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.
War rio r 106
US Marine in Iraq:
Operation Iraq Freedom,
2003
Richard S Lowr y . 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.
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study.
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electrical, chemical. mechanical. opt ical . photocopying, recording or otherwise.
without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. 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, Cambri dge, UK
Typeset in Helvetica Neue and ITC New Baskerville
Index by Alan Thatcher
Originated by United Graphics, Singapore
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Author 's acknowledgments
I would like to thank Joanna de Vries for her unending
patience and support throughout the development of this
book . Thank you to Capt. Harold Qualkinbush USMC, Capt.
James Reid USMC, Gunner David Dunfee USMC, Gunnery
Sergeant Joe Muccia USMC and Cpl. Will Bachmann for
their photographic cont ribut ions to this project. I would also
like to thank Joe Raedle and Getty Images for suppl ying
some of the most dramatic photographs of the war. Most of
all, I would like to thank my wife Vickye; without her love
and support none of this would have been possible.
Author's note
Troy Duncan and Terrell Johnson are fictitious characters.
All other charact ers in this story are real: their real names
are used, and the accounts of their actions are accurate.
Duncan and Johnson are composite characters. In the first
few chapters their stor ies are typical of everyday Marines,
but during the act ual battle, all of their experiences are
those of act ual Marines who fought in An Nasiriyah. I used
Duncan and Johnson to tell the stories of Marines who
might not otherwise have been mentioned, includi ng Cpl.
Will Bachmann, UCpl. Donald Cline, UCpl. Matt hew Juska,
Cpl. John Friend and several others.
I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to interview the
following about their experiences:
Cpl. Will Bachmann, Capt. Michael Brooks, Cpl. Nicolas
Elliot , HN Luis Fonseca (USN), LtCol. Rickey Grabowski,
Maj. Bill Peeples, 1st Lt. James Reid, SSgt. William
Schaefer, SSgt. Troy Schielein, Capt. Tod Schroeder, and
Capt. Daniel Wittnam.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the men and women of the
United States Marine Corps who have chosen a life of
service to their country.
Semper Fidelis
Richard S. Lowry
Art ist's note
Readers may care to note that the original paintings from
which the color plates in this book were prepared are
available for private sale. All reproduction copyr ight
what soever is retained by the Publishers. All inquiries
should be addressed to:
Howard Gerrard,
11 Oaks Road,
Tenterden,
Kent,
TN306RD,
UK
The Publishers regret that they can enter into no
correspondence upon this matt er.
Editor's note
Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of the
Official Marine Corps website and have been stated as
cleared for release.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
CHRONOLOGY 8
RECRUITMENT 9
A few good men
RECRUIT TRAINING 10
Par ri s Isl and, Sou t h Carolina School of Infantry - every Marine a rifleman
Comb i ne d Arms Exerci se, Twentynine Pal ms, California
DEPLOYMENT 26
Onslow Beach, North Carolina In the desert
INTO BATTLE 32
An Nasir iyah Across the Euphrates Casualties
AFTER THE BATTLE 55
Med-evac The fight for Baghdad
GLOSSARY 60
BIBLIOGRAPHY 61
COLOR PLATE COMMENTARY 62
INDEX 64
3
US MARINE IN IRAQ: OPERATION
I RAQI FREEDOM, 2003
INTRODUCTI ON
"We arc j ust o rdinary guys with an extraordinary job."
Major Christopher Starling USMC, 2d Marine Regiment, 2004
US Marine in Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 provides an insight into
th e 2 Ist-ce11l ury Marine Corps - America 's bravest young peopl e,
fight ing in an anc ie nt land. It foll ows th e st ory of two fict itious Marines,
Troy Duncan and Terrell .Johnson. Whil e th e charac te rs arc fictitious,
th eir ex pe rie nces are accurat e and are a co mpos ite of true sto ries of real
Marines who fought and di ed in th e first maj or battl e of Operation Iraqi
Freed om, the battl e of An Nasi riyah. Troy Duncan and Terrell .Johnson arc
typica l Ame rica n teenage boys when they e nlist in th e Co rps . They
qui ckl y become young men as th ey survive th e rigors of recruit and
infantry tr aining - th ey become Marines. Once th ey have co mple ted
their in it ial t raining, the two yo ung Marines are assigned to t he 1st
Battal io n of th e 2d Marine Regiment at Ca mp Lej eune, NC. After
traini ng, Duncan and .Johnson de pl oy to Iraq with Ca mp Lej eune's 1st
Battal io n, 2d Marine Regiment, part of the 2d Marine Expe ditionary
Brigade (2d MEB).
The fe rt ile strip of lan d that lies between the Ti gri s and Euphrates rivers
is oft en called the "cradle of civi lization," where man first developed
agri cu lture an d the wri tten word. For centuries this area of the Middl e East
4
LEFT A Task Force Tarawa
Marine scans the southern Iraqi
desert, watching for any
indication of trouble, (Courtesy
of Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
has been dominat ed by co nflict. In 1980 Sadda m Hussein took over
control of the government in a ruthless grab for power. In 1981 he invaded
Ira n over the long-disputed access to the Persian Gulf th rough the Shat-a l-
Ara b and the valuable oi lfields on the eas tern bank of the Iran
and Iraq fou ght for nearl y a decade to a stalemate, until in 1988 Saddam
finally reali zed that his land grab was futil e and signed an armistice with his
Iranian enemies.
In the summer of 1990 he turned on a weaker neighbor: his Arab
enemies in Kuwait. The United States and the United Nations ( N)
Sec urity Co unc il co ndemned the inva sion of Kuwait and demanded that
Iraq withdraw its troops, issuing Resolution 660, and lat er Resolution 66 1,
which placed econo mic sanc tions on Iraq. The powers of the Western
world became concerned that the invasion of Kuwait wou ld esca late into
an Iraqi invasi on of Saudi Ara bia (which borders Kuwait ), and threaten
the world's oil supply. Pr esident George H.W. Bush anno unced that the
S and Allied forces would depl oy in a "wholly defensive" mi ssion to
protect Saudi Ara bia. Immediately, troops began pouring in from aJl over
the world in an ope ration labeled Desert Shield. When Saddam refused to
leave Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm ope ned with six weeks of bombing
from the most powerful ai r force ever asse mbled. On February 23, 1991
Bush announced that Saddam Hussein's army had been driven from
Kuwa it and declared a ceaselire.
Despi te his embarrassi ng defeat in 1991, Saddam Hussein clung on
to power. After Desert Storm th e United States, with AJlied support, had
temporaril y derail ed his efforts to st re ngthen hi s intern ati onal posit ion.
They had crippled his in frastructure with only six weeks of bombing,
and th en decimated most of hi s military in th e 100 hours of Desert Storm's
gro und war. Thi s mi lit ary opera tion was followed by th e United Nations'
policy of maintaining sanc tions that kept Saddam from reconstituting
his military fo rces.
BEL OW A tank from Alpha
Company, 8th Tanks sets up
position i n 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 working for ten years to recapture his strang lehold
on the people of Iraq and to beat th e nited Nat ions ' sanctions. He and
membe rs of hi s gover nmen t tried to bribe nit ed Na tio ns a nd
govern mellt officia ls, as well as lead ers of industry th rough out the world
to gc t around the sanc tions, Money that was meant as aid fo r the Iraqi
peopl e was di verted to Saddam's person al projects. Food and medicine
were confiscated , and th en sold on the black market, Meanwhile, in
contravention of the san cti ons, Iraq continue d to re build its military
forces. All th e whil e. int ernal di ssent against the di ctatorship was
forbidden. Sto ries of Saddam's "henc hmen" reg ularly nmrdering,
rapi ng. an d torturin g Iraqi civilians on a whim filled Western newspapcrs,
promoting worldwide concern over breach es of human rights, Alongside
these co ncerns were the constant controversies over th e manufacture of
alleged nu clear an d biol ogical weap ons by the Saddam regim e.
After his elec tion in Pr esident George W. Bush was anx io us to
e nsure th at th e nited Na tions maintained th e sanctio ns agai ns t
Sadda m. The primary co nce rn among th e Bush administ ration and
other world leaders was that if Saddam rebuilt hi s army, it was hi ghl y
probabl e that he wou ld attack Israel , and that the Israeli s would
res pond . In th e curre nt tense cl ima te, thi s could have thrown th e entire
Middl e East int o armed co nflict. War in th e Middl e East would ce rt ainly
slow the flow of oi l to the e ntire industri ali zed world. whi ch could
devastat e th e world ec onomy.
O n September 11, 2001 th e un thinkable happened. A number of
te rro rists fro m a movement called Al-Qae da based in Afghani stan (a nd.
some th ought . Iraq ) hijacked four plan es. crashing two int o th e World
Trade Center Towers, New York. and one into th e Pentagon in
Washington DC. Thi s unprecedented and well-co ordinat ed terrorist
attack saw th e deaths of 3.000 innocent civilians , The radi cal gro up
claimed to act in th e name of Islam and condemned th e Western world.
America and its \fay of life wer e pla ced under di rect threat in one of th e
first "fore ign" terrorist atta cks on America n soi l. Pr esident Bush and hi s
adviso rs declared th at Sadda m had to be dealt with as part of Ameri ca's
"War on Terror, " So whil e troops were sent to Afghanistan to hunt down
members of Al-Qaeda, the Pentagon was also ordered to plan for th e
invasion of Iraq.
America n military st rategists kn ew that Saddanr's power was rooted
in Baghdad. So th ey planned for a swift pcn etrating invasion that would
qui ckl y bring Allied for ces to the ga tes of Baghdad - Operation I mqi
Freedom. Most of th e planners thought th at th e real light would be for
the ca pital. and tha t th e thrust to Baghdad and passage across Iraq 's
souther n wastel and would be relatively free from atta ck. So the S
Ar my's V Corps was ord e red to race northwest th ro ugh th e Iraqi desert
with th e In fant ry Division in th e lead. The nit ed States Marines
were commanded to chargc up th e middl e to hold Iraqi units in pl ace.
The Marines would send thei r 1st Marine Expeditionary Force
(I MEF) , I was a sma ll corps , including Camp Pendl eton's 1st
Marine Division , the British 1st Armo ure d Division, Camp Lej eune 's 2d
Marine Exp editionary Brigadc (2d MEB), th e 3d Marine Air Wing (3d
MAW) , and all th ei r support ing logisti cal units. The three re inforced
Regiment al Combat Teams (RCTs) of th e Ist Marine Division would lead
the Marine chargc to Baghdad, while th e Briti sh Ist Ar moured Division
sec ured Iraq's "second" city, Basrah. Camp Lejeune's 2d MEB was given
the mission of keeping the supply routes clear behind the 1st Marin e
Division's attack.
Design at ed Amphibious Task Force-East (ATF-E), seven amphibious
naval ships carried the Marines halfway around the world. 2d MEB was
the only "East Coast" un it attac he d to the "West Coas t" I MEF. Once on
the ground in Kuwait , all of 2d MEB's aircraft were reallocated to the 3d
i\IAW. BGen. Natonski red esign ated hi s re ma ining units as Task Force
Tarawa in order to provide an indep endent identity for the Camp
Lejeune Marines.
As fate would have it, 2d MEB's lone Regimental Comba t Team, RCT-
2, would lead the charge toward Baghdad , whil e the 1st Marin e Division
secured the southe rn Iraqi oilfie lds, Task Force Tarawa was ordered to
move to the Euphrates River and to sec ure the brid ges in and around the
desert city of An Nasiriyah. This is primarily an account of the Marines of
the 2d MEB and RCT-2 during thei r fight to sec ure An Nasiriyah.
The Marin es of RCT-2 fought against a det ermined enemy composed
of entrenche d regu lar soldiers of the 11th Infantry Division, local
mi litia, Ba' ath Party loyalists and fana tic Fed ayeen fight ers armed with
AK-4i s, RPGs, RPK machine guns, tanks, technicals, mort ars, and
art illery. It is impossible to tell how many Iraqis actually participat ed
in the battl e. At the first sign of troubl e most Iraqis abandone d
th eir un iforms, melt ed into the civilian populati on, and fought in
civilian clothes. Estima tes of ene my stre ngth ran ge from 2,000-5,000
arme d Iraqis.
Task Force Tarawa Marines fought for a wee k to sec ure the bridges
and routes through An Nasiriyah, whi le 1st Marine Division's th ree
RCTs crossed the Euphra tes River and proceeded north to thei r
objective - Baghdad . US Marines and soldiers of the 3d Infantry 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 with the utmost
respect as part of the Marine
ethos and, i n 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 of Baghdad at nearly th e same time. The gd
Infant ry Division swcpt westward to th e Saddam Airport, whil e th c
Marines moved int o easte rn Baghdad.
The invasion of Iraq bcgan offi cia lly O il March 20, 200g. Baghdad was
fo rmall y sec ure d by S fo rces on April 9, 200 3, but was not comple tely
clea re d of co nve ntiona l cncmy forces unti l Apri l 12. The stat ue of
Saddam Hussein fell on April 9. On May I, 200 g President Ge orge W.
Bush announced thc end of major co mbat operations in th c Iraq War.
However, US tr oops re ma ined, and sti ll remain in 2006, co nd uc ting
stabiliza tio n o pera tio ns and he lping th c Iraqis to rebuild th cir
infrastr uct urc.
CHRONOLOGY
January 6
January 16
January 28
February 1
February 4
February 11
February 17
March 9
March 19
March 20
March 21
March 22
March 23
March 23
March 23
March 24
March 25
April 2
April 10
April 11
May 18
May 19
June 24
June 29
8
2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2d MEB) formed .
Amphibious Task Force-East (ATF-E) and 2d MEB leave the North
Carolina coast and begin their transatlanti c journey to the Middle East.
ATF-E and 2d MEB cross the Straits of Gibraltar, entering the
Mediterranean 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 Gulf
of Aden.
ATF-E and 2d MEB sail through the Straits of Hormuz, entering the
Persian Gulf.
2d MEB, now named Task Force Tarawa (TFl), disembarks at Kuwaiti
Naval Base and moves by air and land to Camps Shoup and Ryan in
the northern Kuwaiti Desert.
TFT reports all of it s units are cornbat ready.
TFT units begin movement to Assembl y Area Hawkins in preparation
for the invasion of Iraq.
The President of the United States announces the beginning of
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
TFT units conduct breach operations and begin moving into Iraq.
RCT-2 arrives at Jalibah Airfield.
3d Batt alion, 2d Marines secure western Euphrates River crossi ng for
the tst Marine Division movement to Baghdad.
US Army 507th Maintenance Company takes wrong turn and is
att acked whi le moving through An Nasiriyah. Casualt ies number 11
soldiers killed and six taken prisoner.
1st Batt alion, 2d Marines move to secure the eastern bridges in An
Nasiriyah. Casualties number 18 Marines killed and dozens wound ed.
2d Batt alion, 8th Marines fight to maintain control of An Nasiriyah's
eastern Euphrates River bridge, while lead elements of the 1st Marine
Division brave Ambush Alley to push toward Baghdad.
3d Batt alion, 2d Marines return to RCT-2 in southern An Nasiriyah to
support 2d Batt alion, 8th Marines' effort to defeat the enemy in the
city 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 AI
Amarah.
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 Camp
Lejeune.
USS Kearsarge arrives off Carolina Coast , bringing the remaining
sailors and Marines of 2d MEB home.
RECRUITMENT
A few good men
In Atlanta, Georgia, hidden in a rare ly visited str ip mall across from a
popular shopping ce nte r, is a group of go vern ment offices. The windows
arc adorn ed with glamorous posters and mi litary insignia. Two di stinct
gro ups of people frequent th ese offi ces: spit-and-polish soldiers, sail ors,
air men, and Marines, eac h servi ce vying for th e att ention of th e young
men and wom en in th e second group.
Local teenage boys and girls are drawn here out of curiosity. Most are
still in hi gh school. Some have either graduated or dropped out. All are
looking for a j ob or a way out of their curre nt lives. Nine out of tcn
applicants to the Marine Corps fai l to qualify, as th e Marine recruitment
policy favors high school graduates who have not had major problems
with thc law. The Mari nes arc looking for intclligc nt young men and
women who can beco me an asset to the Cor ps.
One of our co mposite charac ters, Troy Duncan, is a typica l 19-ycar-
old, first-year history maj or, who had just started co llegc when th e World
Trade Ce nte r towers cru mbled to th e ground . He had ente red collcge
be ca use he wanted to teach , but he was not sure if he bel onged there
when thc plan es struck. Duncan hardl y slept th at ni ght. The imagcs of
those cr umbling buildings had changed his life. Lying in bed with his
eycs wide opcn, he stare d at the cc iling for hours. By gam, hc kn ew what
he had to do. .J ust as his father had done before him, and hi s father's
father, hc had to find a place to make hi s mark. He would join th c
Mari nes. There he knew he could make a difference.
By Gam on Septe mbe r 12,200 I, Duncan was waiting for the rccruiting
office to open. Around 6.g0am , another young boy about Duncan 's age
sauntered up. Te rre ll j ohnson, our other compos ite charac te r, had co me
to the Marines for nearl y the samc reason as Troy Duncan. He want ed to
do somcthing positive with his life .J ohnson had fini shed hi gh school and
sta rte d looking for work. He had tri ed working at Taco Bcll for a few
weeks. Then he found ajob at th e local Barncs & Nobl e - he loved books.
