of Seely. It was Sgt.Bitz, face to face with Seely, still wea rin g his AMTRAC crew helmet andcarrying his ~IIG . He smi led at Seely, " It looks like I'm a Gru nt now, Sir."

As See ly's Ma rin es we re racin g across the road , enemy morta r roundsbega n to fall , first in the distance , then clos er with eac h volley,T he Iraq iswere pounding Charl ie Co mpany with everyth ing th ey had - art ille ry,mortars, RPGs, machine gu ns and small-arms fire from both sides of th eroad and south of th e canal.

T h e Iraq i I I th In fa n try Division com mande r had expec ted anAmerica n airborne assa ult int o th e open fields northeast of th e city. So,he had positioned his troops a nd ind irect fire asse ts so tha t they werezeroed in on th e Ikm-Ion g (O.G miles) e leva ted road no rt h of th eSaddam Ca nal. Cha rl ie Com pany had sto pped right in th e middle o f thcIraq i com mander's fire sack.

Duncan and Johnson dived across Mead and Glass when th ey heardthe mortar rou nds whistli ng in , shi e lding th e wounded Mari nes.Meanwhil e , th e FiST had se t up his th ree GOm m mo rta rs nea rby. Cha rl ieCom pany's mort a r team s were in a deadl y d uel with th e Iraq is. Afterseveral minutes, th c Iraq is zerocd in o n one o f th e Marine's mortars.Another mortar ro u nd came whistling in , Duncan and Johnson shi e ldedth eir charges again , and J oh nson watched as th e round landed amid th eMari ne mortar team.

T he Weapons Platoo n Leader, 1st Lt. .lames Re id , a nd the FO werebo th th ro wn in th e air, three Marines lay dead, and a no ther four werewounded. Amazingly, Reid was still alive. He looked around and saw th ed ead and wounded Marines , rose to his feet , a nd sprinted towardDuncan , J ohnson and th e co rpsmen to ge t help for his men. Anotherround landed not ten feet in front of him . It knocked h im to th e gro undagain . I-Ie ro se ag ain . His face had been peppered with sh ra pne l a ndone of h is eyes was ba d ly in jured. He thoug ht that he had lost h is eye.Reid ra n to h is mortar track and asked a Gu n ny. "How is my eye? Is itgone?" T hen the Gunny care fully inspected the wou nd . "Yo u are goodto go, Sir." Re id turned to th e men in th e track a nd orde re d them tohelp th e wounded. "11' I don 't co me ba ck, load th em up and ge t th emso uth to safety, no matter how much it hurts." Then Re id turned and ranto find his com pany co mma nder.

By now, Sgt. Schaf er, with Dun can and J ohnson 's hel p, was loadingth e wounded and dead Marin es in to C20 I, C20G, and C208. Schafer,un able to co n tac t an y of his office rs, was co nside ring leading th e th reetra cks ba ck through Ambush Alley to ge t th e wounded to safety. Therewas no way anyone co uld bring a helicopter into thi s firelight. Drivingth e wounded south was th e only way to ge t th em help.

Charlie Company was still ta king hea vy fire . Even some of th e woundedwere re turning fire with th eir rifles. Schafer immedi ately o rdered th e th ree

tracks to button up and move out. Duncan andJohnsonjumped int o C206.J ohnson wanted to check to make sure everyone "~L~ aboard. "Holdth e ramp. Let me take one last look ." T hen he jumped out for a sweep orth e area.

A morta r round screa med in and J ohnson went down . C206's dri verhad a lrea dy bcgun to ro ll forwa rd . O ne of th e pa ssengers relied fo r th edri ver to halt , but by th e tim e th ey had stopped, J ohnson was lying in aheap nea rly 100 met ers from th e ve h icle .

Duncan sprin ted to his friend, pulled him up into a fireman 's ca rrya nd ran back toward C206. By th e tim e Duncan reach ed th e track , hewas spe n t. I-I e ge n tly lowe red J ohnson o n to th e floor o r th e track ,sho uted for th e co rpsman, and th en he co llapse d . C206's d river gun nedth e e ng ine a nd raced sou th over th e Saddam Canal. Schafe r hadstop pe d all three tr acks when J ohnson was hit. ow C206 led th e medevac co lu m n so ut h . C208 fo llowed C206, and C20 I was th e last track upon to thc brid ge .

T he lead track was just com ing down 01'1' th e bridge when athunde rous explos io n e rupted between C206 and C208. T he roof ofC20Gcaved in a nd its back ram p crashed ope n , but th e track kept ro llingforward . Sec o nds la te r C208 received a direct hit, blowing th e vehiclenearl y in half. C20 I lost its stee ring and ran into a telephone pole. Allth e Ma rin es in C20 1 poured out into a house along th e side of th e road .Meanwhile , th e driver and track com ma nder of C208 clim bed ou t ofth ei r man gled tr ack , both wou nded but miracul ously still alive. TheMarines in th e tro op com part men t neve r kn ew what had h it th em.

T he two wounded tracke rs lim ped to th e house with th e o the rMarines. T hey took re fuge th e re u n til th ey could be rescu ed. C206co n tin ued so uth th rough Am bush Alley. By the tim e they rea ched AlphaCom pany's position a t th e Euphrates Rive r, th e rest of Gra bo wski's tankshad a rrived. C206 ro lled into Alp ha Com pany's position and a RPG

LEFT Charlie Company Marines

carry a wounded comrade during

the battle for the northern bridge

over the Euphrates River.

(Courtesy of Joe Raedle/Getty

Images)

53

54

ABOVE 1st Sgt. Jose Henao of

Ch arli e Company, 1st Ba ttalion,

2d Marin es , inspec t s the burned

out hulk of C211 , the first

AMTRAC hit in Ambush Alley.

(Courtesy of David Dunfee USMC)

screamed out of a building. It hi t the side of th e track , ro cking itfur iously. A seco nd RPG sho t th rough the air and we nt in th rough theback o pen ing. T he explos io n sto ppe d th e ve h icle dead in its tracks.

