American occupation of Ramadi
To the north and west, Ramadi is bounded by the
U.S. units were largely restricted to a handful of small bases. The headquarters base, in the northern corner of Ramadi, is on the grounds of one of two
March–July 2003
The
Other American units initially stationed in Ramadi were:
- Company C, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, which utilized the former presidential palace in Ramadi as its headquarters and faced repeated mortar attacks.[1]
- Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, Florida National Guard: Initially based downtown at a government building nicknamed "the Mayor's Cell," they were forced to move by a June 2003 local protest. Bravo Company thus relocated to a sandstone palace at the edge of the city.[1]
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, Florida National Guard: Fully occupied and developed the palace grounds to the South of Rifles base, adjacent to the Ramadi Barrage. The Battalion TOC was located here and was called “Hurricane Point” Alpha Company, “Wolfpack” 1/124 INF was also colocated in a barn area within the “Hurricane Point” compound.
- Bravo Company, 122nd Engineer Battalion, South Carolina National Guard: Also utilized the former presidential palace complex.
- Delta Detachment, 502d Personnel Services Battalion (attached to 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, both at that time out of Fort Carson, Colorado), provided human resources support to the Regiment while headquartered out of Ramadi.
- 212th Brigade 2/5th Field Artillery Ft.Sill Oklahoma was in charge of Heavy Artillery support for 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Was positioned at a Baath party university known as Al Anbar university.
Army Specialist Rafael L. Navea from Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, was killed on August 27, 2003 when he was struck and killed by an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) left behind his three children and wife Marina. Other casualties from this unit included:
- Staff Sergeant Paul A. Velasquez from San Diego. He left behind wife Mary, son David, daughter Kristi, his daughter Brianna whom he never met and his mother Mary Elizabeth Velasquez
- Sergeant Joe Nathan Wilson from Copiah County, Mississippi. In his last act of honor, he saved the life of Joseph Milner, he grabbed Joseph and pulled him tight to his chest as the helicopter was going down. When the noise stopped, Joe asked Sergeant Wilson if he was okay but Sergeant Wilson shakes his head, he later died in a Kuwaiti hospital. He leaves behind wife Erica, a daughter and his mother Maxine Adam's. He was 30 years old when he was KIA.
- Sergeant Keelan Moss HOUSTON TEXAS was born in little rock and raised in Texas he was one of the 16 soldiers who died while their Chinook was hit by a missile on November 2, 2003 near Fallujah, Iraq.[2] He leaves behind his wife Jennifer Moss and daughter Marjani Natalya. He was 23 years old when he was KIA.
- Sergeant Ross A. Pennanen Shawnee from Oklahoma. He leaves behind wife Linda and son Gage. He was 36 years old when he was KIA.
- Sergeant Joel Perez Rio Grande from Puerto Rico. He is survived by his father Edwin Perez and his brothers Elvin, Michael and Leo. He was 25 years old when he was KIA.
- Specialist Steven D. Conover from Wilmington, Ohio. He is survived by his father Michael Earley and his mother Lorraine Earley. He was 21 years old when he was KIA.
February 2004 – April 2005
The 3rd ACR departed Ramadi in September 2003, handing it over to the 1st Brigade Combat Team,
During the first half of 2004, 1st BCT's two battalions (
The spring of 2004 was particularly bloody in Ramadi. In the opening days of the rebellion that began in April 2004, and which was dominated by the
For the most part, the four battalions occupying the Ramadi-Fallujah corridor (including the insurgent den of
April 2005 – April 2006
Marine and Army units in Ramadi rotate on overlapping schedules; thus, just as 1 BCT 1ID arrived well before the 1st Marine Division officially began OIF 2, so the 2nd Brigade,
In April 2005, HHC and B Company 983 Engineer BN (Combat Heavy) were removed from FOB Speicher in order to support 2ID in construction operations. Quality of life improvements of both American forces as well as ISF. CoB 983 supported many construction operations in East Ramadi as well as Blue Diamond and Hurricane Point.
During this period the brigade and the Marine battalions that worked with it continued to suffer steady casualties. Unlike the mechanized 1BCT 1ID, 2-2 ID was mostly a
The 2–28th BCT was reinforced further in July, with the
Among the Army Combat Support units in Ramadi during this period were 2nd Platoon, 2nd Military Police Company as well as HHC and B Company, 983rd Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), and US Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5, who greatly improved quality of life and force protection at American and Iraqi camps, as well as providing security and support for the first democratic elections and the subsequently elected government in Ramadi.