Withoul saying a word, he sat down next to Duncan and pu lled out a
tatt ered copy of FiKht Cl ub, opened it and began to read.
By Sam, the line had grown to a hal f dozen young men. A new,
no nd escript car pulled up into the parking space at the fro nt door lab el ed
"Reserved USMC" and a Marin e staff scrgeant climbed out of the dri ver 's
sea t. The sergeant was dressed in neatly pressed blue trousers with a red
st ripe running down the side of thc legs, a khaki shin and th e di stinct ive
whit e Marin e Co rps hat. He quickly ordered the boys in to the office.
Duncan followed the staff sergea nt to his des k and explained that he
want ed to join th e Marine Corps. The staff sergeant gave hi m the
standard enlistment form, severa l pa ges long, full of questions like:
"Have yo u ever used recreational drugs?" "Have you eve r been convicted
of a crime?" The Marine Corps has always sought to recruit th e best of
the best in th e tradition of "the few, th e proud," and it co ntinues to do
so, att rac ting young men and women from a broad spectrum of societ y.
The Marine Co rps is th e youngest of all th e American military servi ces:
th e age of th e average Marine is around 24 yea rs, and th ere are nearly
19,000 tcenagers in th e Corps. Aft er th e initial questi onnaire th e next
ste p for th e pot ential Marines is the test . Duncan and J ohnson both 9
10
RIGHT Two Mar in es reci t e
t he Oath of Enli stment at a
Mil itary Entrance and Processing
Station for Recruiting Station,
Springfield, MA. Th e ceremony
is a hallmark event for those
entering military serv i ce. (Photo
courtesy Staff Sergeant Jonathan
Age e. USMC)
passed and two weeks lat er returned to th e parking lot, eac h armed with
a small duffl e bag.
Before arriving at th e Marine Corps recruit training depot, Parris
Island, SC, and beginning th eir lives as Marines the new recruits are
offic ially sworn into the Co rps. th cir first important expe rie nce of Marine
traditi on. The honor of thi s occasion is impressed upon them by thei r
accompanying staff se rgeants. A Marine officer lead s th e ceremony,
asking th em to "Raise your right hand and rcpcat afte r me:"
I do sole mnly swea r (or affirm) th at I will support and defend th e
Co ns titution of th e nit ed Stat es agains t all e nemies forci gn and
domesti c; th at I will bear true faith and allegiance to th e sa me.
That I will obey th e orders of th e Pr esident of th e nitcd Sta tes
and th e o rders of th e office rs appointed over me, according to
th e regulations and t he niforrn Code of MilitaryJ ustice. So help
me God.
RECRUIT TRAINING
Parris Island, South Carolina
Whcn th e new Marines are ushered off the bus at Parris Island , often
bewildered and exhausted, th ey perfo rm yet an other lasting tradition.
The Dr ill Instru cto r (0 1) greets th em as th ey ge t ofl th e bus and o rders
th em to lin e up, pl acing th ei r feet o n th e four rows of 15 sets of yellow
footprints that are painted in fro nt of th e Receiving Barra cks Co mpany.
They are told to turn and look at th e man besid e th em, who will be th ei r
"buddy" thro ugho ut t he training process.
Parri Island takes in the recruits from th e eastern half of the na tion,
whil e the Marin e Corps Recruit Depot , San Diego, tr ain s Marines on the
west coast. The dividing line is the Mississippi River. J ohnson, Duncan ,
and the other new recru its would spe nd the next 11 weeks being molded
into Mari nes at Parris Island. They would be subjec ted to the Mar ine
Corps' ethos for 24 hours a da y. From the moment th ese young men and
women ste ppe d off the bus and planted their feet on th e yellow
foo tpri nts, they were being res ha pe d into ni tcd Stat es Marines,
Dun can and J ohnson , like all new recrui ts, spe nt the first few days of
their I I weeks of training drawing un iforms and equipme nt, undcrgoing
ph ysical and dental exams, having vaccinat ions and ge tt ing thei r first
Marine haircu t. On enlistme nt the Marine Corps provides its men and
wome n with personal equipme nt, from their socks to their Ked ar
helmets, At the start of their Marin e career, recrui ts wear only their utili ty
uniforms. These are the equivalent of the army's Battl e Dress niforms
(BDUs) , cxcept that the Marine uti lity uniform ha s a unique camo uflage
patt crn and cach one has the famous "Eagle, Globe , and Anc hor"
stenciled on thc breast pocket.
The rec ruits wer e split up into i s-man platoons. There were enoug h
new recru its to form four plat oons. The four platoon s were gro upc d in
a "series." Each plat oon was broken down into squads and, of co urse,
cvc ry rec ru it had a buddy. The new Marines are qui ckl y schooled in the
Corps' 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 Sergeant
E-6 Staff Sergeant
E-7 Gunnery Sergeant
E-8 First Sergeant/Master Sergeant
E-9 Sergeant Major/Master 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 thc weeks that followed, they would abso rb the co mmo n tasks of
military life. They would learn to march and talk like Marines. They
wou ld Icarn how to take care of themsel ves and their unifo rms and
equipme nt: and they would learn the basic skills needed in a Marin e's
daily lifc.
The recruits also recei ved thei r first introducti on to the "soul" of the
Marine Corps when they undertook lessons in the Corps' co re values -
/-/0 11 01; Courage, an d Commitment. In the Corps these are not idl y spo ken
words, th ey arc a tradition and way of life. These values are engraine d in
every aspect of recrui t trai ning. Honesty and integrity arc expected of
11
12
RIGHT A US Mari ne drill
instructor at Parris Island, South
Caro lina. (Photo courtesy USMC)
eve ry recrui t. They are taught that the only way to lose is to quit. They
are co nditione d with a regime of di et and exe rcise to turn them into
physically fit warriors. They learn how to handl e and care for thei r
M16A2 rifle as if it we re an exte nsion of their body.
The platoon began learning marksmanshi p skills in the classroom,
before being taken to the rifle range. Two plat oons would fire in the
morning, whi le the othe r two would "pull bu tts" (chang ing targets and
keeping sco res). Pulli ng butts was a more import ant part of th e recruit
training than it seemed at fi rst: he re, the rec ruits learn ed what it
sounded like when they were bei ng shot at. Each bull et , travel ing faster
than the speed of sound, generated a mini sonic boom. If you were clos e
enough to the flying bull et, you co uld hear the distinct ive crack of the
passing projecti le.
Afte r rifle qua lifications, the weeks flew by. The rec ruits underwent
academic testing, dri lls, and inspections. On the next to last wee k of
training, the recrui ts received Basic Warrior Training in whi ch they
learned fundamental field skills. They learned how to di g a fighting
pOSitIOn. They learned abo ut personal hygiene and how to keep
themselves and their equipment clean in the field. They learned how to
read a map and navigat e with a co mpass . Then they learned how to fast
ro pe and finall y th ey were se nt to th e gas cha mber.
The gas cha mbe r has been a part of eac h military se rvice 's recruit-
training program for man y yea rs. Whil e there is some value in training
rec rui ts in the proper procedure for donning a gas mask and a need to
demonstrate the co nse que nces of not properl y seating it, the gas
chamber "event" has become more a rit e of passage than a training
exe rcise. The recruits are taken into a bl ock building, told to don their
masks and then tear gas is set off in the closed room. Always, the recruits
are ordered to remove their masks and then leave the gas-filled chambc r
in an orde rly fashion.
The fina l week takes the recruit s to the "Crucible." It is a severe test
of pati ence and fortitude, and is the final tri al of Marine Recru it
Training. The Crucible emphasizes teamwork under stress. The rec ruits
ge t eight hours of slee p durin g the entire 54-hour exe rcise. They march
40 mil es in those 54 hours and receive two and a hal f ~ [ R E s (Mea ls
Read y to Eat), whi ch they must ration to last the e nt ire exe rcise. MREs
are the S milit ary's hi gh-t ech field meal , and have been specifically
developed to provide the calories, vitamins, and nutrients required for
troops fighting in the field. They are lightwei ght and packaged for
ext re me ly long shelf lives. The foo d is packaged in a tough pl ast ic pouch
that is actually aluminum foil and plasti c layered together.
The Cruci ble is design ed to test the recrui ts to their utmost and to
teach them that it is together, rathe r than alone, that they are unstoppable.
ABOVE During their school
of infantry training Marines
are taught vital f ieldcraft skills,
including how to navigate a
grid coordinate. 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 the recruits must pass to
become Marines. Toward the end of their tri al , Duncan and J ohnson, like
all thei r comrades, had never been so tired in their e ntire lives, bu t
remain ed det ermined. With the end in sight, all the rec ruits were spurre d
on by a re ne wed encq:,'y. The dri ll instructors begin "[ody calls:' J ody calls
are a responsive cadence, named aft er a ficti onal charac ter "[ody" whose
luxu rious lifestyle is co ntrasted with mili tary deprivations. J od y is the
pcrson who stays at home, drives the Mari ne's car, and gets the Mari ne's
swee the art whi le the Marine is in recrui t training. The exhausted recruits
j oined 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 gre nade.
He was a lean mean green fighting machine.
He pro udl y bo re th e titl e of US Marine ,
By th e time they reached the Parade Deck and the half-size replica of
the famous lwo .lima Memoria l, J ohnso n, Duncan, and th e o the rs had
march ed oyer 40 mi les in a litt le oyer two days. They were shout ing out
thc cadence at the top of their lungs and marching in unison. The
compa ny sto pped at th e memorial and th e men groundcd t heir packs,
pla ced th eir hea vy Kevlar helmets on th eir packs and donned th eir caps.
The co lo rs were rai sed on th e memorial and th ere was a sho rt ce rc mony.
The d ri ll inst ru cto r presented eac h ma n with an Eaglc, Globc and
Anchor insignia, shook their hands and for the first time said, "Good
work, Marin e."
The last week was an ant i-climax. The new Mari nes spcnt most of th e
tim e preparing to leave Parris Island. Most wo uld return home for a
sho rt leave before they went to th e School of Infant ry. At th e grad ua tio n
ce rc mony, J ohnson and Duncan not only emerged as Marines, but also
as best friends. They both go t orders to th e Sch ool of Infantry at Ca mp
Gc igc r, No rt h Carolina .
School of Infantry - every Marine a rifleman
Par ris Island had turned Dunca n and J ohnson into Marines but thei r
training was far fro m comple te . After a short leave they re ported to th e
School of In!;111 try (SO l) at Ca mp Geige r, within th e giant Marine Co rps
co mplex at Camp Lejeune. Nort h Ca rolina. SO l would provide the
transition from boot ca mp to the operating for ces. Every year 18,000
Marines undergo realistic, aggress iyc, and safe training at SO L The
school tu rn s th em int o Marine warri ors.
The School of Infant ry is brok en down into two training batt ali ons
for entry-leve l Marines, Marines who will be assigned to th e infant ry
rcport to th e l nfantry Traini ng Batt alion , whil e all o ther Marines arc
sent to thc Mari ne Combat Tr aining Batt alion. No matt er what rheirjob
in th e Marine Cor ps, fro m public affairs , to mot o r transpo rt mcch ani c,
to supply cle r k, every Marine is tr ained to be, firs t and fo remost , a
rifl ema n. "Every Marine a rifleman" is a time-h onored co ncept that has
set the Mari nes apart eve r since the Co rps' inception in 1775, when
eycry man who volunt eered was requi red to bring his own musket.
Duncan.j ohnson, and all the Marines at SO l learned to become o ne
with their rifl e. They learned to live th e creed fi rst pllt forward by MGcn.
Willi am H. Rupertus USMC soo n after th e japan ese attacked Pearl
Harbor in December, 1941:
Th is is my rille. There are many like it , but this o ne is mine. It is
my life . I must mast er it as I must mast er my life. Without me my
ri fle is usel ess. Without my rifle , I am usel ess. I must fir e my rifle
true. I must shoot straighte r than th e enemy who is trying to kill
me. I must shoo t him before he shoo ts me. I will. My rille and I
kn ow th at what counts in war is not th e rounds we fir e, th e noise
of our burst , or the smoke we make. \\'e kn ow th at it is th e hits
t hat count. We will hit. My rifle is human, even as I am human,
because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn
its wea knesses, its st re ngths, its parts, its accesso ries , its sights and
its barrel. I will keep my rille clean and read y, even as I am clean
and rea dy, Wc will become part of eac h other. Before Go d I swear
thi s crecd. My rifle and I are th e defenders of my count ry. We are
th c mast ers of our cnemy. We are th e saviors of my life. So be it,
until vict ory is America 's and th ere is no e nemy.
Every Marin e , regardless of Military Occupa tiona l Specialty (MOS), is
traincd in common skills. Thus , both bat tali ons co nd uc t nearl y identical
training in th e first seve ra l weeks. The training is designed to furt her
cngrain the Cor ps' core values of HanOI; Courage, and Commitment into
e\'ery new Marine and prepare him or her mentally, physicall y, and
mo rall y for thc cha llenges of 2 Ist-eenw ry warfare.
J ohnson and Duncan reported in to student ad minist ra tion where
thcy were assigned to th eir training unit. Du rin g the first days they were
issued field gear from supply and a rille from th e armory. The first weeks
were fill ed with common skills training. Duncan andJ ohnson spent many
hours in th e classroom and out in th e field wat ching demonstr ati ons.
then rc pea ting their newly learned skills. Every day had time set asid e for
Physical Tr aining (PT). Slowly, but surely, th ei r bodies were co nditioned
to t he rigo rs of combat. They also learned the basics of being a Marine
infantryman , and they di scovered everyt hing there was to kn ow abo ut
thcir M16A2 rifle. T hey carried their rill es everywhere. The learned to
takc th cm apa rt , c1ca n them, and put th em back togcther - blindfolded.
Th ey became Marine Riflemen,
The US Army first fielded th e M16 rifle during th e Viet na m War, in
thc early 1960s. The initial sho rtc omings of thc dcsign were worked o ut
over th c next severa l years and an improved weapon. the 1\ 116A2, was
first adopted by th e Mari ne Corps in 1983. Marine in fant ryman have
been carrying th c MI 6A2 ever since. It is a lightwei ght, air-cooled , ga s-
operated , magazinc-fcd wcapon design ed for either three-round bursts
or se mi-a utomatic, single-shot fire. The rille uses NATO standard
!'i.fi 6mm ammunition car ried in 30-round maga zin cs. The wca po n is
accura te at ra ngcs of up to fiOO met ers and has a maximum effective
ra ngc of 800 met ers.
T hey also learned how to usc the other Icthal tool s of their trad e.
They learned how to operatc the M203 gre na de launch er, an attachmcnt
for their rill e that could hurl 40mm grena dcs mo re than 200 mete rs int o 15
16
ABOVE 1I2d Marines continue
to f ight Iraqi t ro ops north of
An Nasiriyah. (Phot o courtesy
of Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
cncmy positions, They were taught to th row standard grena des and fire
light- and medium-weight machine guns. They learn ed how to shoot
AT-4 and Shoulder-launc hed Multi-purpose Assault Weapon (SMAW)
rocket , and how to set up and det onat e Claymore mines, In addi tion to
th eir weapons training, th ey studied basic map rcading and land
navigati on skills, and were trained in basic radi o operatio n,
Another important part of th ei r modern-day training was Icssons in
nu clear, biol ogical, and chemical (NBC) war-lighting skills. They learn ed
how to don th ei r Mission Oriented Protecti ve Posture (MO PP) suits
qui ckly and to co ntinue fighting whi le wearing th e bulky prot ect ive
garmenL'i and gas masks. They also pract iced firin g their Ml fis whi le cla d
in their MO PP gear. A MOPP suit will protect th e wea rer from radi oact ive
part icles, chemical, and biologi cal agenL'i . It cons ists of heavy, charcoal-
lined pants and a hooded j umper, heavy rubber glovcs, and booti es, as
well as a gas mask which can filter tiny parti cles fro m the air. The entire
suit is designed to be worn over the utility uniform and protective body
armor. Once a Marin e has donned his i\'IO PP suit, he is complete ly
encased in a protective outer layer of clothing, but the heavy ga r mc nts
hinder his ability to maneuver and light on th e battl efi eld. The Marine
moves more slowly. His vision is hampered by the gas mask. It becomes
difficult to co mmunica te with others and shoot stra ight. The Marin es
hat e the suit. They are hot, bulky, and uncomfort abl e. Psych ol ogi call y,
the ,'er)' tho ught of needing to wea r a MO PP suit into battl c is
frighteni ng because every Marine knows wha t th e sui ts arc meant to
prot ect agai nst - nerve gas, biol ogical age nts, and radioactive mat erials.
The Marine students were taught basic offensive maneuvers and
defensive tactics. They were taught how to co nduc t pat rols and how to
LEFT A Marine from 1st
Battalion, 2d Marines in MOPP
suit at Camp Shoup, Kuwait.
Mari nes du r ing the long wait
in Kuwait, and during the initial
combat operations i n 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 and fight in ur ban terrain. They learned how to handle encmy
pri soners and the basics of battl efi eld fi rst ai el. All th e whil e th cy
continued their dail y PT and physical conditioning, with martial arts
training and regul ar 15km (9.3 mi les) road march es.