Alpha Co m pa ny Ma rin es ran to th e crip pled track. T he first Marineth e re fou nd a pile of twisted metal. He could n' t be lieve it whe n he hea rda gro a n. Two Marin es we re buried in th e pile of de bris with the ce n te rbeam of th e troop co m pa rt ment roof covering th em. O ne of th eMa rin e 's helmets was nearly cru shed under th e weight of the heavymet al su pport and he was pinned at th e head. but he was alive. T heMarines began to ca re fully try to extrac t him . "An y aircraft, a ny airc raft!This is 'Kool Aide ' on TAD. I have immediate need fo r med-evac inNasiri yah. " Alpha Co mpa ny's FAC broadcast over and over un til he go ta response . His ca ll for hel p was relayed to the reg imental headq uarterswhere two "Ph rogs" were waiti ng on standby for j ust th is sort of m issio n.

Ca pt. Eric Garcia ra n to his waiting CH-46 with his crew and took toth e skies . They headed north. "Kool Aide , thi s is Pa ro le-Two-Fiveinbound o n mcd- evac," Ga rcia announced to th e FAC o n th e ground ."Paro le-Two-Five, we are just north of th e Euphrates Rive r Bridge. Thearea is as sec ure as we can mak e it, bu t we are tak ing fire. The LZ isI·IOT." With out hesitat ion , Garcia responded, "Roge r, Kool Aide ," Heo rdered Pa rol e-Two-Six to sta nd o ff a nd no t to land. The n, Garciafoll owed his guns h ip esco rts across th e Euphrates Rive r and se t downrigh t in th e middle o f Alpha Co m pa ny's raging fireli ght. He wait ed asDuncan was ca re fully removed fro m the wreckage a nd quickly rush ed toth e back of the wait ing med-evac heli copt e r. Marines rushed him in toth e Ph ro g and strugg led to lay him o n o ne of th e litt e rs mounted o n th ewa lls of the hel icopte r. "Put him down . Pu t hi m down ," the crew ch ief

commanded . T he un conscious Marin e was laid o ut on th e deck. Ga rciaraced the e ng ines and lifted back in to th e air o nce he heard the cre wch ief shou t, "Go! Go ! Go !" Within seconds , Paro le-Two-Five was back outover th e Iraqi d esert and flying toward a fie ld hospi tal in Kuwait.

Back at C206, J ohnson , who had been pinned under Dun can , wasdazed but uninju red. He climbed from the wreckage an d was moved intoa building where the less seriously wounded casualties were bein g hou sed.

AFTER THE BATTLE

Just afte r Ga rcia 's helicop te r lifted into the blu e sky, Capt. Bro o ksordered his men to mo unt up. Alpha Co mpany p ushed forward th roughAmbush Alley to rein fo rce Charlie Com pany, no rth of th e canal. BravoCo mpany met Alpha in the cen ter of Ambush Alley and th ey, too , movedacross th e bridge. As th e su n set, all of the Timberwolves were north ofthe Saddam Canal, guard ing the northern brid ge. "Ame rica' s Batta lion"moved in beh ind I/ 2 and th ey sec ured th e Euph ra tes River Bridge.

Med-evacDu ring th e flight Duncan moved in and out of consciousnes s. He hadno idea where he was. The re were two Marines huddled over him. Heco uld hear th em talking but he was missing most of the words. T he twomen wo rking intently to stabilize Duncan were actua lly Navy co rpsme n.T hey inse rted IV d rips, administered morphine, and co n tinue d tomonito r Duncan 's vita l signs as Garcia raced so ut h . Duncan d rift ed backinto semi-co nsciousness again and fe lt the cho ppe r ge n tly touchingdown. He though t th at th is had to be the smoothes t landing he had everexpe rienced in one of these warhorses. In an instan t, th e familiarco rpsme n were at h is side and o the rs were carrying his litte r fro m th ehel icopte r. He was ru sh ed towa rd a MASH uni t tent.

ABOVE A Humvee or HMMWV

from Task Force Tarawa and

MAG-29 Phrog alongside Route

Moe, just south of An Nasiriyah,

March 23, 2003. (Courtesy of

Kevin Ellicot USMC)

55

56

RIGHT US Marin es care for their

casual t ie s at th e 2d Battalion,

8th Marin es Battalion Aid

Stat ion, south of An Nasiriyah, on

March 24 , 2003. The modern-day

Marine Corps boasts excellent

medic al ca re that saves the lives

of many Marin es who would not

have been so lucky in previous

w ars . (Court esy of Kevin Ellicot

USMC)

Hal fway there , th e Marines were met by a gro up of a rmy medi cs a ndnurses . T hey quick ly took th e litte r and ru sh ed Duncan in side. Duncanfe lt a rus h of cool a ir. It was th e lirst air-conditioned a ir he had felt sinceleaving th e sh ip . He was hoisted on to a n ope ra ting tabl e. T he ligh ts werebri ghter th an th e sun. He on ly had an instant to see a ga ng of su rge o nsa nd scrub nurses descend UpOIl h im. They were cutt ing off his clo thes .Du nca n was o ut co ld, kn ocked out by the anaest het ist.

In a ny ot he r war, a wounded Ma rin e like Du nca n never would havesurvived h is life-th reaten ing inj ury. Today, a he ro ic pi lot and h is fligh tcre w had literally yan ked him fro m the jaws of dea th . N;I\]' co rpsmenhad ad m inistered life-saving first aid as th e air ambulance raced so uth .Duncan was brought to a fie ld hospit al th at wou ld rival a ny hosp itale merge ncy room in th e world . He was immediat ely di agnosed a ndstabilized . T he n he was load ed onto another heli copter a nd flown to th egia n t whi te hosp ita l ship , SS Comjorl, a t a nchor in th e Pe rsian Gu lf".Du ncan remained unconscious, never eve n knowing that he had beenflown out of th e war zo ne .

