Preface

1 General Charles Krulak, the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1999, defined the Marines’ mission as being able to fight a “three-block war.” This included simultaneous all-out combat operations on one block, clearing operations on the next block, and humanitarian operations on the third block.

2 Bing West, No True Glory.

Chapter 1

1 Main Supply Route (MSR) Michigan, or Highway 10.

2 Traffic Control Point. TCP-1 had been established months earlier by the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division to control access in and out of the city.

3 Elite US Navy commandos. Their name is an acronym indicating the different ways they can be deployed: SEa, Air and Land.

4 Blackwater, Inc., was a North Carolina-based private security firm. Most of its employees were retired military. They have provided private security specialists since the beginning of the war in Iraq.

5 This account of the Blackwater ambush is taken from Patrick Toohay’s article published on newsobserver.com, November 28, 2005.

6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

7 LtGen Richard Natonski telephone interview, 10/11/07.

8 Sippar was roughly in the same geographic location as modern-day Fallujah. Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq, p. 197.

9 Fallujah, www.globalsecurity.org.

10 Tore Kjeilen, “Iraq: History,” Encyclopedia of the Orient, http://i-cias.com/ e.o/iraq_5.htm.

11 NPR Interview – “Tracing the History of Fallujah,” by Jennifer Ludden; interview with Annas Shallal 11/13/04.

12 Improvised Explosive Device.

13 1MarDiv CC JJ04: 1 MarDiv Intentions 040401, S-3933-06\Intentions Mssg\Apr04.

14 Medical Evacuation – Medevacs encompass all sorts of medical evolutions, evacuating both battle-related casualties from the battlefield and non battle-related patients.

15 Quick Reaction Team.

16 The 7.62mm Coaxial machine gun is mounted on the same axis as the main gun and is controlled by the tank’s deadly-accurate fire-control system.

17 Nick Popaditch, with Mike Steere, Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery (Savas Beatie, 2008), p. 275.

18 Popaditch, Once a Marine, p. 281.

19 Infra-Red.

20 The US military uses a 24-hour clock: 0100 is one in the morning, 1200 is noon; 1300 is one in the afternoon and 2300 is eleven at night. 0400 would be 4:00 A.M.

21 Rocket Propelled Grenade.

22 Interview with Nicholas Popaditch DATE.

23 LtGen John Sattler telephone interview, 12/3/07.

24 Islamic holy warrior.

25 Linda Robinson, Masters of Chaos – The Secret History of the Special Forces (New York: Public Affairs, 2004), pp. 320–323. Operation Viking Hammer.

Chapter 2

1 LtCol Joe L’Etiole telephone interview, 10/29/07.

2 LtCol Christopher Starling, USMC, personal comment to author in June 2005.

3 Most American military bases were protected by a barbed wire fence. “Outside the wire” is anywhere outside the protected American military bases.

4 Marine formations deploy as integrated Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs) of various sizes: Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), and Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). These task forces contain air, ground and logistic assets, all working together on a three-dimensional battlefield.

5 BGen Joseph Dunford telephone interview, 11/16/07.

6 Now LtGen (ret) George (Ron) Christmas.

7 The USMC Basic School at Quantico, Virginia, is unique to the Marine Corps. Its mission is to train and educate newly commissioned or appointed officers in the high standards of professional knowledge, esprit-de-corps and leadership required to prepare them for duty as company-grade officers in the operating forces, with particular emphasis on the duties, responsibilities and warfighting skills required of a rifle platoon commander.

8 Light Armored Vehicle.

Chapter 3

1 The 1st Marine Regiment, in its purest form, would be comprised of 1st Battalion, 1st Marines; 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines; 3^rd Battalion, 1st Marines; and several supporting units. But the modern-day Marine Corps combines battalions and capabilities, adding tanks, LAR, AMTRACS and artillery to form a Regimental Combat Team, or RCT-1 (see Appendix 1 – Order of Battle).

2 BGen Larry Nicholson telephone interview, 3/10/08.

3 Col Patrick Malay telephone interview, 10/5/07.

4 Ibid.

5 Col Mike Shupp telephone interview, 9/3/07.

6 Korean War call sign used by LtCol Robert D. Taplett, USMC when he was the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines commander.