The 224th Combat Engineer Battalion (Iowa Army National Guard) served as the Divisional Engineer Battalion, conducting route clearance operations in support of first the 1st Marine Division from January – March 2005, and then to the 2nd Marine Division from March – December 2005, when it was replaced by the 54th Engineer Battalion, a component of the 130th Engineer Brigade, V Corps based in Germany. The 54th remained in Ramadi until October 2006 and suffered six fatalities.[3]
April–May 2006
2-2 ID was replaced by the
In March 2006, as
.During March 2006 two soldiers from the
June–November 2006
As the summer of 2006 arrived, the level of attacks in Ramadi remained the highest in the country. As a result, rumors of an impending
In early June 2006, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,
On June 18, 2006, the 1st BCT, 1st Armored Division launched its offensive. Despite fears that the assault would be a repeat of the Marine offensive in Fallujah, the brigade took a different approach, discouraging residents from fleeing and moving in slowly with much more limited use of heavy weapons such as Abrams tanks,
Meanwhile, 3rd Battalion 8th Marines held onto the western half of the downtown area and patrolled the river and its two bridges (the only northbound exits from the city) on foot and in boats; The 1–506th Infantry, 1–6th Infantry, 1–35th Armor and 40th Engineers continued to hold the main thoroughfare and the eastern exits. As the operation began, there was controversy over the number of refugees who left the city despite the U.S. military's assurances that the offensive would be of a very different character than the Fallujah assault of 2004.
1st BCT, 1st AD and elements of the 2nd BCT, 1st AD proceeded to establish a series of mutually supporting Combat Outposts manned by US and Iraqi forces both inside and outside the city. These outposts put increasing pressure on Al Qaeda and other insurgent groups operating throughout the city. US Forces along with their Iraqi Army counterparts brought the fight to Al Qaeda by conducting operations directly from these outposts and providing watch and security over key supply routes throughout the city.
According to Colonel MacFarland, "These [COPs] have had a very disruptive effect on the enemy. Most importantly, though, it's given us the opportunity to engage the people of Ramadi. ... And we've established real relationships with the people in parts of the city that we hadn't been able to in the past".[4]
Throughout July, insurgents operating in multiple platoon strength units consistently attacked the Combat Outposts with small arms, RPG, and indirect fire as US troops established additional COPs deeper into Ramadi neighborhoods. These attacks culminated in a citywide battle on July 24 during which insurgents suffered heavy casualties after being beaten back.[5]
In mid September 2006,
December 2006 – December 2007
After the first 2004 tour in Ramadi,
In February 2007, the operation had successfully divided the district by setting up a concrete wall barrier. There were more than 40 engagements, 8 large weapons caches found, about 55 IEDs exploded or found, 70 insurgents killed, 10 wounded, and 32 detained. The success of this operation led to the forming of the Ramadi Police Force which worked alongside U.S. military and Iraqi Army. 1–9 Infantry worked with the head sheikh in the Sofia district and secured valuable intelligence throughout their campaign in Ramadi.
See also
- Iraq War in Anbar Province
References
- ^ a b c d "Ramadiyah / Ar Ramadi". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- ^ "54th Engineer Battalion returns from Iraq". Stars and Stripes. October 29, 2006.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-13. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
- The Sheriff of Ramadi by Dick Couch
- Quixote in Ramadi by M.B. Wilmot
- Some Ramadi Stories
- Ramadi photographic slide show Richard Mills 31 August 2007. www.timesonline.co.uk
- Iraqi-Mail: The Voice from Ramadi
- Terror from the sky, horror from the ground: The view from Ramadi – April 25, 2007
- Five Marines killed by roadside bomb – September 28, 2005
- A company commander's perspective on Ramadi
- To find out the number of war casualties from Ramadi
- Insurgents hamper U.S., Iraqi forces in Ramadi – May 22, 2006
- The New Band of Brothers – June 19, 2006 Archived February 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Return to Ramadi, November 27, 2006
- Gunbattle with U.S. Soldiers Turns Deadly – Ramadi, November 28, 2006
- GNA's entry
- The Band of Brothers in Ramadi (video)
- Providing Security Force Assistance in an Economy of Force Battle, January–February 2010 MILITARY REVIEW