T hree days afte r drifting olf on th e Kuwaiti operating tabl e , Duncanawok e with three-quarters o f h is lace bandaged . He was in th e gia n tAmerica n medical facilit y in Landstul , Ge rma ny. T he hospi tal di rector,Col. (Dr.) Ronda Co rnu m , checked o n Duncan as soo n as shc hea rd thathe had regain ed co nsc io usness. She had a specia l int e rest in a ll of theyoung casualties , having su rvived a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Iraqdu ring Desert Storm, on ly to be captu re d a nd held prisone r for nearl y aweek. Co l. Corn um spe n t nearly ;~O minutes at Duncan 's bedsid e , tellinghim about his injuries and what the medica l sta ll' had done to save hislife. Duncan didn 't spend much tim e a t Landstul . T he next morning hewas loaded 0 1110 a n air fo rce bus o utfitt ed to ca rry litt e rs. Duncan wasthe first pa tient ca rried aboard. Covere d in bandages a nd still in a neckbrace , he co uld o nly see a small rea d ing lam p above his head . T heseco nd man aboard th e bus was placed righ t across th e aisle fro mDuncan . He quickly discovered th at th is man was Lt. Reid .

The fight for BaghdadMeanwhile , th e Marines of the RCT-I bega n moving th rough AmbushAlley on the day aft e r RCT-2's bloody ba tt le for th e easte rn brid ges, a ndRCT-5 and RCT-7 pushed no rt h across th c far western brid ge th a t 3/ 2had secured the previous day. LtCo!' Edd ie Ray's 2d Light Ar moredReconnaissan ce Battalion crossed the ea ste rn bridges, sho t past j ohnsonand the T imberwolves, a nd the n up Highway 7 toward Baghdad as RCT5 led th e cha rge up Highway 8. Ray's LAVs did no t ge t vc ry far beforethey becam e' heavily engage d with Iraq i forces th at were moving so ut hto re in fo rce th e be leagu e red fight e rs in An Nas iriyah . 2d LAR's heavilyarmed Light Armored Ve h icles decim ated th e Iraq is before th ey evengo t within firin g ra ng e of th e Ameri ca n Mari nes .

RCT-I wait ed un til aft e r n igh tfa ll o n the 24 th to charge throughAmbush Alley and didn 't catch up with LtCo!. Ray's Marines un til themorning of th e 25t h . T he Ma rin es of th e 1st Ma rin e Divisio n cha rgc dno rth on a two-pronged a tta ck until a massive sa nds to rm stopped theAmeri ca n adva nce in its tracks. O n th e afternoo n of th e 25t h, th e sto rmmo rphed in to to rre ntial ra ins, thu nd er, a nd ligh tn ing.

American mi litary com ma nders took th is opportu nity to re-su p plyth e fo rward co mba t un its. Afte r th e bloody battle fo r An Nas ir iyah , thenews media reported that the invasion was "bogging down ." Bu t o ncethe weather had cleared a nd the fo rwa rd u nits had bee n re-supplied, theArmy and Marines ro lled forwa rd aga in .

Afte r the expe riences in An Nasir iyah , co mmanders in th e 1stMari ne Division tri ed hard to avoid majo r Iraqi populati on ce n te rs.RCT-5 and RCT-7 charge d up Highway 8 past Ad Diwani yah , whi le RCTI adva nced up Highway 7 to Al Kut, RCT-5 a nd RCT-7 moved back to th ecas t a nd re jo ined RCT-I at th e Iraq i town of Sabat. From th e re , th ee n tire division push ed no rth for th e last I()Ikm ( 100 mi les) on th eeaste rn ro ad into Baghdad .

T he 1st Marine Division enc o un te re d ever-inc re asing res ista nce asth ey moved close r to Saddani 's ce n te r of power. By th e time thc Ma rin esreached Baghdad, th e Iraq i leade rsh ip was o n the run . They moved in to

LEFT Marines from the

1st Battalion, 2d Marine

Regiment, clear a small village

near th e southern Iraqi city

of An Nasiriyah. (Courtesy

of Joe Raedle/Getty Im ages) 57

RIGHT An Iraqi boy on the

outskirts of An Nas iriyah .

(Photo court esy Capt. Harold

58 Qualk inbush USMC)

th e ce nte r o f Bagh dad a nd skirted th e eas te rn side of th e city, a ll th cwh ile e ncou n te ring pocke ts of resistance . Within days, the Marines hadsile nced organ ized cncmy res istance in the ca pita l.

Meanwhile . j ohnson and the res t of 1/ 2 spent th e last week of Marchse ll ing up checkpoin ts a nd ro ad blocks, north of An Nas iriyah . T heyco ntin ued to expa nd th ei r sec urity pe rime te r unt il it e ngulfed all th ero ads and bridges lead ing in to An Nasir iyah fro m the north . AnNasiriyah remained surro unded as th e rest o f RCT-2 worked to clea r th eso u the rn part of the city of th e rcmaining Ba 'a th Party and Fcda yec nholdou ts. As Tas k Force Tarawa worked to sec ure the ci ty, co nvoy afte rco nvoy ro lled through Ambush Alley and over the bridges th at th eT im berwolves had fought so hard to secure.