7 “I can’t think of a more courageous war fighter of all the commanders out there.” Colonel Mike Shupp during telephone interview, 9/3/07.

8 Col Patrick Malay telephone interview, 10/5/07.

9 Ibid.

10 Hyper-Realistic training is a phrase coined by Stu Segall Productions.

11 Sgt Jason Arellano telephone interview, 03/10/08.

12 Perfect Valor, 2009.

13 Ibid.

14 O’Donnell, “We Were One,” p. 24. Of the more than 4,000 service members who have lost their lives in Iraq, Antonio Sledd is the first on the list.

15 Maj Rob Bodisch telephone interview, 1/8/08.

16 Short for Change of Operational Control. When a military unit is shifted from its parent command, it is said to be ‘chopped’ to a new command.

17 1 knot = 1.151 miles per hour.

18 HM2 Juan Rubio telephone interview, 11/15/07.

19 General Mattis’ first fight in Fallujah in April 2004.

20 See Appendix 1, Order of Battle, for RCT-7’s composition.

21 Executive officer.

22 Jadick, On Call in Hell, p. 4

Chapter 4

1 Matt Matthews, interview with LTC Peter A. Newell, Operational Leadership Experiences, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, p. 6.

2 Ibid.

3 HESCO barriers, named after the British company that manufactures them, are made of a collapsible wire-mesh container and a heavy-duty fabric liner. Easily erected and then filled with sand, they provide semi-permanent protection against small-arms fire and shrapnel.

4 The Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1 – Warfighting defines the “main effort” as an important tool for providing unity and then goes on to require the commander to recognize the “single most critical effort to success at any given moment. The unit assigned responsibility for accomplishing this key mission is designated as the main effort—the focal point upon which converges the combat power of the force. The main effort receives priority for support of any kind. It becomes clear to all other units in the command that they must support that unit in the accomplishment of its mission…the main effort becomes a harmonizing force for subordinate initiative. Faced with a decision, we ask ourselves: How can I best support the main effort?

5 LtCol Joe L’Etiole telephone interview, 10/27/07.

6 LtGen Richard Natonski telephone interview, 10/11/07.

7 Headquarters.

8 LTG Thomas Metz personal interview, 5/20/08.

9 LTG Thomas Metz personal interview, 5/20/08.

10 MajGen Richard F. Natonski’s letter to the leaders of the 1st Marine Division, November, 2004.

11 LtGen Richard Natonski telephone interview, 10/11/07.

12 BGen Joseph Dunford telephone interview, 11/16/07.

13 The 2nd Infantry Division’s soldiers have a special place in their hearts for the Marines. General John A. Lejeune had commanded the 2nd Infantry Division when his Marines fought under the division’s Indian Head banner at Belleau Wood in World War I. It was there that the Germans labeled Lejeune’s Marines “Devil Dogs” for their ferocious determination in battle.

14 LTC Peter Newell CSI Interview, p. 6.

15 The fight at Ia Drang was dramatized in the major motion picture We Were Soldiers (2002.)

16 LTC Tim Karcher telephone interview, 2/15/08.

17 COL Jim Rainey telephone interview, 11/7/07.

18 Lowry, The Gulf War Chronicles, p. 121.

19 Col. Michael Formica telephone interview, 11/06/08.

20 Combined Action Platoons were first employed at the end of the Vietnam War. They were quite effective at helping the Vietnamese maintain security in small villages across the countryside.

Chapter 5

1 COL Michael Formica telephone interview, 11/06/07.

2 LtCol Darric Knight telephone interview, 3/3/08.

3 Prior to any operation, senior officers like to see the battleground for themselves. Seeing the ‘lay-of-the-land’ helps them make critical decisions in the heat of the fight. So they try to go out on a personal reconnaissance, or “leader recon.”

