Task Force Tripoli

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Task Force Tripoli
ActiveApril - May 2003
Country 
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current
commander		BGen John F. Kelly

Task Force Tripoli (TFT) was a

LAV
regiment and marked the farthest inland that Marine Forces had ever advanced.

Order of Battle

Task Force units included:

Background

After the fall of Baghdad on April 10, US political leaders still wanted to locate Saddam Hussein who they believed had fled to his hometown. There was also a desire to tamp down the Kurds from aggressively seizing Iraqi Lands. The 4th Infantry Division was not due to arrive in Tikrit for another 7–10 days but US leaders wanted a presence there as soon as possible. I MEF leadership was asked if the Marines could take on the mission and responded yes.[5] At the time it was believed that there were approximately 2000 Iraqi Army troops from the Republican Guard's Adnan Division in Tikrit.[6][7]

The Task Force's name was in honor of the Marines that fought in the

Alexandria, Egypt, to the eastern port city of Derna, Libya, and defeated a much larger force of Ottoman troops during the First Barbary War.[8]

History

Initial invasion

The Marines set out on the evening of 12 April and did not make an effort to secure their

Tigris River over a single decrepit bridge in the town of Al Swash. The bridge had only recently been secured by Marines from Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines and could only hold one vehicle at a time. After the entire convoy had made its way across the river, the decision was made to continue attacking north and keep the advance going through the night.[11]

On April 13, Marines from 3d LAR were tipped off by Iraqi Police about the presence of American

Apache pilots.[12] The POWs were immediately flown south by CH-46 Sea Knights from HMM-165 to An Numaniyah where they were transferred to a waiting KC-130 Hercules from VMGR-452 which then flew them to Kuwait International Airport.[16]

As 3d LAR was rescuing Americans in Samarra, 2d LAR was pushing north of Tikrit to seize Al Sahra Airfield and establish a blocking position while 1st LAR pushed up the highway from the south into the city.[17][18] Approximately 1 km before entering the city, task force Marines destroyed five Iraqi tanks and killed at least 15 Iraqi soldiers while fighting through a fedayeen ambush.[19][20] As the Marine ground forces prepared to enter the city, Marines from Marine Wing Support Group 37 and Marine Air Control Group 38 established a Forward arming and refuelling point (FARP) at Tikrit South Air Base. Once established, this FARP supported Marine Corps aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 29 (MAG-29) in support of the task force.[16]

Saddam Hussein's new palace along the banks of the Tigris where Task Force Tripoli's headquarters was established after seizing Tikrit.

Upon entering Tikrit, Task Force Tripoli headquarters was established at Saddam's palace compound overlooking the

Tigris River.[21] The Marines began actively patrolling throughout Tikrit. On April 15, Gen Kelly met with local Sheikhs from the surrounding area for the first time where he stated that Marines would provide local security in return for assistance in helping to find any foreign fighters or regime loyalists still in the area. This was the first of many meetings between the two sides. One of the outcomes from these meetings was the Marines being able to secure the city of Baiji about 25 miles north of Tikrit.[22] From April 19–21 the task force conducted a relief in place with the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division led by Major General Raymond T. Odierno.[23][24] On April 21, the Task Force drove south to link up with the rest of the 1st Marine Division at Al Diwaniyah.[25]

Security Operations

On May 2, the task force was reestablished and began preparations to move south to the

Wahabi infiltrators from moving north into Iraq. On May 3, each LAR battalion independently left the 1st Marine Division's assembly area in Al Diwaniyah and moved out to their individual staging areas. On May 4, the task force occupied the screen line just north of the border. On May 5, the task force was recalled due to a lack of activity on the border and proceeded to return to Al Diwaniyah
.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Reynolds 2005, pp. 107–112.
  2. ^ "Marine task force heads towards Tikrit" Archived March 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, BreakingNews.ie, April 13, 2003
  3. ^ Gordon & Trainor 2006, pp. 500.
  4. ^ Welcome to Weapons Company G, 2dBn, 23d Marine Regiment Archived June 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ West & Smith 2003, pp. 247.
  6. ^ West & Smith 2003, pp. 248.
  7. ^ Folsom 2006, pp. 326.
  8. ^ Saint 2015, pp. 158.
  9. ^ Gordon & Trainor 2006, pp. 502.
  10. ^ Groen 2006, pp. 340.
  11. ^ Groen 2006, pp. 341–345.
  12. ^ a b West & Smith 2003, pp. 250.
  13. ^ Folsom 2006, pp. 341.
  14. ^ Baker, Peter; Neal, Terry M. (2003-04-13). "Marines Push Towards Tikrit". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  15. ^ Abel, Mark (2003-04-14). "7 missing U.S. POWs freed -- Marines coast into Tikrit / RESISTANCE FADES: Iraqis don't put up much fight". sfgate.com. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  16. ^ a b Saint 2015, pp. 159.
  17. ^ Gordon & Trainor 2006, pp. 510.
  18. ^ Groen 2006, pp. 351.
  19. ^ "US forces enter Tikrit". BBC News. April 14, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  20. ^ Folsom 2006, pp. 338.
  21. ^ Gordon & Trainor 2006, pp. 511.
  22. ^ Reynolds 2005, pp. 118.
  23. ^ West & Smith 2003, pp. 252.
  24. ^ Reynolds 2007, pp. 111.
  25. ^ Gordon & Trainor 2006, pp. 513.

References

Bibliography
Web
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