After a wee k of lighting , Task Force Tarawa defeated Sad damsFedayeen fighte rs in and around An Nas iriya h . Na to ns ki's Brigadc wasrei n forced with two ME s. Once re inforced, Task Force Tarawa movednorth a nd fanned o ut to sec u re most of southe rn Iraq . Majo r co mbatopera tio ns were ove r fo r the Marin es of Task Force Tarawa but the nextco uple of months would be filled with some small skirm ishes a ndsecurity a nd stabilizatio n o peratio ns. By Ap ril 7, th e Marin es of 1stDivision were at th e gates o f Baghdad. T here were several days of intenselighting but the Iraq i lighte rs quickly melt ed away into the civilianpopula tio n . T he wa r had been wo n, but winning the peace would pro veto be much mo re di fficult ,

Task Fo rce Tarawa pa trolle d th e streets of th e towns of th e Fe rt ileCrescen t. They met with local o llic ials, handed out food a nd wat er, andsta rted rebuildi ng Iraq. T he Marines tu rned fro m co nquest to reli e fo pe ratio ns. T hey pro vided med ical ca re for the people ; they re pa ire de lec tr ica l ne tworks and wate r pumping sta tio ns . T hey rebui lt bridges,schools, and mosques. Most impo rtantly, th ey mai n tai ned o rde r a ndsta rted to aid the local population in rebui ld ing thei r lives in ad em ocracy. T he MEB sta ff began measuring success by th e number o fIraq i ch ild ren re turning to school.

Cam p Leje u ne 's Marines we re moved ba ck to Kuwait a nd loadedo nto the ir ATF-E sh ips by May 18 for thei r mon th-long j ourney ho mc. Ina sho rt six months, they had trave led halfway a ro und the wo rld to fightth e first majo r battl e of O pera tion i raqi Freedom; th ey had brought a newstability to so uthe rn Iraq , and re turned to the ir fam ilies in No rt hCa ro lina. Sadda m Husse in had been defeated but the war still ragcd.Somc of Task Force Tarawa 's Marin es would ret urn to civilia n life , butmost would re tu rn to Iraq in the months to co me.

ABOVE A peaceful crowd of

Iraqi civilians meet 2d Battalion,

8th Division Marines in AI Kut.

After several tense moments

the crowd dispersed with no

incident. After the fighting was

over, ordinary Marines faced

perhaps greater challenges

during the stabilization

operations as they worked

to win the support of the local

population. Note also the press

figure with camera standing

amongst the Marines. Operation

Iraqi Freedom attracted constant

controversy and media attention.

(Courtesy of Kevin Ellicot USMC)

LEFT Marines in An Nas iriyah

help distribute flour to hungry

c ivilians. The supplies had been

stockpiled by the Iraqi military.

(Courtesy of Joe Raedle/Getty

Images) 59

GLOSSARY

81s 81mm Mortar Platoon IFF Identification-Friend or FoeAAV Assault Amphibian Vehicle I MEF 1st Marine Expeditionary ForcesAC E Aviat ion Combat Element (USMC) IS Immediate SuppressionAMTRAC Amphibious Tracked Vehicle (AAV) KIA Killed In ActionAO Air Officer LAAD Light Anti-Aircraft Defense system , mountedARG Amph ibious Ready Group on HMMWVATF-E Amphibious Task Force - East ("the LAR Light Armored Reconnaissance

Magnificent Seven") LAV Light Armored VehicleATO Air Tasking Order LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicle with 25mmAVLB Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges Bushmaster automatic cann onBAS Battalion Aid Station LAV-AT Light Armored Vehicle - Anti-tank - TOWBOA Battle Damage Assessment missile launcherBDRM Soviet wheele d armored reconnaissance LCAC Land ing Craft Air Cushioned

vehicle LCU Land ing Craft Util ityBDU Battle Dress Uniform LHA Landing Helicopter Assault (Ship)BMP Russian-bu ilt tracked, armored personne l LHD Landing Helicopter Dock (Ship)

carrier LNO Liaison OfficerBTR-60 Soviet-made wheeled infantry vehic le LOD Line of DepartureC3 Command, Cont rol, and Comm unicat ions LPD Landing Platfo rm Dock (Ship)CAAT Com bined Anti-Armor Team LSD Landing Supply Dock (Ship)CAG Civil Act ion Group - interpreters LVS Four-wheel dr ive heavy lift vehicleCAS Close Air Support LZ Landing ZoneCAX Combined Arms Exercise MAG Marine Air GroupCENTCOM US Central Command MAGTF Marine Air Ground Task ForceCFF Call For Fire MAW Marine Air WingCFLCC Combined Force Land Component MCAGCC Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

Commander (Twentynine Palms, Ca.)Chop Remov ing unit from its parent and assigning MEB Marine Expedit ionary Brigade

it to anoth er unit MEF Marine Expeditionary ForceCOC Command Operations Center MEU (SOC) Marine Expedit ionary Unit (Specialcom ms Communications Operati ons Capable)CP Command Post MK148 Four Pack HMMWV containing a highCSSA Combined Services and Support Area power radio01 Drill Instructor MLRS Mult iple Launch Rocket SystemEAAK External Applique Armor Kit (for AAVs) MOPP Mission Oriented Protective PostureEPW Enemy Prisoner of War MOS Military Occupational SpecialtyFAC Forward Air Controller MOUT Mil itary Operations in Urban TerrainFARP Forward Area Resupp ly Point MRE Meal-Ready-to -EatFAST Forward Area Support Team MSR Main Supply RouteFINEX Final Exercise MTLB Soviet armored , amphibious, multi -pu rposeFiST Fire Support Team personnel carrierFLOT Forward Line of Troops NATO North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationFO Forward Observer NBC Nuclear, Biological, and ChemicalFOB Forward Operating Base NCO Non-Commissioned OfficerFROG Free Rocket over Ground - Russian-bu ilt NVGs Night Vision Goggl es

artillery rocke t Phrogs Marine nickname for Sea Knight CH-46FSB Forward Support Battalion helicopterFSC Fire Support Coordinator PL Phase LineGCE Groun d Combat Element POW Prisoner of WarGP General Purpose PT Physical TrainingGPS Global Posit ioning System RAP Rocket-Ass isted ProjectileHE High Explosive RCT Regimental Combat TeamHEAT High Explosive Anti Tank RGFC Republican Guard Forces CommandHEMTT Heavy Expanded Mob ility Tactical Truck RIP Relief in PlaceHET Heavy Equipment Transporter ROC Rehearsal of ConceptHHC Headquarters and Headquarters Company ROE Rules of EngagementHMMWV High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle RORO Roll-On, Roll-Off - military cargo ships have