Once th cy have completed th eir basic infantry training th e Marines
arc split int o groups according to th eir Military Occupati onal Spec ialty
(Ma S). All of thc non-infantry Marine graduates had moved on to their
specialized i'vlOS training. but th e infantrymen re ma ined at Camp
Geiger for another five weeks to co nduct specifi c MaS tr aining.
Marine In fantr y Mili tary Occupational Specialties
MOS SPECIALTY PROFIENCY
0311 Marine Rifleman M16A2, SAW, M240 grenade launcher, and
infantry 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 in
th eir parti cul ar infantry spe cialty. All of th e combined skills wou ld be
needed within a Marine rifl e company. Most Marines were assigned to
03 11 tr aining. Marine Rifleman . O th ers learn ed how to handle.
maint ain and employ th e oth er weapons in a Marine rifl e company,
The riflcmcn would receive even more advanced infantry training in
tacti cs and weapons. They learn ed to fire and care for th e M249 Squad
Automatic Weapon (SAW) . The machine gunners go t adva nced training
on the maintenan ce and care of th e 240G medium mach ine gun and thc
vene rable .50 cal. machine gun. Ant itank Guided Missile rnen learned the 17
18
intricacies of th e TOW and newer J avelin missiles, and Mortarmen
learned how to qui ckl y set up and fire both the lightwei ght 60mm
mortars and the heavier 8 1mm mort ars used at the battali on level.
Both J ohnson and Duncan wanted to be rifl emen. By the time th ey
graduate d fro m SOl , th ey were mentall y, physicall y, and morall y
prepared for the challe nges of 2 1st-century warfare. and anx iously
awaited their assignments. To th ei r pl easant sur prise, they were assigned
to the same unit, both receiving orders to the l st Battalion of the 2d
Marin e Regiment across th e river fro m Camp Geiger, in Camp Lejeune.
Combined Arms Exercise, Twentynine Palms, California
Duncan and J ohnson were now ready for assignment to an ope ra tional
Mari ne infant ry regiment. The 2d Marine Regiment existed in several
di fferent forms at the beginning of the 20th ce ntury, Portions of the 2d
Marines se rved in Chi na, th e Philippines, Haiti , and Cuba . It was not
unt il World War II th at th e regiment made hi story when it fou ght a
det ermined enemy for contro l of a tin y coral atoll in th e South Pacific ,
on Tarawa in 1943 - one of the bloodiest battles in Marine his tory. The
2d Marine Regiment suffe red heavy casualties in one of the first large-
scale amphibious landings in th e Pacifi c campaign, thus ea rn ing th e
mono which th ey follow today, "Keep Moving." On Tarawa, th eir 3d
Bat tal ion pressed th e attack throug h shallow waters and obstacle-stre wn
beach es to defeat the J apanese defenders, winning the title of the "Bet io
Bastards," a title th at th ey proudly car ry to th is day.
The 2d Marine Regiment of th e 21st ce ntury had become one of the
finest fi ghting regiments of any mil itary orga nizatio n anywhere in th e
world. They had modern equipment, professional lead ership, and more
than 5,000 Marines trained in thc traditi ons of th c Marine Co rps. Thc
regiment had three infantry battalions and th e support of 2d Ta nk
Battalion, 2d Light Armored Reconnaissan ce Battali on, and 2d Assault
Amphibian Batt ali on, not to mention th eir close tics with the 10th
Mari ne Arti llery Regimcnt at Camp Lejeune and th e Marine aviato rs
ac ross the New River,
2d Marines' th ree in fantry banal ions eac h occupied facilit ies on
three parall el roads within Ca mp Lej eune. Down the road from cach
battali on was th e regimcntal headquarters. The modern Marine Cor ps'
basic fighting unit is th e infantry battali on. I t is th e building bl ock from
which all larger units are assembled. Seldom docs an entire regime nt
deploy or fight as a complete entity.
Today, the Marine Exp editionary nit (MEU) is deployed most often.
The Marines devel oped MEUs and mad e them Special Operations
Capable Each ME spent six-month deployments at sea
aboard S Navy amphibious ships. Two ME s were usuall y afloa t at any
one time. They were America's "9 1I" force, able to res pond to any
worldwide emerge ncy in a matter of days, and ca rrying everything they
needed to cope with an)' cont ingency. The ME 's Ground Combat
Element (GCE) was basically a Marine infantry batt ali on. They were
support ed b), a plat oon of AAVs (Assault Amphibian Vehicles) , a platoon
of tanks, LAVs (Light Armored Vehicl es), and an art illery ba ttery.
Each MEU also had an Air Co mbat Element (ACE), whi ch contained
a handful of just about every type of aircraft in th e Corps' invent ory,
There were a few CH-46 Sea Knight and Huey hel icopt ers, as well as a
couple of CI-I-53 Sea Stallions to lift Marines ashore. There were some
AI-I-I Cobra Attack heli copters for clos e air support (CAS) and a few
Harri ers for deeper reconnaissan ce and heavi er CAS mi ssions.
The 2d Marine Regiment supplied its battali ons to the ME
depl oyment sche dules on a ro tating basis. At the end of each depl oyment
Marines are promoted, transfe rred, and so me eve n fini sh th eir
enlistments . Once they have taken some time off and some have
tran sferred out, a new set of Marines are brought in to rebuild the
batt ali on . Months are then spe nt rebuilding the newly formed batt alion
with a full training sche dule. In 2002, the 2d Marine Regiment's
battali ons were eac h in a different ph ase of thi s staggered cycle. The 2d
Battalion was in the middl e of its building and training process. It would
be the next to deploy with a ME .
The Ist Battal ion had just returned from an MEU deployment and
they were in a reconstitution phase when J ohnson and Duncan arrived.
The co re of 1/ 2d was its three rifle companies (Alpha, Bravo, and
Charl ie), each containing three infantry an d one weapons plat oon. The
weapons platoon provided ea ch company commander with some
heavier wea pons. They had 240G 7.62mm machine gun teams, a 60m m
mortar sect ion, as well as assault and sniper teams. Dun can andJohnson
had bot h been assign ed to the 3d Platoon of Charlie Company.
BELOW 1st Battalion, 2d
Ma rines train ing in th e Kuwai t i
desert. On arri val in Kuwait
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 i nt o Iraq. (Photo
courtesy Gunner Dav id Dunf ee
USMC)
19
RIGHT Aboard t he USS Ponce
on the way to wa r. Here the
Marines are seen in thei r desert
camouflage un iforms. Unlike th e
woodland camouflage pattern
on their MOPP suits, these were
designed to help them blend in
with t hei r combat environment.
(Photo courtesy Gunner David
20 Dunfee USMC)
The co mmander of th e 1st Battali on was a career Marine. Hc had
risen th rough th e enlisted ranks to staff sergea nt and th en left th e Cor ps
to ge t a college education. He returned as a second lieutenant and
worked hi s way up from platoon leader to company commander, and
th en to battali on commander. He was an old-school Marine , a
"Mustang." He lived for th e Co rps and speIH every day of his life
preparing to take hi s Marines into battl e. A stoic leader who ran hi s
batt ali on by the book , he care d for eac h and every one of hi s men, but
never showed it.
When a commander fir st takes over a battali on, he has th e privilcge
of selecting a call sign that he will use in all radi o transmi ssions. LtCo\.
Rickey Grabowski had selected "Timberwolf" as hi s call sign. He felt th at
th c dail y lives of th ese predatory animals that traveled in packs closely
resembled how Marines fight together. So, th e entire battali on came to
be known as th e "Timbe rwolves." As th e commanding office r, Gra bowski
held th e design ati on of "Six." His intelli gence officer, th e S-2, was
Timbcrwol f 2; th e opera tions officer, th e S-3, was Timbe rwolf 3, and so
on. Timberwol f 6 kn ew he had th e most important job in th c Marine
Cor ps - command of an inf an try battalion.
More and more new faces showed up every day, and soon the
Timberwolves were nearly back to full stre ngth. Thc batt alion comma nder
scheduled training for every day. Charlie Company's commander too k thc
time to ge t to know his Marines. Capt. Dan Wittnam was anothe r
"Mustang" who had risen through the enlisted ranks to become an officer,
Duncan and J ohnson respected him immedi at ely Wittnam was tough , yct
fair, He took an int erest in all of his men .
The lot of a pea cetime Marine is to train, train, and th en train some
more. Duncan and J ohnson's days were filled wit h classes, exe rcises, and
PT. Soon the battali on staff began preparing for a Combined Arms
Exercise (CAX) , when th e entire battali on could be pulled togethcr into
a cohe re nt unit. The battalion would train as a mech anized in fantry
batt ali on. A Company of AAVs fro m 2d AAV Batt ali on, a company of
tanks from 2d Tank Battali on and the Ist Batt ali on of the 10th Marin e
Artille ry Regiment would support them in the exe rcise. In addit ion, the
Regimental Command gro up would attend the exe rcise to practi ce their
skills of fighting as a Regimental Combat Tea m (RCT).
An RCT is a Marine regiment fully equipped for combat. The
regiment's three infantry battali ons are usuall y supported by a battali on
of art illery, and at least a company each of AAVs, LAVs and tanks. The
RCT usuall y works with a complete Marine Air Group (MAG), consisting
of a ro tary wing lift squadron and an attack squad ro n producin g a war-
fighting Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The RCT Command
cl ement planned to attend CAX with 1/ 2, and then they would rotate
the "Betio Bastards" in to replace the Timberwol ves in a "Super-CAX."
Everyone in the battalion and the regimental headquart ers worked
fro m dawn to dusk for nearl y a week preparing to travel to the desert.
Then on a cold Monday morning, the Timberwol ves, along with the
Marin es in the regimental headquarters, loaded on to buses that would
carry them to waiting aircraft for their day-long j ourney across the
United Sta tes to the Marine Co rps Air, Gro und Combat Ce nte r
(MCAGCC) in Twentynine Palms, Californ ia.
Hundreds of thousands of Mari nes have train ed at the ce nte r near
Twe ntynine Palms since its inception in 1952. The vast expanse of the
base in the southe rn Californ ian desert is ideal for training and live-fi re
exe rcises. The terr ain in the giant facil ity varies fro m flat wastel and, to
ro lling sandy desert, to mountain s and valleys. Twentynine Palms is ab le
to support regimental-size training exe rcises within its massive borders.
The Marines man euver and fire upon a ficti tious enemy, Opposing
Force (OPFOR), known th roughout the Corps as the Mojavian s.
CA)( provides a 22-day, intense, live-fire, combine d-arms training
course. Th er e are a series of progr essive exercises, starting at company level
and working up to a finale. All three of 1/ 2's infantry compa nies were
ABOVE Infantry from 1st
Battalion, 2d Ma rine Regiment
on maneuvers at CAX in the
southern California Desert.
(Photo courtesy USMC)
21
22
ABOVE A Marine Light
Armored Vehicle during CAX
at Twentynine Palms, California.
(Photo courtesy USMC)
int egrated with the AAV company. Each rifle plat oon would ride in three
AMTRACs or AAVP7 armored assault tracked amp hibious vehicles.
The AAV, the lat est ve rsio n of Marin e tracked landing craft, ente red
the Mari ne Co rps in the early 1970s. It was design ed to carry ~ 5 Marin es
fro m ship to shore, providing pro tection from small arms lir e and small
pi eces of shra pne l. Its aluminum all oy hull allowed movemen t th rough
the water at up to 13kph (8mph) and road speeds of up to 72kph
(45 mph). Whil e the light armor increased vehicle speed, it provided
virt ua lly no protect ion from larger calibe r wea po ns.
The AAVP7 is equippe d with a MK-19 automa tic gre nade launch er
and a .50 cal. machi ne gun located in a sma ll turret on the right front of
the vehicle. The vehicle commande r rides in the turret, or "up-gun" as
it has come to be kn own . The up-gun can provide vehicle prot ecti on
and suppressive lire in support of its infantry aft er they dismoun t. There
is a large ram p in the rear of the vehicl e which is dro pped to load and
d ismount Marines and equipment. The roof of the troop compart ment
can also be opened , allowing Mari ne rifleme n to stand on the be nches
and lir e from within the track.
Duncan and J ohnson did not like riding in the hot met al boxes.
Their aluminum alloy hulls seemed to provide little protecti on, and the
"trac ks" seeme d to be not hing more than big targets. But the tracker
Marines were very proud of their vehicles. There was a strange
relationship between the in fantry "gru nts" and the trackers. Most
trackers beli eved that their vehicles were thei r domai n and that it was
the vehicle co mmande r's j ob to "captain" the track. They beli eved that
whi le they were moving, they were in cha rge and the infant ry Marines
were only passe ngers in "the ir" vehicle. In fact, the tra ckers had their
own independent command struc ture. Each ve hicle had a comma nder.
Each three tracks had a sec tion lead er, which was usually the most senior
of th e track commanders in that section. One of th e track commanders
was th e AAV pl at oon sergea nt and another was th e plat oon leader. Whi le
moving, either on land or in th e wat er, th e AAV pl atoon man euvered
and fough t as an ar mored platoon.
Once th ey arrived at th ei r destinati on, the in fantry commanders
would deploy th eir tro ops and th e trackers would provide covering fir e
to th e gr unts on th e ground. One of LtCol. Rickey Grabowski's greates t
challe nges during CAX would be to integrate hi s infantry Marines and
tr acker Marines into a sing le fighting force tha t could qui ckly switch
from AAV to inf an try co mma nd and back aga in.
Another challe nge would be to integrat e tanks in to hi s fighting
force. The MI AI Abrams tank is 70 tons and provides un equal ed ar mor
protecti on. Propell ed by a hel icopter turbine eng ine, it carries a 155mm
gun contro lled by a fire cont rol system that can point and shoot on th e
run at a moving target over 1.6km ( I mile ) away, and hit with th e fi rst
shot - every time. I f th e main gun isn 't fierce enough, th e crew also has
a .50 cal. and 240G 7.62mm machine gun aboa rd.
The battali on staff had seve ra l choices as to how th ey would use th eir
tanks with in th e battali on. The tank company could be kept together
and used as a fourth man euver uni t. It could be broken up and a
plat oon given to eac h in fant ry company, or Gra bows ki could use a
combination of the two formations. He decid ed to use a concept
employe d by th e Ar my and developed company teams. Two of hi s three
co mpa nies would remain pure mech ani zed infantry, eac h company
ridi ng in 12 AAVs. Bravo Company would be split up and mixed with hi s
tank company to produce two independent teams. Team Tank would be
tank heavy, containing two tank pl atoons and th e two addi tio na l
command tanks (te n tanks in all) marri ed with a sing le infantry platoon,
ridi ng in th ree AMTRACs. Team Mech would consist of th e remaining
Bravo Co mpa ny infantry pl at oons and its weapons plat oon, and infantry
company command, all riding in nine tracks plus a single tank plat oon
of four MIAI tanks.
This gave th e Timberwolves four maj or man eu ver un its: Alpha
Company, Charlie Company, Tea m Tank, and Team Mech. Grabowski also
had a wea po ns company to int egr ate int o his mechan ized infantry batt alion .
The weapo ns company containe d snipers, assault teams with hem)' machine
guns, and Si\'!AW rockets,J avelin missile teams, the batt alion 's 81nun mortar
plat oon and the batt alion 's only armo red HMMWVs (High Mobility Multi-
Wheeled Vehi cle, or "Humme r.") The 16 armored HMMWVs were split into
two eight-vehicle Combined Ant i-Armor Teams (CAAT).
Each C,.\ AT had four vehicl e-mounted TO\I\7 missile launchers and
four sco ut vehicles with either .50 cal. machine guns or MK-19 gre na de
launchers. All th e CAAT vehicles car ried an additional SAW. Grabowski's
CAAT sections were th e most versatil e in the entire batt ali on. The fast
and agile HMMWVs could be used as scout vehicles or as a fast-moving
anti-armor force. The teams of eight co uld be broken down in to sections
of four vehicles or pairs of two to provide wide-ranging prot ection fo r
th e batt ali on's flanks. They co uld be qui ckl y repositioned to deal wit h
new th reat s or conditions on th e battl efi eld. CAAT was Grabowski' s most
nimble maneu ver unit.
The batt ali on 's orga nic art illery asset was its 8 1mm mortar plat oon .
Eight HMMWVs each carried an 81nun mortar tea m. Wherever Grabowski 23
24
AB OVE A small electric turret,
or " up-gun" perched above a
Marine AMTRAC houses a .50
cal. machine gun and a MK19
automatic grenade launcher. The
track commander typically mans
the up-gun. (Photo courtesy
USMC)
went on the battlefield, the "SIs" wer e sure to be close by. Grabowski
spread the remai nin g assets of his wcapons company througho ut his
infantry compani cs. The snipe r teams, 240G machinc gun teams, and
assault teams with thei r SMAV\' and j avel in rockets were spread evenly
among Alpha , Bravo, and Charlie companies, giving his company
commanders even more firepower and flexibility.
CAX was th e perf ect environment to work out all of these det ai ls and
to pull evcryonc toget her int o a fight ing batt alion. The exe rc ises start ed
small, with inf antrymen at company level working wit h tra ckers and
tanke rs on the littl e det ails that would make the diff erence in a real
fight. The trackers and infant rymen practi ced loadi ng up, movement ,
stopping in a herr ingbone formati on, and deploying Marin es. They
practi ced what to do if an AMTRAC were to break down. Their 'j ump
track" d rills were like a rehearsed "Chinese li re dri ll" (a dan gerous stunt
of d isembarking fro m a vehicle whi le stoppe d at a traffi c ligh t, a popular
term and trick in th e US durin g th e 1960s) . Every Mari ne kn ew whe re
to go , as they would leave a small team with the broken -down vehicle ,
gra b essential equipment and split the remaining Mari nes between the
othe r two tracks in the plat oon. The two remaining tracks would be
crowded, but no one would be left behi nd .