4 Col Mike Shupp telephone interview, 9/3/07.

5 Col Mike Shupp telephone interview, 9/3/07.

6 Lieutenant Colonel Suleiman al Marawi was the only reliable Iraqi military leader in the area, commander of the 506th National Guard Battalion. He had been a Ba’ath Party member and had served in the Republican Guard, but was an honest man. Suleiman was legitimately concerned about his soldiers and the future of Fallujah, but he walked a fine line, keeping his distance from the Marines and the leaders inside the city. Suleiman’s strategy was to bide his time on the Shark’s Fin, allowing the Americans to deal with the insurgents inside the city. But he was kidnapped on August 9^th, beaten, tortured, and finally beheaded by Omar Hadid. Days after his capture, his mutilated body was found, left to rot in the streets.

7 Capt Michael Cragholm telephone interview, 03/01/08.

8 COL Jim Rainey telephone interview, 11/8/07.

9 HM2 Juan Rubio telephone interview, 11/15/07.

10 Col Mike Shupp, We Were One, p. 61.

11 A serial is one of several small military convoys, traveling to the same destination, one after the other.

12 Col Michael Shupp telephone interview 9/3/07.

13 For ease of identifying locations within the city, the Marines developed a grid of Phase Lines that roughly corresponded to the streets of Fallujah. There were a series of PLs running north/south and another series running east/west. The north/south PLs were given male names and ran alphabetically from east to west. The farthest east was ABE, and KEN ran along the Euphrates River; in between were BILL, CHARLES, DAVE, ETHAN, FRANK, GEORGE, HENRY, ISAAC and JACOB. HENRY was the main north/south road that divided the city. It was the regimental boundary. The east/west PLs were named after women, with APRIL in the north and JENNA in the south. FRAN was MSR MICHIGAN (Highway 10), and ran through the center of the city.

14 LtCol Nicholas Vuckovich personal interview, 05/22/08.

15 The teams employ “hardback” HMMWVs with ring mounts for .50-caliber or M240 machine guns, TOW missile launchers and MK-19 automatic grenade launchers.

16 Col Patrick Malay telephone interview, 11/4/07.

17 BGen Joseph Dunford telephone interview, 11/16/07.

Chapter 6

1 The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) uses a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone designator to identify a unique 100km square on the surface of the earth. The UTM zone designator is followed by an even number of numeric characters representing a point within that square with easting and northing values. Ten numeric characters provide a 1 meter precision. Six characters (three for the north coordinate and three for the east coordinate), such as 843 East, would indicate a resolution of 100 meters.

2 SSgt Josh Iversen telephone interview, 10/27/07.

3 Maj Dan Wittnam telephone interview, 10/8/07.

4 HM2 Juan Rubio telephone interview, 11/15/07.

5 LtCol Joe L’Etiole telephone interview, 10/27/07.

6 Basher and Slasher were the radio call signs for two of the AC-130s over Fallujah.

7 LtCol Gary Brandl’s call sign was Bronco 6.

8 Col Steve Dinauer personal interview, 9/24/07.

9 Each Marine company has a FiST team, led by the Weapons Platoon Commander. The team is equipped with communications and targeting equipment and manned with an artillery Forward Observer and Forward Air Controller. The team coordinates artillery and close air support.

10 The term ‘Mustang’ denotes an officer with prior enlisted service.

11 Capt Michael Cragholm telephone interview, 03/01/08.

12 LTC Peter Newell’s interview with Matt Matthews, Combat Studies Institute, 03/23/06.

Chapter 7

1 COL Michael Formica telephone interview, 11/06/07.

2 COL Ronald Lewis telephone interview, 02/15/08.

3 Capt Jeffery Lee telephone interview, 07/10/08.

4 Maj Thomas Tennant telephone interview, 02/19/08.

5 Col Gareth Brandl telephone interview, 11/20/07.

6 Cpl Anthony Gantt telephone interview, 06/10/08.

7 Col (ret.) Craig Tucker telephone interview, 01/10/08.

8 Maj Theodore Bethea II personal interview, 05/20/08.

9 Capt Brian Chontosh telephone interview, 12/08/07.

10 Maj Eduardo Bitanga telephone interview, 2/15/08.

11 COL James Rainey telephone interview, 11/07/07.

12 SSG Anibal Reyes telephone interview, 2/12/08.

13 Ibid.

14 COL Jim Rainey telephone interview, 11/8/07.

15 Maj Bill Arnold telephone interview, 1/9/08.

16 Col Michael Shupp personal interview, 9/25/07.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 Maj Timothy Jent telephone interview, 03/24/08.