60 IFAV Infant ry Fast Attack Vehicle RORO capability

RPGRPVRRPSA-2SAMSAWSCUDSeabeesSEADSEAL

SFSkidsSnakeSOC

50150SSTA

Rocket-Propelled GrenadeRemote- Piloted VehicleRapid Re-supply PointRussian-built Surface-to-Air missileSurface-to-Air MissileSquad Automatic WeaponRussian Ballistic missileUS Navy Construction BattalionSuppression of Enemy Air DefensesSea, Air, and Land - US Navy's elitecommando unit.Special ForcesMarine nickname for Cobras and HueysMarine nickname for a Cobra helicopterSpec ial Operations Capable - USMC as inMEU (SOC)School of InfantrySpecial Operations Squadron - USAFSurveillance and Target Acquisition

TAATCPTEWTTFTFSTOCTOW

TRAPUAVUSMCUSNS

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(platoon/t eam) snipersTactical Assembly AreaTactical Control PointTactical Exercise Without TroopsTask ForceTactical Fighter SquadronTact ical Operations CenterTube-launched, Opt ically-tracked, Wireguided, antitank missileTact ical Recovery - Aircraft and PersonnelUnmanned Aerial VehicleUnited States Marine CorpsUnited States Naval Ship - ships of themilitary sealift commandUnited States ShipVertical Take Off and LandingWeapon Systems Officer - WSO inbackseat of Air Force jetsRadar-guided Anti-Aircraft-Artillery

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson ,.Io n Lee, Th e Fall oj Baghdad, Pcn guin Press, 1 ew York, 2004Clancy, Tom, Ma rin e - A Guided Tour oj a Marin e EXjmlilioll fll), VIIit,

Berkley, New York, 1996Lowry, Richard S., Marines ill the Garden ofEdell, Berklev, New York, 200 6, 'J ,

Murray, Williamson , and Robert Sca les, TI/{~ Iraq War: A Mililfll )' History,Harvard niversity Press, Cambridge, 2003

Pollack, Kenneth , The Th reatening Storm, Random House, j ew York, 2002Rick, Thomas , M aking II/(! COl/IS, Scribner, New York, 1998Roux, Gcorgcs, A ncien t Ira q, Pcn guin Books (3rd ed .) , London , 1992Stockman, j ames R. Capt. (USMC) , Marin es in World II'tn' II Historical

M on obrmjJh - Th e Battle [or Tarauia, Histo rical Section , Division o fPublic Info rmation Headquarte rs, US Marine Co rps, 1947

Trcwhiu, Ph ilip , Armored Fighling Vehicles - 300 oj II/{! toorld's grea((~\1

mililfll )' vehicles, Barnes & Noble Books, New Yo rk, 1999Wcst, Bing and Ray L Major Gc nc ral US~\'IC (Ret.) Smith, Th e Mardi

VjJ, Ban tam Boo ks, New York, 2003

61

COLOR PLATE COMMENTARY

62

A : TASK FORCE TARAWA MARINEFrom their lightweight waterproof boots to their Kevlarhelmets, Marine infantrymen were som e of the best equipped war fighters in the world. Their cloth ing was madeof the most advanced materials, designed to be light , yetdurable. The camouflage patterns on their outer garmentswere scientifically developed to provide maximum cover ineither wooded or desert environments.

Here our composite character, Cpl. Terrell Johnson, canbe seen dressed to fight on any battle field . He is carrying thestandard M16A2 rifle, equipped with a M203 grenadelauncher. He has standard-issue gogg les, which were anabsolute necessity during desert sandstorms.

Johnson is wearing his MOPP suit pants and jumper whichprovide protect ion against nuclear, biological, and chemicalattacks . The Marines trained continually at donning the restof their protect ive clothing: mask, hood, heavy rubber gloves,and boot ies which were all carried in a pouch strapped totheir upper thigh. Every Marine was issued a Kevlar helmetand flak vest to protect their head and torso from small-armsfire and shrapnel, and they were given knee pads and glovesto protect their knees and hands from minor injuries.

Task Force Tarawa Marines were all issued Marine desertcamouflage utilit y uniforms which included a desertcamouflage helmet cover, but they received MOPP suits inwoodland camouflage. MOPP suits are stored in airtightpackag ing and will become ineffective after a few days ofexposure to the atmosphere. Most MOPP suits weremanufactured to provide protect ion to American servicemenin a potential war with the former Soviet Union. A war withthe Soviet Union would most certainly have been fought inthe forests of Europe, so it made sense to use woodlandpatterns for the MOPP suits. These suits had been sitt ing onsupply shelves, collecting dust , since the fall of the SovietUnion. Now, the suits were needed and commandersdecided to provide the protect ive garments to all of thetroops even though they were green . This strangecombination of desert and woodl and camouflage gave TaskForce Tarawa Marines a unique look.

1. M249 Squad Automatic Weapon uses the sameStandard NATO 5.56mm ammunition as the M16A2 rifle

2a. Standard NATO 5.56mm ball round2b. Standard NATO 5.56mm tracer round3a. Mk113 gas mask3b. MOPP suit protect ive hood4a. Woodland camouflage pattern of MOPP hooded jacket4b. Gas mask pouch4c . Knee pads4d. Desert boots

5. Web belt with canteen and ammunition pouches6. Back pack and camelback (only drinking tube is visible)7. Flak vest

B: RECRUIT TRAININGAt Parris Island, South Carolina and at the Marine CorpsRecruit Depot , San Diego, California , teenagers are turnedinto Marines. The transformation is com plete in body, mind,and spirit. The moment these young men step off the busand onto the painted yellow footprints on the pavement

beneath them, they are molded and shaped . All vestiges oftheir past life are taken away, including their hair. Then, theyare rebuilt in the Marine Corps mold . By the end of theirtraining, they move together as one. They think and act alike.They become Marines.