As th e exe rcises progressed, th e company co mmande rs practi ced
employing other weapons thro ugh th eir Fir e Support Tea m (FiST) . The
FiST travels with the company commander in his command track, somc
ride in the company' s mortar track. Each infantry company has its own
organic 60mm light mortars. They arc th e company co mmanders '
pe rsonal indirect fire asset and ca n qui ckly supply supporti ng fire ,
smoke, and illuminati on to the infantry. It is th e j ob of th e FiST to
coo rd inate any heavie r suppo rt fro m o ther units.
The FiST leade r is th e company' s weapons plat oon leade r. He has
ra d io me n a nd Ma ri nes to assist him in maint aining sit ua tio nal
awa re ness and communications with his company co mma nder, th e
batt alion 8 1nu n morta r plat oon, support ing art illery units , and aircraft
providing close-air-support. The FiST usu ally has two o the r officers, a
Fo rwa rd Obse rver (FO) and a Forward Air Co nt ro lle r (FAC) . The FO is
att ached if there is a Ma rine a rt ille ry unit taking pa rt in th e operatio n
and two of th e three inf an try compa nies have a FAC attached.
The FO is a n offi ce r on loa n to the infantry compa ny fro m the
supporting a rt ille ry uni t. He kn ows all of th e officers in th e artille ry uni t
and ca n provide an a rtilleryman 's perspecti ve on th e batt le back to his
uni t. Likewise, all FACs are Marine avia to rs who rot at e to a n i nfant ry
unit lo r a to ur of duty, The FAC program is one of th e most important
fact o rs cont ributing to th e Corps ' ab ility to provide over-the-s houlder
close air suppo rt. The FACs on th e gro und lea rn what it is like to be o n
t he receiving e nd of close ai r support, and t hey "talk th e talk" of th e
pi lots in th e air. This close co mmunication be tween air a nd ground
un its produces a n air-ground co mbat fo rce unequaled in the world .
Once t he Marines o n th e gro und we re co mfo rtable working with one
another, t he compani cs moved o n to real co mbined arms exe rcises. The
FiSTs trai ned long hours on pla nning mi ssions and ensuring smooth
coo pe ration be twee n the aircraft and artillery, He re is whe re th e United
States Marine Co rps excels. It takes true pro fessionals to light in a
co mbined arms e nviro nment. The weapons that can be e mploye d on a
single call for lire are le thal : a mi sp laced air-to-ground missile o r art ille ry
barragc could be deadl y to the Marines o n the ground. Remembe r,
"frie ndly lire" is anythi ng but. A CAX is the only pl ace that FOs, FACs, air
BELOW A Sea Stallion
helicopter training in the
Southern California desert
during a Combined Arms
Exercise. (Photo courtesy USMC)
25
26
officers, Fire Support Coordinators (FSCs), and company and battali on
commanders can hone th eir co mbine d arms skills. So, much of the time
at CAX is devot ed to int egrating art illery and aircraft into th e ;\ IAGTF.
A ft er many days of training, the entire batt ali on ca me together for a
final exe rcise (FINEX) . Here th e battali on's staff would try to bring it all
together. The battali on Air Ollicer (AO) would orches tra te thc air battl e.
handing over inco ming aircraft to hi s FACs. The FSC would choreogra ph
the indi rect fire battle, using hi s co mpany FOs and th e battalion 's 8 1mm
mort ars . The FSC and AO needed to maintain constant communica tion
to coordina te th e two battles. With out sync hronization, a flying arti llery
shell could hit an incoming heli copter. All the while, the batt ali on
commander and his staff need ed to maintain situational awareness of thc
air, ground , and artillery battle, and di rect their maneuver units toward
winning thei r obj ectives. Even in tra ini ng , directing a Marin e infantry
batt ali on was not an casy task. It took th e concert ed, coordinated effo rt
of dozens of professional Marine olliccrs and the cool head and
lightning-fast decision-making skills of its battalion commandcr.
The Timbe rwolves passed their fina l exe rcise with flying colors.
Christmas was rapidly approac hing when Dun can, Johnson, and thc
Timberwolves returned to Camp Lej eune. j ohnson and Duncan planned
to fly horne to Atlanta togcther. Duncan and J ohnson were both
promot ed to corporal in December 2002. It was no surprise to anyone in
the company. Capt. \Vittnam personally pinned on thci r new rank in a
small cc re mony at a company mu ster one morning. Then, he made the
anno unce mcnt. "It looks like th ere is a possibility th at th c President
co uld order us to Iraq." The co mpa ny react ed with enthusiasm. Wittuam
went on, "The battalion commande r has told me that an yon e who has
leave should take thc hol iday timc to be with family, Evcryoue must
be back by j anu ary G. Dismissed." Charl ie Compa ny scattered. Marines
go t on th ei r cell ph ones or rushed to public ph ones to make their
holiday arra ngcments.
DEPLOYMENT
Onslow Beach, North Carol ina
Afte r a decad e of budget cutbacks, th e 2d Marine Regiment was short of
equipment and perso nnel. They would have a hard time putti ng a
complete RCT toget her at this short noti ce. The 2d Battalion had
already deployed with an MEU, leaving the regiment with only two
infant ry batt ali ons, and 3d Batt ali on 's "Betic Bastards," who were short
by nearl y 100 Marines. The co mma nding gcneral of th e 2d Marine
Expeditionary Brigade scrambled to fill th e 2d Marines' ra nks. He
reached across Ca mp Lej eune and "choppe d" th e 2d Battali on of thc
Eighth Marine Regiment ("Amcrica's Battali on") to th e 2d Marines,
Then he cont acted Camp Ge igcr at j ew River and graduated scores of
young Marines fro m th e 50 1seve ral weeks ea rly.
By th e time Dunca n and j ohnson return ed from th eir holiday break,
the Mari nes of the regiment were mobi lizing. There were severa l da ys of
mayh em, working from before dawn to well aft er th e sun went down ,
preparing to embar k th e ent ire rcgiment. Paperwork needed to be filled
out. Beneficiari es were updat ed on insuran ce policies. Wills had to be
co mpleted and signe d. Equipme nt needed to be inventori ed, inspect ed,
and packed, and Marines had to be load ed aboard their ships.
The 2d Tank Batt alion, all but one co mpany of the 2d Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 2d AAV Battali on, had alread y been
reallocat ed to th e Ist Marine Division. The regiment would have to
ma ke do with a sing le LAR and AAV Co mpa ny. With no tank units left
at Ca mp Lejeune , th e ge ne ral asked for Mari ne reserve uni t.'; to fill in.
Alpha Co mpa ny of th e 8th Marine Reserve Tank Battalion was called to
report for duty. Within 72 hours, th ey had asse mbled at Fort Knox and
were bussed to No rt h Caro lina j ust in time to emba rk on the ir ships.
The US Navy swung into ac tion in th e first week of 2003 and se nt
seve n ships of Amphibious Task Force-East (ATF-E) to th e wat ers off the
No rt h Ca ro lina coast. Th ree of the seven were "big deck" ships: USS
Bataan, USS Sai/HIII , and USS Kearsarge were some of th e largcst craft in
the US Navy. They looked like aircraft carriers, but were ac tually
specially design ed to carry Marine aircraft - helicopters and Verti cal
Take Off and Landing (VTOL) Harri ers. In addition to th ei r ma ssive
flight deck and aircra ft han gar decks, th ese ships had a "well deck." The
ent ire aft end of th e ship co uld be flooded down and giant ste rn doors
co uld be ope ne d to allow Marine amphibious vehicl es and landing craft
to swim in and out of the ship.
Whil c USS Portland, USS Ashland, USS Po nce, and USS GUI/s/Ol/ Hall
did not have flight decks, th ey did have well decks and small helicopter
land ing pads. The fleet, whi ch became kn own as th e "Mag nificent
Seve n," loaded ove r 7,000 battle-ready Marines of th e 2d MEB. They
turned eas twar d and headed out on a month-long j ourney tha t would
take Task Force Tarawa halfway aro und th e world to fight a modern-day
war along the anc ient banks of th e Euphrates River.
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 company, th e regiment only had enoug h
vehicles to "mech-up" a singl e battalion. The Timberwolves were
se lec ted to lead th e regiment, so th ey were given th e armor assets. The
reserve tankers of Alpha Co mpany, 8th Tanks and th eir 14 MIAI tanks
were assign ed to the 1st Battali on. Alpha Co mpa ny of th e 2d Assault
Amphibian Battali on was also choppe d to 1/2 with its 40 AMTRACs,
enoug h to transport all three of th e 1st Battalion's infantry co mpanies.
Co l. Ron Bailey's othe r two infantry battalions would have to rid e in 7-
ton trucks.
Duncan and J ohnson ended up on th e oldest of th e ships of th e
"Magnificent Seven", th e SS Ponce: It was a mis erable trip. The Marines
were pa cked into berthing areas from th e deck to th e overhead. There
was no way to get an y privacy. They had to wait in line for chow, to take
a shower, to mai l a letter, or to use the few telephones avai lab le for
calling home. They continue d to train in the ship's well deck. The
hi ghl igl ll of the day would be when they were ordered topside for PT or
a ship's d rill. Most of their da ys were spent be low decks in the cro wded
troop areas. At least th e my food was good.
The Mari nes longed to arrive at their destination and to ge t off the
crowde d ship. They passed the time by working out, playing vide o and
board games , and wat ching war movies. Duncan and J ohnson spent lon g
hours talking abo ut th e co ming war. Each da y brought a host of new
rumors - Saddam had been killed or he had fled th e COl Ill II)' - but the
se rious co nversation ce ntered on the debat e in the nit ed Nati ons.
Would the international body avoid war? The Marines wondered out loud
whether they would be co mmitte d to battl e or sent back th e way th ey
came. They also talked about go ing int o battle. Duncan and J ohnson had
been training for over a year for th e co ming battl e - othe rs mu ch l onger,
They all wondered how they would react to th e sound of ho stile fire.
They worried whether th ey would live up to th e traditi ons or the
Marine Corps or if th ey would falter, or, worse yet, cower. They were
Marines. They all kn ew that th ey could not let th e Co rps down : Honor;
Courage, COlli III itment. They all prayed they wou ld live up to th eir core
values. As the days ro lled past , th e flotilla negoti at ed the Stra its of
Gibra ltar and th en th e Suez Canal.
Security was tight th rough these nar row passages. Sni per and
machine gun teams lined th e rai ls or th e ships. Once th rough th e canal,
th e uni form or th e day changed to desert camouflage . The mood or the
Marines and crew cha nged too. The Marines became more serious as it
becam e clearer th at they were actually go ing to war. The ships'
crewmembe rs began trea ting th e Marines with more respect , and th e
everyday bantering between th e sailors and Marines all but stoppe d .
In the desert
Finall y, ATF-Earr ived at its destinati on, th e Kuwaiti Naval Basejust sout h
of Kuwait City. The 2d MEB qui ckly un loaded and head ed for th e camps
located in th e northern Kuwaiti desert. As 2d lvlEB arrived , th ey found
that all or thei r air assets had been reall ocated to th e 3d Marine Air
Win g to suppor t th e overall I MEF effort in the invasion. 2d MEB was
renamed Task Force Tarawa. With the loss of Marine Air Group-29 and
most or its service support battalion, Task Force Ta rawa was litt le more
than a parti ally reinforced Marin e in fantry regiment.
Charlie Company drove through Kuwait 1'01' hours, avoiding the
populat ed areas. It was nearl y nightfall when Duncan , J ohnson and the
rest of Cha rlie Compa ny ar rived at Camp Shoup, whi ch was litt le more
than a spit of sand in the middl e or 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 i n 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 required to stop a
charging enemy soldier. It i s also
prone to jamming i n 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)
construc tion batt alion) had scraped up a berm all around the perimet er
and a dozen Ge ne ral Purpose (GP) tents dotted the inside of the camp.
Dozen s more were being erected as Duncan andJ ohnson rolled to a stop.
'T his is it." The first sergeant announced. 1st Sgt. Jose Henao was a
native of South America. He had moved to the US with his parents when
he was a teenager. He loved hi s adopted count ry, knowi ng what it was
like to grow up in a lawless land. At 18, there was no questi on in his
mind. Hej oined the Marine Co rps, hoping that one da y he co uld return
and bring peace to hi s nati ve land. ow, nearl y 20 years lat e r, he was the
se nior enlisted man in Charl ie Co mpany.
Every man in the lst Batt ali on devot ed the next seve ral days to
sell ing up camp. They erected massive GP tents with Marin e Corps'
precision in straight rows. There were no floors in the tents, no air
co nditioning, and the Marines lived out of thei r slee ping bags on the
sandy floor. Some ente rprising men found di scarded sheets of plywood,
whi ch they strategically pla ced like bed room throw rugs.
They built a chow ha ll tent and set up latrines. Once they had se tt led
in, they began dail y sche dules filled with training, se nding out sec urity
patrol s, manning Camp Shoup's sec urity p o s t . ~ and PT. LtCol. Grabowski
wanted to keep hi s men busy - it would help pass the time. In their
leisu re time, the men fashione d baseballs out of tape and played
stickball. They had orga nized box ing and wrestling mat ch es and movies.
One ente rprising tank platoon leader found a Pizza Hu t at a larger
camp farther to the rea r. He and his wingman bought a dozen pizzas
and a case of Pepsi and brought it back to their Marines. That night ,
Blue Platoon had a party of sorts , The e ntire platoon gathe red ill the
Blue 's tent and at e cold pizza , drank warm Pepsis, and cha tte d long int o
the night th rough one of the worst sands to rms of their stay. Sands to rms
occ urre d regularly, and some were worse than othe rs. At best , they
would embe d a fine powd er in everything . At worst , th ey would rip tent
sta kes from th e ground and blow down tents.
It didn't take long for the Marin es of Task Force Tarawa to start
talking of how good th ey had it on th e ships. Living in th e Kuwait i desert
waiting to go to war was a mi serabl e experience. Then the mail arrived
and morale improved immediat ely. Soon embedded reporte rs arrived
who would be tr aveling to war with the Marines. They hac! advanced
equipment that would allow them to transmi t live from the batt lefi eld.
They also hac! sate llite telephones, whi ch th ey ofte n le t the Marines use
to 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 i n
preparation for their attack into
Iraq. (Courtesy of Joe Muccia
USMC) 31
32
RIGHT Regiment al Combat
Team-2 (RCT-2) Marines playing
vo ll eyball at Camp Shoup in the
Kuwaiti desert. (Photo courtesy
of Jo e Raedl e/Getty Images)
On the morni ng of March 19, there was a flurry of activity around the
camp. The entire regiment was packing up to move. Vehicl es were being
load ed and some of the ten ts broken down . Task Force Tarawa's orde rs
had come in. On the 20th, RCT-2 would move to Assembly Area Hawkins
at the Kuwaiti border. On the morning of the 2 1st, they would attack
int o Iraq .
INTO BATTLE
On March 2 1, 200 3, V Corps swept northwest th rough the Iraqi desert
to a last-minute turn toward Baghdad through the Karbala Ga p, while
the Marines of I MEF would cross the Euphrates at An Nasiriyah. They
would charge up the Ti gri s River along the class ic invasion ro ute tha t
the Briti sh used in World War I. The first battl e of An Nasiriyah durin g
World War I was a bloody fight between the Brit ish and the Turks. The
Brit ish captu red the city, losing 500 dead and killin g as many Turks, as
well as an untold number of Nasiriyans. Now, hi story would repeat itself,
as the 2d Marine Regiment cha rge d out of the Ara bian dese rt toward
thi s an cient city. Task Force Tarawa wou ld "kick open the door" and the
entire 1st Marine Division would cross the Euphrates and race toward
the ce nter of Sadda m Hussein 's power - Baghdad.
An Nas iriyah was the first Iraqi populati on ce nte r on the road from
Kuwait to Baghdad. Its populati on was primaril y Shi' ite Muslims who
we re not sympathe tic to Sadda m Hussein and hi s regime. Ameri can war
planners hoped that the Iraqis in An Nasiriyah would surre nde r wit h
littl e or no resista nce.
Whil e hoping for a quick success, th e 2d Marine Regimen t's
commande rs planned fo r a fight fo r control of the bridges across the
Euphrates River. 1st Batt ali on had been rei nforced with tan ks and
AMTRACs, and the Timberwol ves had planned to sei ze the eas te rn
bridges regardl ess of the amount of resistan ce.