21 SSG Bellavia telephone interview, 07/18/09.

22 Col Gareth Brandl telephone interview, 11/20/07

23 Capt Jeffery Lee telephone interview, 07/10/08.

24 A casevac is specifically a Casualty Evacuation from the battlefield. Casevac is a subset of the more generic Medical Evacuation or medevac.

25 Maj Thomas Tennant telephone interview, 02/19/08.

26 Ibid.

Chapter 8

1 Bellavia, House to House, p. 145.

2 The AT4 is a portable, one-shot, 84mm, anti-tank rocket.

3 Capt Jeffery Lee telephone interview, 07/10/08.

4 Maj Eduardo Bitanga telephone interview, 02/15/08.

5 Col Patrick Malay telephone Interview, 11/4/07.

6 Sgt Jason Arellano telephone interview, 03/10/08.

7 The Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank round is a high-explosive munition designed to destroy lightly armored ground targets, such as bunkers or buildings.

8 The M113 is a Vietnam-era, tracked, armored personnel carrier which is still used today by the US Army in several different support roles, one of which is as an armored ambulance.

9 Richard Jadick with Thomas Hayden, On Call in Hell.

10 Dr. Richard Jadick telephone interview, 07/09/08.

11 Ibid.

12 CPT Edward Twaddell’s interview with Matt Matthews, Combat Studies Institute, 2/28/06.

13 COL James Rainey telephone interview, 11/07/07.

14 Michael Blanding, “The Opposite of Fear,” Tufts Magazine, Spring 2007.

Chapter 9

1 Capt Andrew McNulty, USMC. ABC news footage taken by Geoffrey Thorpe-Willett.

2 Maj Dan Wittnam telephone interview, 10/08/07.

3 Col Patrick Malay telephone Interview, 11/4/07.

4 Cpl David Willis telephone interview, 2/21/08.

5 The ceramic plate is able to stop up to three 7.62mm rifle bullets with a muzzle velocity of up to 2,750 ft/s. The plate is backed with a shield that is 40% stronger than Kevlar.

6 Chechen rebels fought a bloody street battle for control of their capital city in 2000 against the Russian Army. Some of these rebels ended up in the 2004 fight in Fallujah.

7 Col Michael Shupp telephone interview 9/3/07.

8 Col James Rainey telephone interview, 11/08/07.

9 “Garry Owen,” an old Irish drinking song, has been a part of 7th Cavalry Regiment tradition ever since the days of George Custer. The words Garry Owen are part of the regimental crest, and the phrase has been used as a battle cry and salutation within the regiment for many years.

10 LtGen Richard Natonski telephone interview, 3/11/08.

11 Col Craig Tucker telephone interview, 01/10/08.

12 Col Craig Tucker telephone interview, 1/10/08.

13 SSgt Kenneth Distelhorst telephone interview, 03/18/08.

14 LCpl John Aylmer telephone interview, 07/08/08.

15 SSgt Kenneth Distelhorst telephone interview, 03/18/08.

16 Cpl Jeremy Baker telephone interview, 06/22/08.

17 Capt Michael Cragholm telephone interview, 03/01/08.

18 Maj Andrew McNulty telephone interview, 01/23/08.

Chapter 10

1 The Australian Peel is a tactic used for withdrawal from an engagement. The first man in the line fires a burst from his weapon and then retreats while the second man in line opens fire. The third man continues firing while the second man retreats. This “peel” is continued until the last man has broken contact.