C: COMBINED ARMS EXERCISEThis is where the Marines put it all together. Fixed and rotarywing air support, lift helicopter crews, Combined Anti-ArmorTeams (CAAl), Amphibious Armored Vehicles (AAVs), M1A1Abrams tanks, mortars, artillery, and logistic support are allcombined in support of Marine infantry. During this training, theMarines become an integrated Marine Air Ground Task Force(MAGTF), a combined arms team unequaled in the world.

Seen here are infantrymen dismounting from their AAVP7AMTRAC amphibious tracto r as an M1A1 Abrams tank , aCAAT TOW gunner and an AH-1 COBRA gunship providesupport ing fire in the sandy southern Californ ia desert. TheMarine Corps Air, Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) atTwentynine Palms, Californ ia, is one of the few trainingfacili ties large enough to support regimental-level, combinedarms, live-fire exercises.

ABOVE Homemade mileage signposts dotted Camp

Shoup in the Kuwaiti desert. This particular signpost wa s

constructed by Marines of the 2d Reg iment's Intelligence

shop. (Courtesy of Joe Muccia USMC)

D: AN NASIRIYAHThe fighting began along Route Moe at an uncharted railroadoverpass near the Euphrates River when the Marinesencountered a dug- in Iraqi tank company supported bymortars and infantry. The Forward Air Controllers (FACs) of1/2 Marines immediately called for close air suppo rt andMarine Cobras swooped in.

Just as they had practiced at Combined Arms Exercise inTwentynine Palms, CMT TOW gunners methodically fired ondug-in Iraqi tanks, while the Cobra gunships overhead fired onanything that moved. Cobras provide the Marines withextensive airborne close air support capabilities. The Gatlinggun can lay down massive amounts of directed fire on theenemy. Cobras can also carry extremely accurate Hellfireantitank missiles and Hydra rocket pods, which can fill an areathe size of a football field with deadly fire in a single salvo.

E: CAMP SHOUPTask Force Tarawa's Marines carved a home out of thenorthern Kuwaiti desert wasteland, waiting for the order tomove into Iraq. Camp Shoup (named after Col. David M.Shoup, the 2d Marine Regiment's commanding officer at thebattle of Tarawa, Medal of Honor winner and eventualcommandant of the Marine Corps), housed the modern-dayRegimental Combat Team-2 (RCT-2) with in its berms.

Everyday life for the Marines in Kuwait was Spartan at best.The availability of electricity was limited. The Marines slept onthe sand floors of their tents and washed themselves and theirclothes in cold water. The desert sand invaded everything ongood days, and weekly sandstorms filled the sky, browningout the sun. The larger storms pulled tent pegs from theground, topp ling tents and scattering everything that wasn'tnailed down.

The Marines' days were filled with waiting. They readbooks, magazines, and old newspapers, and wrote lettershome. They made makeshift road signs which displayed howfar it was to their home. Their boredom was interspersed withtraining, drills, PT, and constant cleaning of their weaponsand equipment. Even in the barren desert , out of the view ofanyone but themselves, they proudly displayed the crimsonand gold United States Marine Corps' flag.

F: MED-EVACCasualties were moved to safety and life-saving medicalattention faster in Operation Iraqi Freedom than in any otherwar in history. Heroic pilots and their CH-46 crews landed inhot landing zones (LZs) while the fighting still raged to whisktheir charges to state-of-the-art medical facilities which

rivaled any major metropolitan emergency room, savingmany Marine lives.

Here, Capt. Eric Garcia lands along Highway 7, north ofthe Saddam Canal, in the midst of 1st Battalion , 2d Marines'battle on March 23, 2003. Capt. Garcia returned to thebattlefield, landing three times in all. Each time he and hiscrew whisked wounded Timberwolves to safety and vitalmedica l attention. He saved more than one Marine's life thatday, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his selflessact ions under enemy fire.

The CH-46 "Sea Knight " helicopter has been in service inthe United States Marine Corps since the Vietnam War. It isa workhorse used for many different missions. It can lift 25fully equipped Marines into battle and can be used to ferrysupplies to Marines on the battlefield. One of the "Phrogs"most important capabilities is its ability 10 be conf igured asan airborne ambulance .

G: MARINES ON PARADEThe dress blue uniform of the United Stales Marine Corps isunique and filled with tradition. It is made from the colors ofthe US flag - red, white and blue. Each button bares the Eagle,Globe, and Anchor insignia, the oldest American militaryinsignia in continued use.

The scarlet stripe or "blood stripe" that runs down eachtrouser leg of commissioned and non-commissioned officersoriginally honored the Marines who had fallen in the "Halls ofMontezuma", during the 1846-48 Mexican War. Today, thestripes honor all of the Marines who have fallen throughouthistory, defending freedom and democracy. The high-neckcollar is a remnant from the American Revolution when Marineswore leather stock to protect their necks from sword blowsdur ing ship boardings, earning them the nickname of"leathernecks." The uniform can be worn in severalconfigurations depending on the occasion; Blue Dress A (withmedals), Blue Dress B (with ribbons), Blue Dress C (sky bluetrousers with khaki shirt, field scarf and ribbons), and BlueDress C (short sleeved khaki shirt and ribbons).

Marine officers have carried the Mameluke Sword since1804, when Lt. Presley O'Bannon was presented with one byHamet Karamanli after his victory at Tripoli during the BarbaryWars. The sword is a replica of those carried by Karamanli'sMameluke tribesmen and to this day commemorates theCorps' first victory on foreign soil.

BELOW Camp Shoup during a minor sandstorm.