Task Force Tarawa Marine
2a 2b
A
B
c
D
An Nasiriyah
G
Marines on Parade \
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Alt er two long days of travelin g across th e Iraqi desert in th e crampe d
confi nes of thei r hat ed AMTRAC, Duncan and J ohnson were abo ut as
miserabl e as th ey had ever been. The)' would rather be back in th e
Cruc ible at Parris Island th an riding in thi s hot met al deathtrap . Lat e on
Mar ch 22, they had stoppe d for the night in an open area at th e edge of
th e desert. Small tu fts of grass sprinkled th e landscape - a sign that wat er
was nearby, They stoppe d well aft er sunset, depl oyed Marines for sec urity,
and dug in for the nigh t. Duncan and his squa d dug ano ther lighting
posi tion out of th e soft, gravelly sand, and se t a watch whi le the others
tri ed to ge t some slee p. J ohnson dri fted off to slee p for what seemed like
only a few minutes when the first sergea nt woke him. "Mount up," he
told J ohnson, and th en moved on to another squad. J ohnson woke the
LEFT A Marine opens his first
mail since leaving Kuwait. The
package contained chewing
tobacco and candy, al ong with
a letter f rom his wife. (Phot o
co urt esy of Jo e Raedl e/GeUy
Images)
41
=
42
ABOVE Regimental
Headquarters at Camp Shoup,
Kuwait. (Courtesy of David
Dunfee USMC)
rema ining members of his squad , and th ey packed up and cli mbed into
C2 l l with thei r gear. Rum or had it tha t today's trip would be short.
As th e night of th e 22ml became th e morning of th e 23rd , th e
battalion was ahea d of sched ule. Eve ryone could see a str ing orI ights on
a nearby highway. The Army was movin g west with th eir headli ghts on as
th ough th ey were on a weekend maneu ver up 1-95 in the middl e of a
rush hour. Ca pt. Wirtnam had told Dunca n that they only had to move
about 40 km (24.S mil es) to their blocking positi on just south of a town
along the Euphra tes Rive r.
J ohnson and Duncan we re both assigned to th e 3d Platoon of Capt.
Wittnam's Charl ie Co mpany, but since their promotions to corporal,
th ey were separated when they both beca me assista nt squad leaders. It is
always very strange for a Marin e not to have hi s buddy at hi s shoulder,
but their new ranks brought new responsibil ities, and eac h worked hard
at becoming a good NCO.
Capt. Wittnam had 12 tracks to carry his co mpa ny, C20 l- C2 12. Each
squad of the first platoon rode in C20 I, C202, and C203. Seco nd
plat oon's squads were assign ed to C205, C206, and C207. Lt. Mike Seel y's
3d Plat oon manned C209, C2 1O, and C2 11.J ohnson and hi s squa d rode
in C2 l l, while Duncan 's squad had been assigned to C209. Lt. Seely was
a hard-ch arging Marine. Hi s men worshiped h im. They ofte n
commented that they would follow Lt. Seely and Capt. Witt nam into hell.
Th ird Platoon was Ca pt. Wit tn am's "go- to" platoon, so he planned
fo r C209, C210, and C2 l l to take the lead of the co mpany when they
ente re d An Nasiriyah. Wittnam would follow 3d Platoon in hi s company
command track, C204. The weapons plat oon leader would fo llow
Witt nam with th e company FiST team and a portion of the mort ar
sec tion in the mortar track, C20S. They would be foll owed by Ist and 2d
plat oons while th e company first sergea nt would take up th e rear of th e
column with the ambulance track, C2 12, and a co uple of HMMWVs.
As Charlie Company mounted up, the
night \ \ ~ L ~ black and clear: Billions of pinheads
ofli ght punctured the blackened night sky. As
they waited in th e Ira qi desert . Ca pt. Wittnam
went th rough the plan in his head for the
thousandth time.
An Nasiriyah
The 2d Marine Regi me nt and its batt ali on
stalls had been planning thi s mission since
th ey were at sea. Everyone an ticipa ted litt le
resistance in An Nasiriyah, but st ill planned
for the worst. RCT-2 would approa ch An
Nasiriyah from th e south. The Ist Batt ali on
would move to with in Itikm ( 10 mil es) of th e
Easte rn Euphra tes River Bridge and establish
a defensive line. At the sa me ti me, ~ h l
Battalion would dri ve northwest along Iraq's
Hi gh way I and relieve 3d I nfan try Division
Units who had taken the Highway I bridge
ove r th e Euphrat es Rive r the day befo re, With
~ ~ d Batt ali on holding the Highway I bridge
I(ikm ( 10 mil es) west of An Nasiriya h, 2d
Marin es would wait for th e o rder to move
north to sec ure the easte rn bridges th rough
the city.
On command, 2d Battali on, 8th Marines
would move up behind the Ti mberwolves as
they raced to sec ure the Euph ra tes River and
Saddam Ca na l Brid ge. Du ring th e planning
stage, th e primary co ncern ce nte red on th e
-lkm (2.5 mil es) urban st retch be tween the
Euph ra tes River and th e Saddam Canal,
which bord ered th e city on th e north. Early on in th e planning, it was
clubbe d "the Mogadishu Mile" and th en "Ambush Alley."
The -lkm (2.5 mil es) st re tc h was lined with buildings se t back o n hath
sides o f t he road. Scores of alleyways a nd hundreds of windows and
doorways provided a mple cover for Iraqi fighters. So, th e Mari nes
decided that if they e nc o un te re d resistance , they would tak e a hard right
turn afte r th ey crossed th e Euph ra tes and th ey would skirt th e built-up
a reas in An Nas ir iyah on th e east side of town.
Alpha Co mpany would cro ss th e bridge first and move int o positi ons
to defend th e Euphrates Rive r Bridge. Team Tank would foll ow Alpha
over th e fi rst bridge, fo llowed by Team Mech . The batt ali on co mmander
would foll ow t he lead co mpa nies in hi s HMMWV, two comma nd tracks.
a nd a dozen other small tru cks. Charl ie Co mpa ny would be the last
ac ross th e Eup hrat es.
Ca pt. Witt nam had two alte rn ate courses of actio n. The first was to
follow th e batt ali on co mmand a nd th e lead companies off to th e east, or.
if resist ance was light , follow th e lead compa nies straigh t th rough
Ambus h Alley. Charl ie Co mpany's mission was to secu re the Saddam
Ca nal Br idge in the no rth. Either way, all Wittnam had to do was foll ow
ABOVE Cha rlie Company
Marines dug in to muddy f ighting
holes after a ra iny night north
of An Nasiriyah. (Photo courtesy
of Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
43
RIGHT LtCol . Rickey Grabowski
t alks with the Timberwolves at
Camp Shoup on the day before
t he y move north to i nvade Iraq.
(Photo courtesy of Joe
44 Raedle/Getty Images)
Gra bowski's co mma nd group ove r th e Euphrates River and co nti nue on
track unt il th ey reached the Saddam Ca nal.
By 3a m on March 23, 200 3, th e Timberwol ves were moving. They
drove up onto a paved road and headed north. They passed a large
int ers ection with Hi ghway I and continue d north. LtCol. Grabowski
halt ed hi s armore d co lumn just north of a cloverleaf intersecti on and
wait ed for a report fro m hi s operations office r th at all of th e battali on's
vehicles had made it north of th e in tersecti on,
Sta nd ing on th e darkened ro ad, LtCol. Grab owski looked south and
could not beli eve th e sight before him. A co lumn of trucks was ra cin g
north with headlights blazing. Marines are not supposed to travel in war
zon es with their headlights on; in fact , th ey are not supposed to show
an y ligh ts. Grabowski was at first furious. Then he learned that th ese
were not vehicles fro m hi s battalion.
His orders were to rel ieve a unit of the 3d Infantry Divi sion which was to
have pr eced ed him up Route Moe (Highway 7) the day before, so he
reason ed that these were 3d Infantry Divi sion vehicles. Grabowski ordered
the road cleared as 18 Army vehicl es raced by like they were late for payday.
Several soldiers in th e vehicles wondered as th ey passed why th ey
were ove rtaking co mba t units. This was th e doomed 507th Maint enan ce
Co mpa ny. Their co mpany co mmander was hopel essly lost. He should
have ta ken hi s co lumn northwest on Highway I at the inte rsect ion,
Instead, he foll owed, then passed, Gra bowski's Marines. A ~ th e 507th
di sappeared in th e Iraqi darkness, th e Timberwol ves moved up on th c
road and headed north to th eir first objective, th e 20th orthing.
The S military ha s segmented maps of th e entire ea rt h into 100km
grid squa rcs. Eac h 100km squa re has a unique designati on. The ci ty of
An Nas iriyah is locat ed in th e 38RPV grid squa rc . More precisely, th e
eas te rn Euph ra tes River Bridge is locat ed at 38RPV 209 344. Wh cn usin g
a three-number grid coordinate syste m, each increment signifie s 100
met ers 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 corner of th e grid square,
and 38 RPV 999 999 would lie at th e northeast co rner.
So the coordinate in our example wou ld read 38RPV, a unique
quadrant on the face of the eart h, 209 East and 344 North. Airmen,
soldiers, sailors and Marines break down the coordinates into I km
gridlines. The bridge in An Nasiri yah is approximat el y at the 21st
Easting and almost halfway between th e 34th and 35th Northing.
The Timberwolves arrived at the 20th Northing an hour ahead of
sche dule and began to organize their defenses. Alpha and Charlie
Co mpanies fanne d out on eithe r side of the road. The gro und was
muddy and several tracks became stuck. They were pulled out and
moved to drier ground.
The co untryside was so wet that 1st Batt alion, 10th Marines art ille ry
had no place to se t up behind the Timberwol ves, so LtCo\. Gr ab owski
request ed permission to push forward an other 2km ( 1.2 mil es) to the
22nd orthing, to make room for the big 155mm guns.
As Team Tank moved out, they came unde r fire. The Iraqis had
positioned their southernmost sco uts in mud-brick bui ldings on eithe r
side of the road leading in to town. Machine gun and small-arms fire
erupted around Grabowski 's lead tanks and CAAT vehicles.
Mean while, the 507th had traveled over the eastern Euphrates River
Bridge, all the way north through Ambush Alley, over the Saddam Canal
Bridge, continuin g north another Ikm (0.6 miles) to Highway 16. They
turned left and drove another 2.5km ( 1.5 miles) before they encountered
an ot her "T" int ersection. They turned right and went a short distance
north before the 507th's commande r finall y realized he wa s lost.
He commande d his soldiers to lock-and- load and to turn the convoy
aro und. By now, eve11' Iraqi with a gun in the ent ire city was awake. The
507th's return j ourney would be velT different. As they made thei r first left
turn to retrace their path , the Iraq is ope ne d fire from both sides of the
road. Iraqi army regulars and black-clad armed men were everywhe re.
BELOW A Marine speaks through
an interpreter with local Iraqi
camel herders j ust south of An
Nasiriyah on March 23 , 2003.
The Marines are taught t o use
many skills beyond f i eldcratt and
f ighting, one of the primary of
these being negot i at ion and
diplomacy. (Courtesy of Kev in
Ellicot USMC)
45
BELOW 1/2 Marines wait
al ongsi de the road fo r orders
t o move i nt o An Nasiriyah on
March 23 , 2003. (Courtesy of
Kevin Ellicot USMC)
They were running up on the road , some trying to ge t in fro nt of the
"chicles, others tryi ng to grab on and climb aboard. The doomed convoy
accelerated, tI) 'ing to ge t out of the "kill zone."
The enemy raced behind th e co nvoy in pi ckup trucks. In th e lead,
the co mpa ny co mmander's missed th e turn south that would
take th em back to th e Saddarn Cana l Bridge. As th e lead vehicles
continue d cast, others realized that th e comma nder had missed hi s
turn . They radioed ah ead to alert him and th e n th e convoy had to turn
aro und again.
The compa ny co mmander turned hi s agil e HMl\ IWV qui ckl y, as did
th e next two lead vehicles. As th ey raced back west, th ey passed th e other
doomed trucks. As th ey approac hed th e turn south , th e Iraqis were
drivin g headl ong in to the America ns. The America ns turned hard left,
j ust as th e Iraqi pi ckups veered rig ht. The second S 5-to n tru ck
sideswipe d th e Iraqi techni cal , kn ocking it off th e ro ad. Then th e three
S trucks raced south, over th e Saddam Canal, through Ambush Alley,
and ba ck over th e Euph rates River Bridge, all th e whil e dodging
obstacl es and Iraqi soldiers and taking heavy lire.
They raced south for another 2km ( 1.2 mil es) and over a rail road
bridge, whi ch was being defended by a co mpany of Iraqi tanks and
infant ry, All three vehicl es were now bullet -ridden and some had blazing
tires. One of th e soldiers noti ced a US tank in the di stance and nervously
thought to himsel f, "Man, I hope he doesn 't shoot, 'cause MI tanks
don't miss."
Team Tank had nearl y silenced th e encmy fir e when one of th e tank
gunners saw trucks approac hing fro m th e north. He trained hi s main
gun. ready to lire, and th en he reali zed th at th ey were S vehi cles. Team
Tank held its lire and Capt. Troy King and th e three lead vehicl es raced
south and skidded to a stop at th e Marines' positi on.
"We were ambushed," he told Ma], Bill Peepl es, the Marine tank
co mma nder. "I have soldiers still up there," he excl aime d, as he moti oned
north, back up the roa d. Peepl es remounted hi s tank and ordered
hi s tank plat oon forwa rd. nder incrcasing lir e, they raced up the roa d to
li nd evera l aba ndone d vehicles just south of a rail road bridge.
46
They found ten soldiers hunkered down in a trench along the side of
th e ro ad. Maj. Peeples pulled hi s tank up next to the soldiers and
an other of his tanks flanked the soldiers on the othe r side of th eir
tr ench. Marines jumped from th eir tanks to help the bel eagu ered
soldiers. Alpha Company sent their ambulan ce track forward to evacuate
th e wounded . All the whil e, th e tankers were locked in a gun battl e with
th e Iraqi defenders.
Tea m Ta n k' s FAC reported "Marines in Con tac t," and Cobra
heli copt ers swar med int o th e battl e. "Hawk" direct ed th e Marine pil ots
toward enemy vehicles in th e western tr ee line and requested that they
search along th e road for more stranded soldie rs. The atta ck heli copters
and tanks proved too much for th e defenders and th e Iraqi survivors
qui ckl y faded away into th e desert.
LtCol. Gra bowski ordere d hi s tanks back to refuel and hi s infantry
companies to clea r th e bui ldings on either side of th e road. Then he
began to se t hi s battali on into defensive positi ons so th at he could hold
thi s positi on unti l he received th e order to move north and secure th e
bridges in An Nasiriyah. No sooner had th e tanks headed south th an th e
regimental and bri gade commanders showed up at Grabowski's CPo
When told of the ambush , BGen. Rich ard Na tonski ordered th e
Timbe rwolves forward. Grabowski ordered his Tea m Mech , minus th eir
plat oon of tanks, and one of hi s CAAT tea ms fo rward. Bravo Company
pushed ahead with a cordon of CAAT vehicles. They rea ch ed th e
rai lroad bridge and , as th e first track cres ted th e bridge , th e battali on
radi o net crac kled, "TANKS! \Ve have enemy tanks on both sides of th e
road ." The column halt ed, th e lead track ba cked down fro m th e crest of
th e brid ge and several CAAT HMiVIWVs raced up onto the brid ge. They
ope ned fir e with th eir .50 cal. machine guns whil e th e TOW gunne rs
zero ed in with th ei r deadly mi ssiles and fir ed. The missiles screamed
across the batt lefi eld, trailing a wake of smoke. A di rect hit, one tank
down . The TOW vehicles worked in a ro und-ro bin fashi on. After firing,
th e HMMWV would drive down off th e bridge to be replaced with a
read y To\"r vehicle. The Marin es were rel oading, zeroing in , and firing
in rapid succession.
Soon, nine Iraqi tanks lay silent on th e battl efi eld. Tanks were not th e
only threat at th e brid ge. Iraqi machine gunners were firin g on th e
Marines fro m bui ldings on either side of th e road . Black-clad figures
BELOW 1/2 Marines deploy
south of An Nasiriyah on March
23 , 2003. Cobra heli copt ers are
waiting f or th eir turn to support
the Marines further north. (Photo
courtesy Capt. Harold
Qualkinbush USMC)
47
48
co uld be seen lobbing mort ar shells at th e Marin es fro m a di stant roof,
and small-arms li re was coming fro m many locations. Bravo Company
and th e CAAT teams poured cont inuous streams of fire downrange
toward th e enemy. More Cobras and fixed-wing air craft swooped into
th e battle, direct ed by Bravo Company's FAC - "Mouth."
The Marines defeated a dug in tank company that was support ed by
infantry and hea vy weapons in short order. Within half an hour, th e
fighting had subsided to intermittent sniper fire. Grabowski had Alpha
and Charli e Compani es fan out again during th e light. Bravo Company
and CAAT held th e road, and Alp ha and Charl ie tra cks prot ect ed the
flan ks. LtCo\. Grabowski was not going an y further unti l his tanks
ret urned to lead the way. The Timberwolves wait ed for what seemed like
an etern ity until the first platoon of tanks appeared. Team Tank and
CAAT immediat ely pus hed over the Railro ad Bridge toward j asiriyah.
Bravo Company's Team Mech followe d Team Tank. Grabowski 's Alp ha
Co mmand Group fell in behind Team Mech . Alp ha Co mpa ny moved
ba ck up onto th e raised hi ghway beh ind Gra bowski. Charl ie Co mpa ny
ended up last in th e ar more d column. This would change th e planned
order of assault on th e Euphra tes River Brid ge. Bravo Co mpa ny and th e
Co mma nd Group would be first across th e river, foll owed by Alpha
Compa ny. Charlie Co mpany would have to keep in touch wit h their
ba tta lio n commander to know which rout e they had taken.
