The Battle of Sadr City and Its Effects on Our Military Today The Battle of Sadr City took place in the Shia’s district of north eastern Baghdad Iraq, it was fought with U.S. and Iraqi government forces in order to cripple the Insurgent Mahdi Army by overtaking their main power base. The fighting began 04 April 2004 which later became known as “Black Sunday” (Roane, Kit R., 2007). There were four periods in which fighting took place in the infamous Sadr City. This paper hones in on the uprising or specifically Black Sunday when it began. I will discuss the overall objective of both sides, conditions in which we fought, and outcome of the battle in order to provide a better outlook on how we can improve tactics and improve mission effectiveness. To do this we must first understand where we were fighting. …show more content…
You can imagine what was going through his head, hearing the accounts of the increasing intensity of the battle. Not only hearing the intensity but also receiving reports of the Mahdi Army taking over the local police stations. Next the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) compromised of Alpha and Charlie Company were sent in to provide aid. These Companies were met with the heavy rockets and relentless fire of the Mahdi Army. Meanwhile at the house where the ambushed platoon was hold up, the Soldiers start taking tactical positions to signal the rescue teams from Alpha and Charlie. They took up positions on the roof, one in the alley, and one in the Humvee to try to radio them. Finally they see Charlie company roll by the alley way, but they did not stop, trying to radio frantically the Platoon Leader made his way down the alley flashing his light at them as a last ditch effort. The tank company finally stopped and had the fire power to push the Mahdi Army back. They were able rescue the pinned down platoon but not without casualties and extremely hard memories along with
Black Hearts was about the 2005-2006 deployment of the 101st‘s second brigade‘s 1-502nd (First Strike) to Iraq. The book more specifically honed in on Bravo Company and their first platoon’s decent into complete madness throughout the deployment. The 1-502nd and its commander Lt Col Kunk, was tasked with the mission of getting control of and hold the land in-between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Kunk was a particularly difficult man to get along with. He would explode and go on a tirade over just about anything, big or small. This caused serious problems at meetings when he only wanted things his way and would personally attack his commanders who he thought he could not trust. This area had been recently dubbed as the “Triangle of death”. The cities that were in this area were Yusufiyah, Mahmudiyah, Lutufiyah, and notably a thermal power plant that was never finished that housed many insurgents almost like a FOB. Bravo Company was sent to take care of a particularly nasty part of the Battalion’s AO; The north-western-side that encompassed Yusufiyah and the unfinished thermal power plant. Upon arrival to Iraq and to their AO, Bravo Company was to take over the duties of the 48th infantry brigade who was there before them. After riding around with the 48th Brigade to learn how things were being run, Bravo Company started to realize how scared the 48th were to even leave the wire. Any patrols that needed to be done were done in a Humvee that just raced around the area and got back to the FOB ASAP. Once they fully took over their AO from the 48th they started on building up fortifications and doing patrols of the area. One road in particular, Route Sportster, had been giving patrols and Humvees trouble since it was always laden...
The actions taken by Moore and his command group from Company Commanders to NCO’s, saved the lives of numerous American soldiers. This battle shows the leadership and unit discipline were needed to survive and be combat effective in adverse situations. Throughout the battle you see numerous Army Values and Warrior Ethos being used. “I will never leave a fallen comrade”, was the etho used the most, to reach the separated platoon. The battle also shows that not all tactical orders are effective, but as leader you must never second guess yourself.
September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden decided to “wake the sleeping giant.” The US immediately sent SOF units and CIA officers to recon the area and meet with the Northern Alliance. The primary battle leading up to this operation was Tora Bora, which was absent of conventional forces. Up until this point, the war on terror was predominantly a Special Operations fight along with Air Force for overhead support.3 SOF and the Northern Alliance had already displaced Taliban forces out of many towns and villages in northern Afghanistan to gain control of key terrain. Key towns in northern Afghanistan including Taloqan, Konduz, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif took only three weeks to clear.4 The SOF units were making huge impacts across the country calling in air strikes. At the same time the SOF units were diligently...
In this paper, I will provide a Battle Analysis and outline the events leading up to and surrounding the Battle of 73 Eastings (refers to a north-south grid line). In addition, I will describe how the United States Army’s (USA) 2nd Armored Calvary Regiment (ACR) defeated forces from the Iraqi Republican Guard (IRG) using speed, technology and superior combat power. Although some consider the Battle of 73 Eastings extremely successful, some consider it a failure due to the large amount of Iraqi forces that retreated towards Bagdad. Lastly, I will analyze how each side used their intelligence assets and what they could have used to change the outcome.
The Battle of Kamdesh was fought in Afghanistan during the Afghan War. It is an occurrence in the ongoing NATO campaign of the Operation Enduring Freedom since the year 2001. It was one of the bloodiest battles the USA forces engaged in during this campaign against the Taliban insurgents. The Taliban insurgents, assisted by local Nuristan militias, attacked Kamdesh, which is an American combat outpost, located deep in the Nuristan tribal Areas. They carried out a well-coordinated attack on the outpost, leading to a breach and an overrun of the post. This paper, seeks to analyze why, when, how, and what were the resulting impact of the battle.