(Photo courtesy Capt. Harold Qualkinbush USMC)

63

64

INDEX

Re fe re n H 'S 10 illusmuions are shown illhold. Plan-s a n ' shown with pa~,' andcaption lo cat o rs in b rackets,

aircraftu-n ,\ 11· 1 Cuhrn I!l, 20 , C, D (:I:,- :\ i ,

li2- li:\ ) . "7, ·IilIol' i ll ~ ,\\,-1'11 l la rru-r l!l, 2 i1I00'ill~ \ 'l' n ol Cl l- Iti Sea Kni ghr 11',28,

F(:I!I, li:I) , :,·1-:,:" 55Si l..orsl..y C I I-:,:I S..a Sta llion 1!I,25

AI Kill 59Al-Qaeda IiAn :\asirh"lh t . :t ? · I ~ . +t :lt . :}H. 59

hall ie ,',1' .1. 16, D (:\Ii-:\ i , li:I), ·1:1-:,:., :,1'JI't ' also ca sualties: ~ 1 t'cI-(~\";; lC

"Am bush Alley- ·1:1, ·1:;. "Ii . ·11'. :,0 , :, I .[)~ . r) :t [,r). :1t . !',S

afl .. r tlu- hallie :,:;·:,(ihall ie o r. Worl d War I :\2Sadda m Ca na l a nd II rid~l' .1:\ , " ·1, ·1:" "Ii,

:,0. :.1. :,:1. :.:,Am i-Armor ·I" ;III1 S. Co mhi lled « ;' \ :\'1') 2:1,

C , D(:\:l-:li, li2-li:\ ), ·1t , "I'..1.I"'all", USS 2iAssault Amphibia n (A:\V) lIa llat io ll, 2d II' .

2 1. 27.2H

Ila ';lIh I'a n y T, :,1'Ila~hdad (i. r.H. :12. :.i·:.!l1l,,,, o,h Ii-i/Jal '/fII1 . USS 2iIl rilish Armoured Division , lSi Ii-i1I1ISh . l' rcs id e- n t C ..or~(' H.W. :,1\lI sh . Presid ell t ( ~t'()r~l' \\'. (i. H. 21)

Ca m p Geiger VI' n -crui i tra ini ng: School o f"Ill ra lliry. Ca m p ( ;t ' i~er

Ca mp 1.,:j' ·I1I1 ' ·. :'\C .1. 1·1. II' , 21i, 2icaslla lli,'s :, I- :,Ii. 53 . 56 -"',' a/.,o ~lt-d"" OI C

COIII/or l . USS :.Ii

deployme ll' 2(i-:\2. 27. 28. 29 . 30i ll Iht" desert 2~J-:t!

dr..ss II. IIi. 17.20. A (:1:1. (i2). G (" O. li:I)ill ha ll I,· ·11. ·12 , "H. :,0, :, I. :,2, :,:1. :,..l 'Olilli ll~ I I. 1·1. I:" IH. I!I, 20. 22, 2Ii

EllliSlllll' lIl, Oalh o r 10. 10(''1"i p llll' lIl :10, A(:I:I. li2 )Ellp illoll('s Rin ' r i . 2i. :12 , -1 2. ·1:\- 1·1. :>-1 .

:)7. f,Shrid~..s ·1·1. .1[, . ·lIi. "I' , ·I!I, :,0 , :.:;crossill~ ·1H---:,O, " 9

Ft'd 'l\ 't't"1l 7. r,HFire SlIp pon Coon lillalors (FSCs) 21iFire SlIppon '1" ""1" (FiS'ls) 2"-2:,. ·12. :,2Formml ,\ ir COlliro ll" " ( I'~\C,) 2:"

l>(:IIi-:li . li:I) . ·Ii . ·11'. :;·1Fom om l Oh" 'rn-,,, (FO s) 2:,

( ;lf lf,,'olf I/all . USS 2i

ills lru ('(or. d ri ll 12Ira n :11t0"l i I llh IlIlilll llT n il'isio ll i, :,2

l ra q i tanks "Ii. " i . ·11'lraqis "5. -I;>-lIi . "i-lH. ·I!I. ;,0. :; 1. :;2, :;i.

58 , :;1', 59

K I'tIr.\ fl 1"K' " USS 27Kuwait :; . t . 19. 2!1. 3 1

Cam p Sho u p 17. 19 , 2!l-:\2. 3 1. 32 . E(:IH,(i:I) , "4. 62 , 63Rl' ~illll' lI l a l l lQ ..2

landstul . Cermally. medical raci lily :;Ii'--ighl Armored Reco n na issa nce Battal ion .

~d l 8 . ~7 . 57

mail. rt'cl' i l 'i n~ "Imaps. US mi lita ry 13 , ....-t:;~I" rin (' , Tara wa '1;,, 1.. Force .. . A(:\:\. li2 )~I a ri n e Air Gro" p' ( ~ I ,\Gs ) 2 1

~IAC-2 ! 1 2!1.:;+-:;:;. 55~I a rin (' Air \l'i n ~. :Id (:Id ~IA\I' ) (i. r. 29~ I a rin l' Arr illcrv Re~illlenl , lOth IH. 2I ,..;,~I a ri n l' Co rps Air. ( ~rou ll d Co mba t Ce n ter

( ~ I (;'\GCC) . Twen tynin e Pal ms , c .nr.21. 2 1-21i. 22. 25 . C( :\:;. li2 )

~ I a rin l' Corp' Recru it D"pOI, San Di ('~o I I~ I a ri n e Di\Oisio n . lsi fi. t . ~ 7. :\~ . 5/-!lH

Re~illl " llIa l Comba t Teams (RC1s) Ii. T,~ I. :J/RC I:2 i . 3 1. 32. :12. E(:\H. 1i:1). ,I:{ , :;i .

:; 1'~I a ri n e Expe dhionary ll rigade . 2d (2d

~ I EII ) .. , Ii. 't, 2(i, 2i. 2!I, ;,1'~I a ri n e Expl' d ilionary Fo rc e. l st (I ~I EF) Ii.