As Charlie Company was movi ng up onto the road, C ~ 0 9 abort ed. It
just qui t moving. Third Squad had trained for this in CAX and in
Kuwait. They quickly abandoned th e dead tra ck, leaving a fir e team to
prot ect th e crippled vehicle, and jumped aboard C ~ I0 and C ~ I 1. Wh en
Charlie Company's lead platoon was forc ed to sto p, Capt. Wittnam
ordered 1st Platoon into th e lead. The 1st and ~ d platoons ro lled past
Seely, Duncan.johnson, and the rest of 3d Platoon as they scrambled \0
board C ~ 10 and C211.
Seel y took over as the infantry commander in C21 1, whi le Dunca n
jumped into th e back ofJ ohnson's tra ck. The troop compart ment was
well over capac ity and Marines climbed onto the roof of the track to
ma ke room fix the extra men. Duncan and J ohnson climbed over
Marin es and forced their way forward and up onto th e bench. They were
standing between the legs of the Marin es sitti ng inside, un abl e to move
th eir feet without pushing the Marines bel ow aside.
Duncan and J ohnson stood back to back at th e front of the track,
MI()s resting on th e sand bags th at were used Ior add it iona l protect ion.
Duncan was right behind See ly. He could hear him yelling at his dri ver,
"Push! Push ! Push !" C2 11 lurch ed forward and raced north trying to
ca tch the tail end of th e company.
Across the Euphrates
CAAT and Team Tank rea ch ed the Euphrates River first. They drove up
on the large structure to lind the cit y of An Nasiri yah and Ambush Alley
ahead. From his position several vehicles back, Grabowski thought ,
"There is no turning ba ck now. \\'e are committed ." A ~ soon as th e CAAT
HMivlWVs and the tanks reach ed th e northern bank of th e Euphrates,
all hell broke loose. Flashes erupted from every window and doorway.
More enemy lire rained down from sand bagged rooftop positions, and
shots rang out from th e southern bank of th e river.
The Marines ope ned fire with everyt hing they had and immedi at el y
took a hard right turn toward th e eas tern side of the city. Vehicles
co ntinue d to pour over th c Euphrates River Bridgc behind Team Tank.
Bravo Co mpany's remai ni ng tracks cla nged over the bridge. Then LtCol.
Grabowski was up on the bridge raci ng forward in to a fi erce batt lc. The
two command tracks drove into the city, foll owed by the dozen HMivIWVs
in the colonel's cnt ouragc. They all took a right turn and disappeared
in to the narr ow alleyways on the easte rn side of the hi gh way.
The alleys were so narrow that th c tanks were knocking ove r ca rts,
and at the narr owest points crumbling wallsjust to gct through. As Bravo
Co mpany and th c command gro up pushed to thc cast, Alpha Company
crested th c bridgc. When th ey reached the northern bank, th ey fanned
o ut on either side of th c road and stoppe d . Bull ets continued to fly.
A2 12 was the last tra ck over, Inside th e tr ailing track, Alpha
Company' s first se rgeant noti ced a civilian taxi foll owing th em over th c
bridge. He and several other Marines frantically waved to th e taxi dri ver
to go ba ck. Th ey didn't want civilians to venture into th e fir cfi ght. As
they motioned , th e taxi cres ted the bridge and fo ur Iraqis jumped out
and began fi ring at them. The Marines re turned fire, killin g all four.
Seconds lat er another tax i appeared. It was immediatel y taken out. The
Timberwol ves had ca ptured the Euphrates River Bridge , but now they
were surrounded.
Thc Marines in Alpha Compa ny's tracks nervously wait ed in th c hot
met al boxes. Finall y, the familia r order came, "Dismo unt!" and eac h
track's heavy met al ramp fell. The Marin es poured out as the entire rifle
company depl oyed. As Alpha Co mpa ny's Marin es foug ht to defend th eir
newly captu re d prizes: Bravo Company reach ed the eas te rn edge of the
city and opcn terrain. They fanned out into an open field. The tracks
groane d and slowed, then stoppe d. They were stuck. Some had sunk in
muck to their chassis. There was no time to war n th e others - tanks sunk
to a halt , and HMMWVs slid int o the goocy mess, The easte rn thrust was
LEFT 2d Battalion, 8th Div is ion
Marines on the Southeastern
Euphrates Riv er Bridge on the
morning of March 24, 2003.
Note that they are dress ed in
full woodl and ca mouflage MOPP
gear, with webbing, and the
Marine on the f ar l eft i s carryi ng
his M16A2 rifle. (Photo courtesy
USMC) 49
BELOW 3d Battalion, 2d Division
Marines moving through the
breach i n the border berm
between Kuwait and Iraq.
(Photo courtesy Capt. Harold
Qualkinbush USMC)
co mpletely bogged down . Man y vehicles sat moti onless. Then the eas te rn
rooftops eru pted with snipe r fire.
More and more buildings popped up along the road as Cha rlie
Company reach ed the suburba n outskirts of An Nasiriyah. They passed
an industriali zed area with war ehouses on the left and large oil sto rage
tanks on the right. As they were approaching a lush stand of date palms,
they noti ced the largest struc ture they had seen since leaving Kuwait.
J ust as they closed on the rea r of Alpha Co mpa ny, they saw a large
co nc re te bridge risin g in the di stan ce: the Euphrat es River Bridge had
to be at least four sto ries tall.
C2 110 and C2 11 gro und forward , now at the tail e nd of the co mpany
and the batt alion. Duncan could see Charl ie's lead track cres t the
bridge. just as C20 I di sappeared from sight, shots rang out. At first the
re po rt.s were in the di stance. The Iraqis must have been firin g fro m
north of the Euphrates. Then to Duncan 's surprise, he heard cracks.
The sound was identical to the mini sonic booms in the butts. Then he
heard the ping of metal hitting metal. C211 was being shot at. Every
mi nut e or so, anot her ping or crack would get Duncan 's attention.
LtCol. Grabowski tr ied to radio Charl ie Company to warn Capt.
Wiunam not to come east, but he co uld not ge t through on the radio.
He tri ed and tried to co ntac t Wiunam , but there was no answer. Capt.
Wittnam was pressin g over the Euphrat es River Bridge behind Alpha
Co mpa ny. As Wittnam cres ted the bridge, he co uld see Alpha Co mpa ny
in defensive positions below, but Bravo Company was nowhere in sight.
Witt na m mad e a command decision in the blink of an eye. He
ordered Charl ie Company straight up Ambush Alley. Afte r all, his orders
were to sec ure the Saddam Canal Bridge, and he th ought that Bravo
Co mpa ny had probab ly go ne straight north. Even if they hadn 't , hi s
co mmande r's intent was clear. Charlie was to secure the northern bridge.
50
Casualties
Charl ie Co mpa ny pus heel straight ahea d th rough Ambush Alley, CW I
enc ounte ri ng the fiercest fire. Almost c\'cry new al leyway shelte re d an
RPG or machine-gu n team. Rocket trails fill ed th e str eet. Some whizz ed
wildly into the sky, others were ncar misses. A few RPGs hit th ei r target
with a thud and did not explode. The gunncr in th e lead tr ack was firin g
at everyt hing and anything in hi s path.
Armed Iraqis poured into th e streets, wildly firin g AK-4is. RI'Gs . and
machine guns at the adva nci ng armored co lumn. The Marines were
re turning the fire with even grcatc r feroci ty and deadl y acc uracy. All th e
whi le, Charlie Company's tra cks kept movi ng . An ama zing II or the 12
tra cks mad e it through th e gauntlet. Duncan and J ohnson could see the
Sadda m Canal Bridge in th e di stan ce when a thunde rous explosion
rocked the ve hicle. An cne my RPG had finally found its mark. The rocket
hit in thc right rear of thc track and spewed hot shrapnel into the
crowded lroop compart mcnt. AIlJohnson could see was smoke billowing
out or th c troop compart mcnt. "Glass is dead," one Marine yelled out.
Lt. Seely slapped the tra ck driver on his helmet. "Co! Co! Co, " he
ordered . Then he as ked Duncan how many casualties th crc were , bUI
Duncan couldn ' t tell. There was 10 0 mu ch smo ke pourin g out or th e
tr ack. He only kn ew that th e Marin e next to him had been hi t. He was
scrcaming in pai n. Duncan and J ohnson both lifted th e wounded
Marine up onto thc track roof'. His right Icg was blccding heavily; a largc
met al shard had sliced int o hi s thi gh. J ohnson qui ckl y tied a tourniquet
aro und hi s Icg to slow th e bl eeding.
Mean whil e , Sgt. BiIZ, C2 11's dri ver, was racin g fo rward at full speed.
He was dri \'in g over, aro und and through obstacles in hi s path. He
passed a couple of tra cks and drove up ove r the Saddam Cana l Brid gc.
Irailing a column of oi ly bla ck smoke . He raced ove r the bridgc and
gro und th e cri ppled vehicle to a halt right in the middl e of the road .
about 200 met ers north of the canal.
Seely hi t Bitz on the helmet aga in, "Dro p the ramp. Dro p th e ramp."
The grc nade had damaged the ra mp and it would not open. Seely
j umped from hi s hatch and moved along th c top or the troop
compart mcnt. "Cet out! Ge t out," he ordered.
Sgt. Will iam Scharer had been rid ing in C20 I at th e head or the
Co mpa ny. C2 11 had come to rest within met ers or Sch arer's track. He
ra n over and opened th e small ba ck door, th ere for just such an
cmergency. Smoke billowed out , followed by the Mari nes. Johnson and
Duncan handed an injured man, Mead, down from the to p or th e track,
and th en th eyjumped down 10 try to gather their squa ds and help with
the casualtics. They both raced to th e rear or C211. One Marine had
nearl y lost hi s leg, and hi s fell ow Marin es were ord ered to ge t him to th e
co r psmcn as quickly as possibl e. The Mari nes scooped up the casua lties
and ca rried thcm down off th e road , out or the line of encmy firc.
Duncan and J ohnson gra bbe d a wounded Marine and , dodging thc
bull et s that were slapping agai ns t th e side of th e burning track. ran
down the side of the ra ised road and plopped their load on the gro und
at a hastily arranged aid station. Co rp sme n began working on th e
Marine immediatel y. In addi tion 10 Mead and Glass, th ere were two
more wounded Marin es. One had a severe leg wound and a Gunny had
been tempora rily bl inded. 51
52
As th e corpsme n were tending to the wounded , Lt. Seely was
deploying hi s Marin es. He sent several to the berm east of th e road, and
he ordered the rest \0 follow him to the western side of th e road. The
road was raised above the surrounding terr ain and the ene my was
swee ping the roa d with machine gun and sma ll-arms fi re. Seely wen t first,
not knowing how many of his me n wou ld follow. All ten of the Marines
followed their platoon leader ac ross the elevated road to th e western side.
The Mari nes dove for cover in a wat er-filled dit ch along th e side of the
road. Sudden ly, a Marine splashe d down almost on top of Seely. It was Sgt.
Bitz, face to face with Seely, still wea rin g his AMTRAC crew helmet and
carrying his ~ I I G . He smi led at Seely, " It looks like I'm a Gru nt now, Sir."
As Seely's Marin es were racin g across the road , enemy mortar rounds
bega n to fall , first in the distance, then clos er with eac h vol ley, The Iraqis
were pounding Charl ie Company with everything th ey had - art ille ry,
mortars, RPGs, machine guns and small-ar ms fire from both sides of th e
road and south of th e canal.
The Iraqi I I th In fantry Division commander had expec ted an
America n airborne assa ult int o th e open fields northeast of th e city. So,
he had positioned hi s troops and ind irect fire asse ts so that they were
zeroed in on the Ikm-Ion g (O.G miles) elevated road nort h of th e
Saddam Canal. Charl ie Company had stopped right in th e middl e of thc
Iraqi commander's fire sack.
Duncan and Johnson dived across Mead and Glass when th ey heard
the mortar rounds whistli ng in , shi elding th e wounded Mari nes.
Meanwhil e, th e FiST had set up hi s th ree GOmm mort ars nearby. Cha rl ie
Company's mort ar teams were in a deadl y duel wit h th e Iraqis. Aft er
several minutes, th c Iraqis zerocd in on one of th e Marine's mortars.
Another mortar ro und came whi stling in , Duncan andJohnson shi elded
th eir charges again, and J ohnson wat ched as th e round landed amid th e
Mari ne mortar team.
The Weapons Platoon Leader, 1st Lt. .lames Reid , and the FO were
both th rown in th e air, three Marines lay dead, and ano ther four were
wounded. Amazingly, Reid was still alive. He looked around and saw the
dead and wounded Marines, ros e to his feet , and sprinted toward
Duncan, J ohnson and th e corpsmen to ge t help for hi s men. Another
round landed not ten feet in front of him. It knocked him to th e gro und
again. I-Ie rose again. His face had been peppered with shrapnel and
one of his eyes was ba dly injured. He thoug ht that he had lost his eye.
Reid ra n to his mort ar track and asked a Gunny. "How is my eye? Is it
gone?" Then the Gunny care fully inspect ed the wou nd. "You are good
to go, Sir." Reid turned to th e men in the track and ordere d them to
help th e wounded. "11' I don't come ba ck, load th em up and ge t th em
south to safety, no matt er how much it hurts." Then Reid turned and ran
to find his company commander.
By now, Sgt. Schaf er, with Duncan and J ohnson's hel p, was loading
th e wounded and dead Marin es into C20 I, C20G, and C208. Schafer,
un able to contac t an y of hi s office rs, was considering leading th e th ree
tra cks ba ck through Ambush Alley to get th e wounded to safety. There
was no way anyone co uld bring a heli copter into thi s fireli ght. Driving
th e wounded south was th e onl y way to ge t th em help.
Charlie Company was still taking hea vy fire. Even some of the wounded
wer e returning fire with their rifles. Schafer immedi at ely ordered the 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. "Hold
the ramp. Let me take one last look." Then he jumped out for a sweep or
the area.
A mortar round screa med in and J ohnson went down . C206's dri ver
had alrea dy bcgun to ro ll forward . One of the pa ssengers relied for th e
dri ver to halt , but by th e time they had stopped, J ohnson was lying in a
heap nearly 100 met ers from th e vehicle.
Duncan sprinted to hi s friend, pulled him up into a fir eman 's carry
and ran back toward C206. By the time Duncan reach ed th e track, he
was spent. I-I e ge ntly lowered J ohnson onto th e floor or th e track,
shouted for th e corpsman, and then he collapse d . C206's driver gunned
th e eng ine and raced south over th e Saddam Canal. Schafe r had
stoppe d all three tr acks when J ohnson was hit. ow C206 led th e med-
evac column sout h. C208 followed C206, and C20 I was th e last track up
onto thc brid ge.
The lead track was just coming down 01'1' th e bridge when a
thunde rous explos ion erupted between C206 and C208. The roof of
C20Gcaved in and its back ramp crashed open, but th e track kept ro lling
forward . Sec onds later C208 received a direct hit, blowing th e vehicl e
nearl y in half. C20 I lost its steering and ran into a tel ephone pole. All
th e Marin es in C20 1 poured out into a house along th e side of th e road .
Meanwhil e, th e driver and track commander of C208 climbed out of
th ei r man gled tr ack, both wounded but miracul ously still alive. The
Marines in th e tro op compart ment never kn ew what had hit th em.
The two wounded trackers limped to th e house with th e other
Marines. They took refuge th ere until th ey could be rescu ed. C206
continued south th rough Ambush Alley. By the time they rea ched Alpha
Company's positi on at th e Euphrates River, th e rest of Gra bowski's tanks
had arrived. C206 rolled into Alpha Company's position and a RPG
LEFT Charlie Company Marines
carry a wounded comrade during
t he 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 Battalion,
2d Marin es , i nspect s the burned-
out hulk of C211 , the f irst
AMTRAC hit i n Ambush Alley.
(Courtesy of David Dunfee USMC)
screamed out of a building. It hi t the side of th e track, rocking it
furiously. A seco nd RPG shot th rough the air and we nt in th rough the
back opening. The explosion sto ppe d th e vehicle dead in its tracks.
Alpha Co mpa ny Marin es ran to th e crippled track. The first Marine
th ere found a pile of twisted met al. He couldn' t believe it when he heard
a groan. Two Marines were buried in th e pil e of debris with the ce nte r
beam of th e troop compart ment roof covering th em. O ne of th e
Marin e's helmet s was nearly cru shed under th e wei ght of the heavy
met al support and he was pinned at th e head. but he was alive. The
Marines began to carefully try to extrac t him. "Any aircraft, any aircraft!
This is 'Kool Aide' on TAD. I have immediate need fo r med-evac in
Nasiri yah. " Alpha Company's FAC broadcast over and over un til he got
a response. Hi s call for hel p was relayed to the regimental headquart ers
where two "Phrogs" were waiti ng on standby for j ust th is sort of mission.
Capt. Eric Garcia ra n to hi s waiting CH-46 with hi s crew and took to
th e skies. They headed north. "Kool Aide, thi s is Paro le-Two-Five
inbound on mcd- evac," Garcia announced to th e FAC on th e ground.