2 Bellavia, House to House, p. 212.

3 Shooting a weapon at its fastest rate of fire.

4 Bellavia, House to House, pp. 230–231.

5 Ibid., p. 234.

6 Ibid., p. 253.

7 Ibid., p. 254.

8 Combined Service Support Company.

9 Maj Mathew Good telephone interview, 10/29/07.

10 Maj Dan Wittnam telephone interview, 10/08/07.

11 Maj Aaron Cunningham telephone interview, 07/09/08.

12 Michael Blanding, “The Opposite of Fear,” Tufts Magazine (Spring 2007).

13 SgtMaj Derek Fry telephone interview, 7/29/08.

14 Maj Chris Meyers telephone interview, 5/1/08.

15 Lt. Jeffery Lee telephone interview, 7/10/08.

Chapter 11

1 Sgt Michael Meisenhalder telephone interview, 03/03/08.

2 LtCol Kenneth Kassner telephone interview, 11/04/07.

3 LtCol Joe L’Etiole telephone interview, 10/27/07.

4 LtGen Richard Natonski telephone interview, 3/11/08.

5 SgtMaj Derek Fry telephone interview, 7/29/08.

6 Marine tanks still have a handset mounted on the back of their tanks so that the infantry can easily communicate with the tankers inside. It is affectionately known as the “grunt phone.”

7 The Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon is a man-portable, reusable rocket launcher. Several different types of munitions are available for use in the 83mm launcher: anti-armor, HE and thermobaric.

8 GySgt Ricardo Sebastian telephone interview, 07/24/08.

9 Capt. Jeffery Lee telephone interview, 7/10/08.

10 SgtMaj Derek Fry telephone interview, 07/29/08.

11 The LAV-25 is a variant of the Light Armored Vehicle, carrying a 25mm Bushmaster cannon in a tank-like turret.

12 Capt Paul Webber telephone interview, 11/10/09.

13 Sheeler, Jim. “Remembering the Brave.” Rocky Mountain News, July 22, 2006.

14 Maj Gilbert Juarez telephone interview, 02/21/08.

15 Fragmentary Order or FRAGO, used to send timely changes of existing orders to subordinate and supporting commanders.

16 Souq – the marketplace.

17 Intercepted enemy conversation as detailed in Kenneth W. Estes, LtCol USMC(ret), “U.S. Marine Corps Operations in Iraq, 2003–2006,” History Division, USMC, Washington D.C., 2008

18 COL Peter Newell telephone interview, 10/29/07.

19 MAJ (Dr.) Lisa DeWitt telephone interview, December 22, 2007.

Chapter 12

1 CSI Interview with CPT Edward Twaddell, 2/28/06, p. 9.

2 Ibid.

3 LtCol Kenneth Kassner telephone interview, 11/04/07.

4 Maj Robert Bodisch telephone interview, 01/07/08.

5 Jadick, On Call in Hell, p. 193.

6 Christine Knight telephone interview, 05/20/09.

7 History Channel FIREFIGHT!

8 Thermobaric munitions have been used by many nations of the world and are quite effective in an urban environment. Thermobaric weapons provide massed heat and pressure effects at a single point in time that cannot be reproduced by conventional weapons without massive collateral destruction.