On March 18, 2003, Coalition forces would launch the initial attacks on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. A full invasion of the country followed, and Hussein was overthrown from power. While the end of Hussein’s oppressive reign was considered a victory for many of the Iraqi people, the Sunnis of the Ba’ath Party refused to accept his demise. Although the Sunnis were in the minority, the city of Fallujah would remain home to many of the Ba’ath Party supporters. On March 31, 2004, almost a year to date from the end of Hussein’s reign, four American Blackwater contactors working in Fallujah were attacked, brutally beaten, burned and dismembered by a group of Iraqi insurgents. Two of the bodies were hung from a bridge for all of the citizens of Fallujah to see, and a mob style celebration took place in the city. The highly publicized incident would be the igniter for the First Battle of Fallujah, known as Operation Vigilant Resolve. On May 1, 2004, the battle would end with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the city and control being turned over to the newly formed Fallujah Brigade. The mission as a whole was a failure, and the shortcomings of Operation Vigilant Resolve were ultimately a demonstration of the underestimation of the power, size, efficiency, organization and control that the Insurgent Forces had in Iraq as well as the lack of a consistent strategic plan from the American forces.
The Iraq War has been a controversial topic for a long time. There are many different views to whether or not the US made the right decisions, all looking at the issue from different angles. In Baghdad Burning, Riverbend, the anonymous blogger, gives a perspective of the American presence in Iraq from one of the most important points of view, that of an Iraqi citizen. In Baghdad Burning, Riverbend shows the effects caused by the American presence in Iraq through vivid and intelligent descriptions of the Iraqi government, the mentality of the Iraqi people, and the loss experienced by very individual living in Iraq.
Current doctrine and existing SOF teachings provide a useful framework to evaluate Operation Gothic Serpent. When evaluated against current doctrine, Operation Gothic Serpent was an inappropriate integration of SOF which resulted in a strategic failure. This paper will provide a brief summary of Operation Gothic Serpent to provide context for analysis and examine why this case fits the parameters of a special operation. It will then analyze the strategic impact of the operation. Within the context of strategic impact, it will show how SOF were inappropriately integrated into the overall mission, leading – despite an overwhelming tactical military victory – to the failure of Operation Gothic Serpent to achieve its strategic political objectives.
It was not long before the Lieutenant heard him murmuring and mumbling his hate speech. I could see everyone make way for him a s he walked in the middle of the group. He stopped when I was face to face with Azar and knocked him right out. The punch was so strong; he collapsed smack-dab on the ground and chipped his left front tooth. You could hear the tooth chip when he fell down. When he fell, there was an instant movement of the platoon, letting Azar collapse on the stony, light- brown dirt. When Azar got up, the lieutenant got in his face and whispered “Try me again.” Holding his jaw, Azar walked back to the back of the
Insurgency is defined as a rebellion against an indigenous government or a foreign occupier. In an asymmetric war there are two sides a strong and a weak side which have two strategies each. The French, who were the “stronger” side used “direct attack” which aimed at destroying the weak actor’s (Algeria) armed forces and thereby their capacity to offer violent resistance. During the seco...
In June of this year, fifteen American soldiers were killed, mostly by attacks by Shiite militias (Associated Press [AP], 2011). Moktada al-Sadr, an influential Shiite cleric who is known for his anti-Americanism, said the American troops should be treated as "tyrannical occupiers" (AP, ...
with most of this troop in tact. What he didn't realise was that on of
They were part of the rear guard covering the other elements retreating out of the Fort. It became apparent to Echo Company’s Officers what they were observing. If they got the aircraft up and running they’d be able to find the main body and formulate some sort of attack. Unfortunately, for Echo Company, 2nd Platoon’s actions would give their location away eventually to Colonel Magnus’s forces. However, they still had time to get out of dodge before they figured out the men they had just killed weren’t coming back anytime
No one came back alive; they were either slowly given over to death or were forced to join the Leumi. Knowing all of this was what made our mission difficult; we had to go into Monty and kill Muhadi, which was the place where no man ever thought of going. Since tracking Muhadi was almost impossible, our entire operation was based on a tip, a rumor. The realization of what was about be be required of me in the coming days was worrisome, and I became aware of the feasibility of my death. After being briefed by our commander, the six members of my platoon, including myself, left our base and were relieved of any previous feelings of safety we might have felt. Sergeant Smith, the leader of our platoon, fabricated a plan in which we would arrive at Muhadi's doorstep at night, raid the compound, and find and kill Muhadi. First, we determined our position of attack. We traveled west atop some hills to get a better vantage point to spot the exact location of the compound. With this vantage point, we plotted our next move. Tensions were beginning to rise among every member of our platoon, as we had no reassurance that Muhadi was where we believed him to
Hillstrom, Laurie Collier, and Julie Carnagie. War in the Persian Gulf Almanac: From Operation Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Detroit: UXL, 2004. Print