"Parole-Two-Five, we are just north of th e Euphrat es Rive r Bridge. The
area is as sec ure as we can make it, but we are tak ing fir e. The LZ is
IIOT." With out hesitat ion, Garcia responded, "Roge r, Kool Aide," He
ordered Parol e-Two-Six to sta nd off and not to land. The n, Garcia
foll owed his guns hip escorts across th e Euphrat es River and se t down
righ t in th e middle of Alpha Co mpa ny's raging fireli ght. He wait ed as
Duncan was carefully removed fro m the wreckage and qui ckl y rush ed to
th e back of the wait ing med-evac heli copt er. Marines rushed him in to
th e Ph rog and struggled to lay him on one of th e litt ers mount ed on th e
walls of the hel icopter. "Put him down . Put hi m down," the crew chief
commanded. The un conscious Marin e was laid out on the deck. Ga rcia
raced the e ngines and lifted back into the air once he heard the crew
chief shout, "Go! Go ! Go !" Within seconds , Paro le-Two-Five was back out
over the Iraqi desert and flying toward a field hospi tal in Kuwait.
Back at C206, J ohnson , who had been pinned under Dun can , was
dazed but uninjured. He climbed from the wreckage an d was moved into
a building where the less seriouslywounded casualties were bein g housed.
AFTER THE BATTLE
Just afte r Ga rcia's heli copter lifted into the blu e sky, Capt. Brooks
ordered hi s men to mount up. Alpha Company pushed forward th rough
Ambush Alley to rein fo rce Charl ie Company, north of the canal. Bravo
Company met Alpha in the cen ter of Ambush Alley and they, too, moved
across the bridge. As the sun set, all of the Timberwolves were north of
the Saddam Canal, guarding the northern bridge. "Ame rica' s Battalion"
moved in behind I/ 2 and they sec ured the Euph rates River Bridge.
Med-evac
Du ring the flight Duncan moved in and out of consciousnes s. He had
no idea where he was. The re were two Marines huddl ed over him. He
co uld hear them talking but he was mi ssing most of the words. The two
men working intentl y to stabilize Duncan were actua lly Navy corpsme n.
They inserted IV drips, administered morphine, and continue d to
monitor Duncan 's vital signs as Garcia raced sout h. Duncan drift ed back
into semi-consciousness again and felt the choppe r ge ntly touching
down. He thought that this had to be the smoothes t landing he had ever
expe rienced in one of these war horses. In an instant, the familiar
co rpsme n were at his side and othe rs were carrying hi s litt er fro m the
hel icopter. He was rushed 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 f or thei r
casual t ies at th e 2d Battalion,
8th Marin es Battalion Aid
St at ion, south of An Nasiriyah, on
March 24 , 2003. The modern-day
Marine Corps boasts excell ent
medic al ca re that saves the lives
of many Marines who would not
have been so lucky i n previous
wars. (Court esy of Kevin Ellicot
USMC)
Hal fway there, th e Marines were met by a gro up of army medi cs and
nurses . They quickly took th e litt er and ru shed Duncan inside. Duncan
fe lt a rus h of cool air. It was th e lirst air-conditioned air he had felt since
leaving the ship. He was hoi st ed onto an opera ting tabl e. The lights were
bri ghter than th e sun. He only had an instant to see a ga ng of surge ons
and scrub nurses descend UpOIl him. They were cutt ing off his clo thes .
Du ncan was out cold, kn ocked out by the anaest het ist.
In any ot her war, a wounded Marine like Du ncan never would have
survived his life-th reaten ing inj ury. Today, a he ro ic pi lot and his fligh t
cre w had literally yanked him fro m the jaws of death . N;I\]' corpsmen
had administered life-saving first aid as the air ambulance raced south.
Duncan was brought to a fie ld hospit al th at wou ld rival any hospital
e merge ncy room in th e world . He was immediat el y di agnosed and
stabilized . The n he was load ed onto another heli copter and flown to th e
giant whi te hospital ship, SS Comjorl, at anchor in th e Pe rsian Gulf".
Duncan remained unconscious, never eve n knowing that he had been
flown out of the war zone.
Three days after drifting ol f on th e Kuwaiti operating tabl e, Duncan
awoke wit h three-quart ers of his lace bandaged. He was in th e giant
American medical facilit y in Landstul , Ger ma ny. The hospi tal di rect or,
Col. (Dr.) Ronda Cor num, checked on Duncan as soon as shc heard that
he had regained consc iousness. She had a specia l int erest in all of the
young casualties, having survived a Black Hawk heli copter crash in Iraq
during Desert Storm, only to be capture d and held prisoner for nearl y a
week. Co l. Cornum spent nearly ; ~ O minutes at Duncan 's bedside , telling
him about hi s injuri es and what the medica l stall' had done to save his
life. Duncan didn 't spend much time at Landstul . The next morning he
was loaded 0 1110 an air force bus outfitt ed to carry litt ers. Duncan was
the first pa tient ca rried aboard. Covere d in bandages and still in a neck
brace, he co uld only see a small rea ding lam p above hi s head . The
seco nd man aboard th e bus was placed right across th e aisle fro m
Duncan . He qui ckl y di scovered that th is man was Lt. Reid.
The fight for Baghdad
Meanwhil e , th e Marines of the RCT-I began moving th rough Ambush
Alley on the day aft er RCT-2's bloody ba tt le for th e easte rn brid ges, and
RCT-5 and RCT-7 pushed nort h across th c far western brid ge that 3/ 2
had secured the previous day. LtCo!' Eddie Ray's 2d Light Ar mored
Reconnai ssan ce Battalion crossed the easte rn bridges, shot past j ohnson
and the Timberwolves, and the n up Hi ghway 7 toward Baghdad as RCT-
5 led th e charge up Hi ghway 8. Ray's LAVs did not get vc ry far before
they becam e' heavily engaged with Iraqi forces th at were moving sout h
to re inforce th e beleagu ered fight ers in An Nas iriyah. 2d LAR's heavily
armed Light Armored Vehicles decimat ed th e Iraqis before th ey even
go t within firin g ra ng e of th e Ameri ca n Mari nes .
RCT-I wait ed until aft er nightfall on the 24th to charge through
Ambush Alley and didn 't catch up with LtCo!. Ray's Marines un til the
morning of th e 25t h. The Marin es of th e 1st Marin e Division chargc d
north on a two-pronged atta ck until a massive sands torm stopped the
Ameri ca n adva nce in its tracks. On th e afternoon of th e 25t h, the stor m
morphed in to to r rential ra ins, thunder, and lightning.
American mi litary comma nders took this opportunity to re-supply
th e fo rward comba t un its. Aft er th e bloody battle for An Nas ir iyah , the
news medi a report ed that the invasion was "boggi ng down ." But once
the weat her had cleared and the forwa rd units had been re-supplied, the
Ar my and Marines ro lled forwa rd aga in.
After the expe riences in An Nasir iyah, commanders in th e 1st
Mari ne Division tri ed hard to avoid major Iraqi populati on ce nte rs.
RCT-5 and RCT-7 charge d up Hi ghway 8 past Ad Diwani yah , whi le RCT-
I adva nced up Highway 7 to Al Kut, RCT-5 and RCT-7 moved back to th e
cas t and rejoined RCT-I at th e Iraqi town of Sabat. From th ere , the
entire di vision push ed north for the last I()I km ( 100 mi les) on th e
easte r n road into Baghdad .
The 1st Marine Division enc ounte re d ever-inc reasing res ista nce as
th ey moved closer to Saddani 's ce nte r of power. By th e time thc Marin es
reached Baghdad, th e Iraqi leadership was on the run. They moved in to
LEFT Marines from the
1st Battalion, 2d Marine
Regiment, clear a small vill age
near th e southern Iraqi city
of An Nasiriyah. (Courtesy
of Joe Raedle/Getty Images) 57
RIGHT An Iraqi boy on the
outskirts of An Nasiriyah .
(Phot o court esy Capt. Harold
58 Qualk i nbush USMC)
th e ce nter of Bagh dad and skirted th e eas te rn side of th e city, all th c
while encounte ring pockets of resistance. Within days, the Marines had
silenced organized cncmy res istance in the ca pital.
Meanwhil e. j ohnson and the res t of 1/ 2 spent th e last week of March
se ll ing up checkpoints and road blocks, north of An Nas iriyah. They
co ntinued to expa nd th ei r sec urity perimeter unt il it engulfed all th e
ro ads and bridges lead ing in to An Nasiriyah fro m the north. An
Nasiriyah remained surro unded as th e rest of RCT-2 worked to clear th e
southern part of the city of th e rcmaining Ba' ath Part y and Fcda yecn
hol douts. As Tas k Force Tarawa worked to sec ure the ci ty, co nvoy afte r
co nvoy ro lled through Ambush Alley and over the bridges th at th e
Timberwolves had fought so hard to secure.
After a wee k of lighting, Tas k Force Tarawa defeated Saddams
Fedayeen fighters in and around An Nas iriya h. Na to ns ki's Brigadc was
rei nforced with two ME s. Once reinforced, Task Force Tarawa moved
north and fanned o ut to sec ure most of southern Iraq. Major co mbat
opera tio ns were ove r for the Mari nes of Task Force Tarawa but the next
co uple of months would be filled with some small skirm ishes and
security and stabilizatio n operations. By April 7, th e Marines of 1st
Division were at th e gates of Baghdad. There were several days of intense
lighting but the Iraqi lighters qui ckl y melt ed away into the civilian
population. The war had been won, but winning the peace would prove
to be much more di fficult ,
Tas k Force Tarawa pa trolled th e streets of th e towns of th e Fert ile
Crescent. They met with local ollic ials, handed out food and wat er, and
sta rted rebuildi ng Iraq. The Marines tu r ned fro m co nquest to reli ef
o pe rations. They provided medical ca re for the people; they re pa ire d
elec trica l networks and water pumpi ng stations. They rebui lt bridges,
schools, and mosques. Most import antly, th ey mai ntai ned order and
started to aid the local populati on in rebui lding thei r lives in a
dem ocracy. The MEB staff began measuring success by th e number of
Iraqi child ren returning to school.
Camp Lejeune 's Marines we re moved ba ck to Kuwait and loaded
onto their ATF-E ships by May 18 for thei r month-longj our ney homc. In
a short six mont hs, they had traveled halfway aro und the world to fight
the first maj or battl e of Operation i raqi Freedom; they had brought a new
stability to southern Iraq , and returned to their families in No rt h
Caro lina. Sadda m Hussein had been defeat ed but the war still ragcd.
Somc of Tas k Force Tarawa's Marines would ret urn to civilian life, but
most would retu rn to Iraq in the months to come.
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 i n An Nas iriyah
help distribute flour to hungry
civilians. The supplies had been
stockpiled by the Iraqi military.
(Courtesy of Joe Raedle/Getty
Images) 59
GLOSSARY
81s 81mm Mortar Platoon IFF Identificat ion-Friend or Foe
AAV Assault Amphibian Vehicl e I MEF 1st Marine Expeditionary Forces
ACE Aviat ion Combat Element (USMC) IS Immediat e Suppression
AMTRAC Amphibious Tracked Vehicle (AAV) KIA Killed In Act ion
AO Air Officer LAAD Light Ant i-Aircraft Defense system, mounted
ARG Amph ibious Ready Group on HMMWV
ATF-E Amphibious Task Force - East ("the LAR Light Armored Reconnaissance
Magnificent Seven") LAV Light Armored Vehicl e
ATO Air Tasking Order LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicl e with 25mm
AVLB Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges Bushmaster automat ic cannon
BAS Batt alion Aid Stat ion LAV-AT Light Armored Vehicle - Anti-tank - TOW
BOA Battl e Damage Assessment missile launcher
BDRM Sovi et wheeled armored reconnaissance LCAC Landing Craft Air Cushioned
vehicle LCU Landing Craft Util ity
BDU Battl e Dress Uniform LHA Landing Helicopter Assault (Ship)
BMP Russian-built tracked, armored personnel LHD Landing Helicopter Dock (Ship)
carrier LNO Liaison Officer
BTR-60 Soviet-made wheeled infantry vehic le LOD Line of Departure
C3 Command, Cont rol, and Communicat ions LPD Landing Platform Dock (Ship)
CAAT Combi ned Anti-Armor Team LSD Landing Supply Dock (Ship)
CAG Civil Act ion Group - inter preters LVS Four-wheel dr ive heavy lift vehicle
CAS Close Air Support LZ Landing Zone
CAX Combined Arms Exercise MAG Marine Air Group
CENTCOM US Central Command MAGTF Marine Air Ground Task Force
CFF Call For Fire MAW Marine Air Wing
CFLCC Combined Force Land Component MCAGCC Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center
Commander (Twentynine Palms, Ca.)
Chop Removing unit from its parent and assigning MEB Marine Expedit ionary Brigade
it to another unit MEF Marine Expeditionary Force
COC Command Operations Center MEU (SOC) Marine Expedit ionary Unit (Special
comms Communications Operati ons Capable)
CP Command Post MK148 Four Pack HMMWV containing a high
CSSA Combined Services and Support Area power radio
01 Drill Inst ructor MLRS Mult iple Launch Rocket System
EAAK External Applique Armor Kit (for AAVs) MOPP Mission Oriented Protect ive Posture
EPW Enemy Prisoner of War MOS Mili tary Occupat ional Specialty
FAC Forward Air Cont roller MOUT Mil itary Operations in Urban Terrain
FARP Forward Area Resupply Point MRE Meal-Ready-to-Eat
FAST Forward Area Support Team MSR Main Supply Rout e
FINEX Final Exercise MTLB Soviet armored, amphibious, multi -purpose
FiST Fire Support Team personnel carrier
FLOT Forward Line of Troops NATO Nort h At lantic Treaty Organization
FO Forward Observer NBC Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical
FOB Forward Operating Base NCO Non-Commissioned Officer
FROG Free Rocket over Ground - Russian-built NVGs Night Vision Goggl es
artillery rocke t Phrogs Marine nickname for Sea Knight CH-46
FSB Forward Support Batt alion helicopter
FSC Fire Support Coordinator PL Phase Line
GCE Ground Combat Element POW Prisoner of War
GP General Purpose PT Physical Training
GPS Global Posit ioning System RAP Rocket -Assisted Projectile
HE High Explosive RCT Regimental Combat Team
HEAT High Explosive Ant i Tank RGFC Republican Guard Forces Command
HEMTT Heavy Expanded Mob ility Tactical Truck RIP Relief in Place
HET Heavy Equipment Transporter ROC Rehearsal of Concept
HHC Headquarters and Headquarters Company ROE Rules of Engagement
HMMWV High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle RORO Roll-On, Roll-Off - military cargo ships have
60
IFAV Infant ry Fast Attack Vehicle RORO capability
RPG
RPV
RRP
SA-2
SAM
SAW
SCUD
Seabees
SEAD
SEAL
SF
Skids
Snake
SOC
501
50S
STA
Rocket -Propelled Grenade
Remote- Piloted Vehicle
Rapid Re-supply Point
Russian-built Surface-to-Air missile
Surface-to-Air Missile
Squad Automatic Weapon
Russian Ballistic missile
US Navy Construction Batt alion
Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses
Sea, Air, and Land - US Navy's elite
commando unit.
Special Forces
Marine nickname for Cobras and Hueys
Marine nickname for a Cobra helicopter
Special Operations Capable - USMC as in
MEU (SOC)
School of Infantry
Special Operations Squadron - USAF
Surveillance and Target Acquisition
TAA
TCP
TEWT
TF
TFS
TOC
TOW
TRAP
UAV
USMC
USNS
USS
VTOL
WSO
ZSU23-4
(platoon/t eam) snipers
Tactical Assembly Area
Tactical Control Point
Tactical Exercise Without Troops
Task Force
Tactical Fighter Squadron
Tact ical Operations Center
Tube-launched, Opt ically-t racked, Wire-
guided, antitank missile
Tact ical Recovery - Aircraft and Personnel
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
United States Marine Corps
United States Naval Ship - ships of the
military sealift command
United States Ship
Vertical Take Off and Landing
Weapon Systems Officer - WSO in
backseat of Air Force jets
Radar-guided Anti-Aircraft-Artillery
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson,.Ion Lee, Th e Fall oj Baghdad, Pcn guin Press, 1 ew York, 2004
Clancy, Tom, Marine - A Gui ded Tour oj a Marin e EXjmlilioll fll), VIIit,
Berkley, New York, 1996
Lowry, Richard S., Marines ill the Garden of Edell, Berklev, NewYork, 2006
, 'J ,
Murray, Williamson, and Robert Scales, Iraq War: A Mililfll )' History,
Harvard niversity Pr ess, Cambridge, 2003
Poll ack, Kenneth, The Th reateni ng St orm, Random House, j ewYork, 2002
Rick, Thomas , M aking II/(! COl/IS, Scribner, New York, 1998
Roux, Gcorgcs, Ancient Ira q, Pcn guin Books (3rd ed.) , London, 1992
Stockman, j ames R. Capt. (USMC) , Marines in World II'tn' II Historical
MonobrmjJh - Th e Battle [or Tarauia, Historical Secti on , Division of
Public Info rmation Headquarters, US Marine Corps, 1947
Tr cwhiu, Philip, Armored Fighli ng Vehicles - 300 oj II/{! toorl d's
mililfll )' vehicles, Barnes & Noble Books, NewYork, 1999
Wcst, Bing and Ray L Major Gc nc ral (Ret.) Smith, Th e Mardi
VjJ, Ban tam Books, New York, 2003
61
COLOR PLATE COMMENTARY
62
A: TASK FORCE TARAWA MARINE
From their lightweight waterproof boots to their Kevlar
helmet s, Marine infantrymen were some of the best -
equipped war fighters in the world. Their clothing was made
of the most advanced materials, designed to be light , yet
durable. The camouflage patterns on their out er garments
were scientifically developed to provide maximum cover in
either wooded or desert environments.