9 Col Patrick Malay telephone interview, 11/4/07.

10 Col Gareth Brandl telephone interview, 11/20/07.

Chapter 13

1 Nathaniel R. Helms, My Men are My Heroes, p.13.

2 Lucian Read telephone interview, 03/25/08, and personal written eyewitness account.

3 Bing West, “The House From Hell,” Small Unit Actions, p.64.

4 Helms, My Men Are My Heroes, p. 217.

5 Lucian Read’s personal written eyewitness account.

6 Col. Mike Shupp telephone interview, 9/25/07.

7 Lucian Read, personal written eyewitness account.

8 Flight 33 Productions. “SHOOTOUT! Return to Fallujah.” The History Channel.

Chapter 14

1 LTC Peter Newell CSI interview with Matt Matthews, 03/23/06.

2 Nuclear, Biological and Chemical.

3 Graphics provided by Task Force 2–7.

4 SSgt Kenneth Distelhorst (Yeager’s squad leader) telephone interview, 3/18/08.

5 Perfect Valor.

6 Capt Brian Chontosh telephone interview, 12/08/07.

7 Col Michael Shupp personal interview, 09/25/07.

8 US Marine Corps History Division , Small Unit Actions, p. 76.

9 Maj Aaron Cunningham telephone interview, 07/09/08.

10 Capt Jeffery Lee telephone interview, 07/10/08.

11 Maj Rob Bodisch telephone interview, 1/7/08.

12 Blanding, Michael. “The Opposite of Fear.” Tufts Magazine, Boston, Spring 2007.

13 Col Craig Tucker telephone interview, 1/10/08.

14 Col Mike Ramos telephone interview, 03/04/08.

15 LCpl T. J. Kaemmerer, “A Hero’s Sacrifice,” Marine Corps News, 12/2/04.

16 Col Willard Buhl telephone conversation, 11/09.

17 Maj Robert Bodisch telephone interview, 01/07/08.

18 Sgt Jason Arellano telephone interview, 03/10/08.

19 1st Marines Command Chronology, November 2004.

20 Ibid.

21 Sgt Jonathan Ball telephone interview, 07/15/08.

22 HM2 Juan Rubio telephone interview, 11/15/07.

23 LtGen John F. Sattler telephone interview, 12/03/07.

24 SSgt Joshua Iversen telephone interview, 10/29/07.

25 HM2 Juan Rubio telephone interview, 11/15/07.

26 Petty Officer First Class, Hospital Corpsman 1, E6 is equivalent to a Marine Staff Sergeant.

Chapter 15

1 Some enemy fighters were later found to have MREs on their bodies.

2 Col Patrick Malay telephone interview, 11/04/07.

3 Col Mike Shupp telephone interview, 1/21/08

4 Ibid., 9/25/07.

5 LCpl John Aylmer telephone interview, 07/08/08.

6 Capt Michael Cragholm telephone interview, 03/01/08.

7 Danger Close—an indication in a call for artillery and naval gunfire support that friendly forces are within 600 meters of the target.

8 Tom Perry, “His Corps Value Was Bravery,” Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2006.

9 Col Mike Shupp telephone interview, 1/21/08.

10 Clearing of the city was done by district and color coded: Red – Not cleared, Yellow – cleared by assault troops, but not in detail, Green – All resistance eliminated and enemy supplies captured or destroyed.

11 LtCol Todd Desgrosseilliers telephone interview, 12/07/07.

12 Concussion grenades only develop an over pressure while frags, fragmentation devices, are scored so that the explosion throws out multiple pieces of deadly shrapnel.

13 Todd Moulder telephone interview, 03/31/08.

14 Sgt Jason Arellano telephone interview, 3/10/08.

15 Maj Andrew McNulty telephone interview, 01/23/08.

16 Sgt Jason Arellano telephone interview, 03/10/08.

17 : LCpl Travis Icard telephone interview, 07/24/08.

18 Capt Michael Cragholm telephone interview, 03/01/08.

19 Maj Andrew McNulty telephone interview, 01/23/08.

20 Col Patrick Malay telephone interview, 11/04/07.

Chapter 16

1 Col Michael Shupp personal interview, 09/25/07.

2 Capt Alfred Butler telephone interview, 06/03/09.

3 Sgt Jeremiah Workman telephone interview, 11/05/07.

4 LtCol Todd Desgrosseilliers telephone interview, 12/7/07.

5 Ibid., 12/13/07.

6 LtCol Todd Desgrosseilliers telephone interview, 12/13/09.

7 Maj Robert Bodisch telephone interview, 1/7/08.

8 LtCol Todd Desgrosseilliers telephone interview, 12/13/07.

9 Col Michael Shupp personal interview, 09/25/07.

10 GySgt Brian Vinciguerra telephone interview, 02/05/08.

11 HM2 Juan Rubio telephone interview, 11/15/07.

12 Philip Creed, “New Years Day – Corpsman Awarded the Silver Star,” Navy Times, June 12, 2006.

13 GySgt Vinciguerra telephone interview, 2/5/08.

14 MajGen James Mattis, USMC.

15 Col Michael Shupp, personal interview, 9/25/07.

16 Ibid.