2!I, :\2~ I a ri " l' Expe d iliona r) Un its ( ~ I EUs) II'~ I a rin e Regilll l'n l, 2d II' , I!l. 21i, 21'. :\2. -I:{~I a ri n e Rl'~illle lll . 2d . lSi Hall ali on

"T illlhe rwo"' es- -1 . 17. I!I. 21. 2 1-22, 2:\,21i, 21'. :\0, .... . :,1'

Alpha rifle onnpany 19. ~ I -~~ . ~:\. ~ ....·1:\ , ..:;. ·l i , "H. ..! }, :;0. :' :\ , :;.. ,:;:;

Bravo ri lle o nn pany 19. ~ I-~~ . ~3 . ~ ·I.

·Ii , "H. "9-:;0, :;;,'!l 'a lll ~lech 2:\. " :1. -Ii. -II''!l 'a lll ' (;m l.. 2:1, ·1:\, -I!), ·1Ii--1i . "H

Cha rlie rifle n >l n pa n) I!}, 20. 2 1-22, 2:{.2... 21i, 29 . :{o, 5..lsi alld 2d Pia loons -1 2."1':Id I'law o n -12in h,," ll' -I 1 ~1 2 , 43 , .1:\, "5.·11', :;0,

:; 1-:;" . 53ill h,,"1e 16. :12, -1:\-14. -I:•. " 6. 47 , -li-t!I.

;,:;. 57~ I " rin l' Rt'~i lll l' IU . 2d. 2d Hall al ion 1!!. 21i~Ia ri n e Re~illl , ' ni . 2d . :{d Halt ali o n - llt-Iio

Ilasla rcls- 11', 21i..1:\, 50~ Ia ri n e Regin ll'nl . Hlh, 2d lIa lla tio n

-AIll...-ica 's Hall a lion- 21i, ·1:1, "9. :,:;, 56.59

~ Ia rin l' Reser"" l 'lll l.. lIa llali on , HIli. AlphaCOlllpa n) 5. 2 i . 21'. :10

~"'d·elolc F(:I!!. li:I) . :;:,-:,Ii '\(""111.",

Cf.lSlla ltil'sIlled i" :\1 . 59~ Iili l a ry O cc" p,u ion,,1Sp eciahi l's ( ~ I OS)

1:;.17

OllSlow lIeach , :'\C 21i-2HO pera t io n /) (.\(",-1Shi,-Id/SI"rlll :' . ;.(iOperat io n Iraqi !-in 'do", : plall ll i ll~ It-/. : \~:

co uuucncc-, H. :\ ~

Pa rr is Isla nd . SC .\'',' recrui t lraining: Parr isIsland SC

Pourr. USS 7. 20, 2i. 21'Portlnni}, USS 2i

ra n k stru ctun-s IIrec ruit Ito,in ing 1O-21i, B (:\.J, li2 )

Co mbi ned Arms Exercise «;,\ X) .\(",'Marin e Corp' Air. Cround ComluuCenter, Twcmvnine Palms , Cal if.Parri s Island SC 10- 1·1

Basic \ ,"a rrio r Traini n~ I ~- I:\

the "Cru ri b k-" 1:1-1·1. ·11School o r lu fa u rry, Ca m p Gei~,' r 1·1-1 1',

~(j

fiek lcrnft skills 13 , IIiIlIr" n lr) ' Ib i n i ll~ and ~I a ri n , ' Co m bat

Train ing' baua lious I"recrui uncn t !1- IO, 10

SlIi/lflll. USS 2i. 28 , 29Scho o l of lu fa n uv .\ n ' recru it t ra in ing :

School or l n fam ry, CalliI' G,'i~,'r

September II. 20(H alla cl..s (i. !1Shi' ile ~I nsl i lll s :12SlIl' l Ca na l 30

ran k. Abra ms, ~ I L\ I 5. 23 , 21'. C (:I:,. li2 )'I1m l.. Ba ual ion. 2d II', 2 I. 2i'1' ''011'01AIOII II''(;,, 1.. For ce Tara wa .. . t . 27 , 27 , 2!I, :\1 , :12.

A(:t \. li2 ) . :;1'. :,!ITigris Rin ,r :12tra ining 19.29 .V ', ' a/.\O recrui t tra ini ng-

Un ited ~ations :J. Ii. ~Hn ill'd Siaies :,

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US Nal)': Alllph ih ioll s '1;,, 1.. Fo rc('· Easl(AT F·E) i , 27, 2i, 21', 2!l, :,!l

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II ~I ~I\I'\' ( 1 I i~h ~ I ohilily ~ ln lli ·\I 'heded

Veh irl !') - I Itl llllll e r- 2:\. l>(:IIi-:li. li:I),"Ii , 55

l .i~h l ,\ rcllored ( 1.,\ \ ') 22. :,i

weapons If t-I H. ~:J

a m mu ni tio n. :J.:J(im fJJ ITJ. A2. A:l(:t \. ( i~ )

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li. 2:\, A I (:I:I, (i2 )

Insights into the daily lives of history's fighting men and

women. past and present, detail ing their motivation. training.

tactics. weaponry and experiences

US Marine in Iraq:

Operation Iraqi

Freedom I 2003

Operatio n Imqi Fret'Ilo /ll officia lly

began on March 20, 2003, and

has beco me one o f the most

controversial con fl icts of

modern warfare. Thousands

of US Marin es were deployed

into Iraq in order to topple th e

dictatorsh ip governme nt and

liberate th e Iraqi peopl e. This

book examines the experience

of those Marines who fought

on th e frontl ine of one o f the

major battles in the opera tion:

the battle for An Nasiriyah .

Detailing the Marines'

enlistment, levels of training

and life in the Iraq i desert

this narrative explores their

important role in th e co mplex

stabilization operations after their

ea rlier victories on th e ba tt lefield.

Photographs

Unrivaled detail

Clothing and equipment

Full color artwork

O SPREYPUBLISHING

www .o spr e y pu b li s h i J1g .co 111

I SBN 1- 84176- 982-7

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