Here our composite charact er, Cpl. Terrell Johnson, can
be seen dressed to fight on any battlefield. He is carrying the
standard M16A2 rifle, equipped with a M203 grenade
launcher. He has standard-issue goggles, which were an
absolute necessity during desert sandstorms.
Johnson is wearing his MOPP suit pants and jumper which
provide protect ion against nuclear, biological, and chemical
attacks . The Marines trained continually at donning the rest
of their protect ive clot hing: mask, hood, heavy rubber gloves,
and boot ies which were all carried in a pouch strapped to
their upper thigh. Every Marine was issued a Kevlar helmet
and flak vest to prot ect their head and torso from small- arms
fire and shrapnel, and they were given knee pads and gloves
to protect their knees and hands from minor injuries.
Task Force Tarawa Marines were all issued Marine desert
camouflage ut ilit y uniforms which included a desert
camouflage helmet cover, but they received MOPP suits in
woodland camouflage. MOPP suits are stored in airtight
packaging and wi ll become ineffective after a few days of
exposure to the atmosphere. Most MOPP suits were
manufactured to provide protect ion to American servicemen
in a potential war with the former Soviet Union. A war with
the Soviet Union would most certainly have been fought in
the forests of Europe, so it made sense to use woodland
patterns for the MOPP suits. These suits had been sitt ing on
supply shelves, collecting dust , since the fall of the Soviet
Union. Now, the suits were needed and commanders
deci ded to provide the prot ect ive garments to all of the
troops even though they were green. This strange
combination of desert and woodl and camouflage gave Task
Force Tarawa Marines a unique look.
1. M249 Squad Aut omatic Weapon uses the same
Standard NATO5.56mm ammunition as the M16A2 rifle
2a. Standard NATO5.56mm ball round
2b. Standard NATO5.56mm tracer round
3a. Mk113 gas mask
3b. MOPP suit protect ive hood
4a. Woodland camouflage pattern of MOPP hooded jacket
4b. Gas mask pouch
4c. Knee pads
4d. Desert boots
5. Web belt wi th canteen and ammunition pouches
6. Back pack and camelback (only drinking tube is visible)
7. Flak vest
B: RECRUIT TRAINING
At Parris Island, South Carolina and at the Marine Corps
Recruit Depot , San Diego, California, teenagers are turned
into Marines. The transformation is complete in body, mind,
and spirit. The moment these young men step off the bus
and onto the painted yellow footprints on the pavement
beneath them, they are molded and shaped. All vestiges of
their past life are taken away, including their hair. Then, they
are rebuilt in the Marine Corps mold. By the end of their
training, they move together as one. They think and act alike.
They become Marines.
C: COMBINED ARMS EXERCISE
This is where the Marines put it all together. Fixed and rotary
wing air support, lift helicopter crews, Combined Anti-Armor
Teams (CAAl), Amphibious Armored Vehicles (AAVs), M1A1
Abrams tanks, mortars, artillery, and logistic support are all
combined in support of Marine infantry. During this training, the
Marines become an integrated Marine Air Ground Task Force
(MAGTF), a combined arms team unequaled in the world.
Seen here are infantrymen dismounting from their AAVP7
AMTRAC amphi bious tractor as an M1A1 Abrams tank, a
CAAT TOW gunner and an AH-1 COBRA gunship provide
support ing fire in the sandy southern California desert . The
Marine Corps Air, Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) at
Twentynine Palms, California, is one of the few training
facili ties large enough to support regimental-level, combi ned
arms, live-fire exercises.
ABOVE Homemade mileage signposts dotted Camp
Shoup i n 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 NASIRIYAH
The fighting began along Route Moe at an uncharted railroad
overpass near the Euphrates River when the Marines
encountered a dug- in Iraqi tank company supported by
mortars and infantry. The Forward Air Cont rollers (FACs) of
1/2 Marines immediately called for close air support and
Marine Cobras swooped in.
Just as they had practiced at Combined Arms Exercise in
Twentynine Palms, CMT TOW gunners methodicall y fired on
dug-in Iraqi tanks, while the Cobra gunships overhead fired on
anything that moved. Cobras provide the Marines with
extensive airborne close air support capabilities. The Gatling
gun can lay down massive amounts of directed fire on the
enemy. Cobras can also carry extremely accurate Hellfire
antitank missiles and Hydra rocket pods, which can fill an area
the size of a football field with deadly fire in a single salvo.
E: CAMP SHOUP
Task Force Tarawa's Marines carved a home out of the
northern Kuwaiti desert wastel and, waiti ng for the order to
move into Iraq. Camp Shoup (named after Col. David M.
Shoup, the 2d Marine Regiment's commanding officer at the
battle of Tarawa, Medal of Honor winner and eventual
commandant of the Marine Corps), housed the modern-day
Regimental Combat Team-2 (RCT-2) within it s berms.
Everyday life for the Marines in Kuwait was Spartan at best.
The availability of electricity was limited. The Marines slept on
the sand floors of their tents and washed themselves and their
clothes in cold water. The desert sand invaded everything on
good days, and weekly sandstorms filled the sky, browning
out the sun. The larger storms pulled tent pegs from the
ground, toppling tents and scatt ering everything that wasn't
nailed down.
The Marines' days were filled with waiting. They read
books, magazines, and old newspapers, and wrote lett ers
home. They made makeshift road signs which displayed how
far it was to their home. Their boredom was interspersed with
training, drills, PT, and constant cleaning of their weapons
and equipment. Even in the barren desert , out of the view of
anyone but themselves, they proudly displayed the crimson
and gold United States Marine Corps' flag.
F: MED-EVAC
Casualties were moved to safety and life-saving medical
attention fast er in Operation Iraqi Freedom than in any other
war in history. Heroic pilot s and their CH-46 crews landed in
hot landing zones (LZs) while the fighti ng still raged to whisk
their charges to state-of-the-art medical facili ties which
rivaled any major metropolitan emergency room, saving
many Marine lives.
Here, Capt. Eric Garcia lands along Highway 7, north of
the Saddam Canal, in the midst of 1st Battalion , 2d Marines'
battl e on March 23, 2003. Capt. Garcia returned to the
battlefield, landing three times in all. Each time he and his
crew whi sked wounded Timberwolves to safety and vital
medical attention. He saved more than one Marine's life that
day, earning the Disti nguished Flying Cross for his selfless
act ions under enemy fire.
The CH-46 "Sea Knight " helicopter has been in service in
the United States Marine Corps since the Vietnam War. It is
a workhorse used for many different missions. It can lift 25
fully equipped Marines into battle and can be used to ferry
supplies to Marines on the battlefield. One of the "Phrogs"
most important capabilities is its ability 10 be conf igured as
an airborne ambulance .
G: MARINES ON PARADE
The dress blue uniform of the United Stales Marine Corps is
unique and filled with tradition. It is made from the colors of
the US flag - red, white and blue. Each button bares the Eagle,
Globe, and Anchor insignia, the oldest American military
insignia in continued use.
The scarlet stripe or "blood stripe" that runs down each
trouser leg of commissioned and non-commissioned officers
originally honored the Marines who had fallen in the "Halls of
Montezuma", during the 1846-48 Mexican War. Today, the
stripes honor all of the Marines who have fallen throughout
history, defending freedom and democracy. The high-neck
collar is a remnant from the American Revolution when Marines
wore leather stock to protect their necks from sword blows
dur ing ship boardings, earning them the nickname of
"leathernecks." The uniform can be worn in several
configurations depending on the occasion; Blue Dress A (with
medals), Blue Dress B (with ribbons), Blue Dress C (sky blue
trousers with khaki shirt, field scarf and ribbons), and Blue
Dress C (short sleeved khaki shirt and ribbons).
Marine officers have carried the Mameluke Sword since
1804, when Lt. Presley O'Bannon was presented with one by
Hamet Karamanli after his victory at Tripol i during the Barbary
Wars. The sword is a replica of those carried by Karamanli's
Mameluke tribesmen and to this day commemorates the
Corps' first vict ory 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 ill
hold. Plan-s a n ' shown with and
caption locat o rs in brackets,
aircraft
u-n,\ 11 1 Cuhrn I!l, 20 , C, D(:I:,- :\ i ,
li2- li:\ ). "7, Ii
,\\,-1'11 l la rru-r l!l, 2i
\ 'l' n ol Cl l- Iti Sea Kni ghr 11',28,
F(:I!I, li:I) , :,1-:,:" 55
Si l..orsl..y CI I-:,:I S..a Sta llion 1!I,25
AI Kill 59
Al-Qaeda Ii
An :\asirh"lh t . :t ? +t :lt . :}H. 59
hall ie ,',1' .1. 16, D(:\Ii-:\ i , li:I), 1:1-:,:., :,1'
JI't ' also casualties:
"Ambush Alley- 1:1, 1:;. "Ii . 11'. :,0, :, I.
r) :t [,r). :1t . !' ,S
afl .. r tlu- hallie :,:;:,(i
hall ie o r. Worl d War I :\2
Sadda m Ca na l a nd .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 2i
Assault Amphibian (A:\V) lIa llat io ll, 2d II' .
21. 27.2H
Ila ';lIh I'a n y T, :,1'
(i. r. H. :12. :.i:.!l
1l,,,, o,h Ii-i
/Jal '/fII1 . USS 2i
Il rilish Armoured Division, l Si Ii-i
1I1ISh. l' rcs ide- nt C.. H.W. :,
1\lI sh . Presid ell t \\'. (i. H. 21)
Ca mp Geiger VI' n -crui i traini ng: School o f"
Ill ralliry. Ca mp
Ca mp 1., :j' I1I1' . :'\C .1. 11. II' , 21i, 2i
casllalli,' s :, I- :,Ii. 53 . 56 -"' ,' a/.,o
COIII/or l . USS :.Ii
deployme ll' 2(i-:\2. 27. 28. 29. 30
i ll Iht" desert
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. :,..
I I. 11. I:" IH. I!I, 20. 22, 2Ii
EllliSlllll' lIl, Oalh o r 10. 10
(''1"i pllll' lIl :10, A(:I:I. li2 )
Ellp illoll('s Rin ' r i . 2i. :12, -1 2. 1:\- 11. :>-1 .
:)7. f,S
..s 11. .1[, . lIi. "I' , I!I, :,0, :.:;
1H---:,O, " 9
Ft'd 'l\ 't't"1l 7. r, H
Fire SlIp pon Coonlillalors ( FSCs) 21i
Fire SlIppon '1" ""1" (FiS' ls) 2"-2:,. 12. :,2
Formml ,\ ir COlliro ll" " 2:"
l>(:IIi-:li . li:I). Ii . 11'. :;1
Fomoml Oh" 'rn-,,, ( FOs) 2:,
( ;lf lf,,'olf I/all . USS 2i
illslru ('(or. d ri ll 12
Ira n :1
1t0"l i I llh IlIlilll llT n il'isio ll i, :,2
l ra qi 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 27
Kuwait :; . t . 19. 2!1. 3 1
Camp Shou p 17. 19, 2!l-:\2. 3 1. 32 . E(:IH,
(i:I) , "4. 62 , 63
.. 2
landstul . Cermally. medical raci lily :;Ii
'--i ghl Armored Reco n na issa nce Battal ion.

mail. "I
maps. US mi lita ry 13, ....-t:;
Tara wa '1;,, 1.. Force .. . A(:\:\. li2)
Air Gro" p' 2 1
2!1. :;+-:;:;. 55
Air :Id (:Id (i. r. 29
Arr illcrv l Oth IH. 2I ,
..;,
Co rps Air. Co mba t Ce nter
Twen tynin e Pal ms , c .nr.
21. 2 1-21i. 22. 25. C( :\:;. li2)
Corp' Recruit D"pOI, San I I
Di\Oisio n. l si fi. t . 5/-!lH
Combat Teams (RC1s) Ii. T,
I. :J/
RC I: 2 i . 3 1. 32. :12. E(:\H. 1i:1). ,I:{ , :;i .
:; 1'
Expe dhionary ll rigade. 2d (2d
.. , Ii. 't, 2(i, 2i. 2!I, ;,1'
Expl' d ilionary Forc e. l st (I Ii.
2!I, :\2
Expe d iliona r) Units II'
Regilll l' nl, 2d II' , I!l. 21i, 21'. :\ 2. -I:{
2d. l Si Hall ali on
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21i, 21'. :\0, .... . :,1'
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Bravo ri lle o nn pany 19.
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' !l 'a lll 2:\. " :1. -Ii. -II'
' !l 'alll ' (;m l.. 2:1, 1:\, -I!), 1Ii--1i . "H
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2... 21i, 29. :{o, 5..
l si alld 2d Pia loons -1 2."1'
:Id I' lawo n -12
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:; 1-:; " . 53
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;,:;. 57
2d. 2d Hall al ion 1!!. 21i
2d . :{d Halt ali o n - llt-Iio
Ilasla rcls- 11', 21i..1:\, 50
Regin ll'nl . Hlh, 2d lIallatio n
-AIll...-ica 's Hall a lion- 21i, 1:1, "9. :,:;, 56.
59
Reser"" l 'lll l.. lIallali on, HIli. Alpha
COlll pa n) 5. 2i . 21'. :10
F(:I!!. li:I). :;:,-:,Ii '\(""111.",
Cf. lSllaltil's
Illed i" :\1. 59
Occ" p,u ion,, 1Sp eciahi l's
1:;.17
OllSlow lIeach , :'\C 21i-2H
O pera t i o n /) (.\(",-1Shi,-Id/SI"rlll :' . ;.(i
Operat io n Iraqi !-in 'do", : It-/.
co uuucncc-, H.
Pa rr is Isla nd . SC .\' ',' recrui t lraining: Parr is
Island SC
Pourr. USS 7. 20, 2i. 21'
Portlnni}, USS 2i
ra n k stru ctun-s II
rec ruit Ito,in ing 1O-21i, B(:\.J, li2)
Co mbi ned Arms Exercise ;,\ X) .\(",'
Marin e Corp' Air. Cround Comluu
Center, Twcmvnine Palms , Cal if.
Parri s Island SC 10- 11
Basic \ ,"a rrio r
the "Cru ri bk-" 1:1-11. 11
School o r l ufa urry, Ca mp 11-1 1',

fiek lcrnft skills 13, IIi
IlIr" nlr) and Co mbat
Training' baualious I"
recrui uncn t !1- IO, 10
SlIi/lflll. USS 2i. 28, 29
Scho o l of l u fa n uv .\ n ' recruit t ra i ni ng:
School or l nfamry, CalliI'
September II. 20( H alla cl..s (i. !1
Shi' ile :12
SlIl' l Ca na l 30
ran k. Abra ms, L\ I 5. 23, 21'. C(:I:,. li2)
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'1' ''011' 01AIOII II'
' (;,, 1.. For ce Tara wa .. . t . 27, 27 , 2!I, :\1, :12.
A(:t \. li2). :;1'. :,!I
Tigris Rin ,r :12
tra ining 19.29 .V ', ' a/.\O recrui t tra ini ng-
United :J. Ii.
nill' d Siaies :,
US Arlll Y
Corps , V Ii, :12
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COlll p"ny, ;,Oi lh " .1. 1:,- lIi
US Nal)': Alll phihioll s '1;,, 1.. Fo rc(' Easl
(ATF E) i , 27, 2i, 21', 2!l, :,!l
w hirl es -"',' III.,,, I,, " k, AI>lo,,"S ,
alll phihio ns 1I0iClo r, AAVl'i
II' . 2 1. 22. 2:1, 24. 21. 21'. C. l>(:\;,- :\ i .
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Veh irl !') - I Itl llllll e r- 2:\. l>(:IIi-:li. li:I),
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weapons If t-I H.
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li. 2:\, AI (:I:I, (i2)
Insight s into the daily lives of history's fighting men and
women. past and present, detail ing their motivati on. training.
t acti cs. weaponry and experiences
US Marine in Iraq:
Operation Iraqi
FreedomI 2003
Operatio n Imqi Fret'Ilo/ll officia lly
began on March 20, 2003, and
has become one of the most
controversial confl icts of
modern warfare. Thousands
of US Marin es were depl oyed
into Iraq in order to toppl e the
dictatorship government and
liberate th e Iraqi peopl e. This
book examines the experience
of those Marines who fought
on the frontl ine of one of t he
major battles in t he operation:
the batt le for An Nasiriyah.
Det ailing t he Marines'
enlistment, levels of training
and life in t he Iraqi desert
this narrative explores their
important role in the complex
stabilization operations after their
earlier victories on the batt lefield.
Phot ographs
Unrivaled detail
Clothing and equipment
Full color artwork
O SPREY
PUBLISHING
www.o spr ey pub li s hi J1g. co 111
I SBN 1- 84176- 982-7
."'''' Lm