Phantom fury zia park 201712/3/2023 A diversionary assault from the west and south began with the 36 th Iraqi Commando Battalion (with US Army Special Forces advisors), the 1 st Battalion, 9 th US Infantry, 2 nd Brigade Combat Team, and Company A, 2 nd Battalion, 72 nd Tank Battalion, elements of the 3 rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (Reinforced), and Combat Service Support Battalion 1. Navy SEAL and Marine Reconnaissance sniper teams provided reconnaissance and target marking along the city perimeter. Ground operations began on the night of 7 November 2004. The 1 st Battalion, Black Watch Regiment planned to support US troops along with D Squadron of the SAS, but British political concerns in the UK halted any involvement by British forces in the actual assault. Supporting elements included Iraqi security forces, coalition aircraft, and Special Operations Command snipers. RCT-7 consisted of the 1 st Battalion, 8 th Marines, 1 st Battalion, 3 rd Marines, 1 st Battalion, 12 th Marines, 2 nd Battalion, 2 nd US Infantry, 2 nd Battalion, 12 th Cavalry, and 1 st Battalion, 6 th US Field Artillery. RCT-1 was composed of the 3 rd Battalion, 1 st Marines, 3 rd Battalion, 5 th Marines, elements of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 and Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 23, and elements of the US 7 th Cavalry. Intelligence suggested that the city’s insurgents were vulnerable to direct attack. The total of coalition forces included 6,500 Marines, 1,500 US soldiers, 2,500 US Navy support personnel, 850 British forces, and around 2,000 Iraqi security forces.Īmerican combat forces were organized into two Regimental Combat Teams. Fallujah the battlefield was prepped by sustained airstrikes and artillery fires. Iraqi interpreters augmented American combat units. In the run-up to the commencement of combat operations, detailed imagery was obtained and used to prepare detailed maps of the city. One thing that does stand out, however, is that the leadership of these groups (wisely, albeit cowardly) removed themselves from Fallujah before the beginning of the Second Battle of Fallujah.Ĭoalition checkpoints were established to prevent anyone from entering the city, and to intercept insurgents attempting to flee. By November, these numbers doubled and included virtually every insurgent group in Iraq: al-Qaeda, Islamic Army of Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna, Army of Mohammed, Army of Mujahedeen, and the Secret Army of Iraq. None of the names of these groups is important because Islamists change their names as frequently as a mother changes her baby’s diapers. In April 2004, Fallujah was defended by about 1,500 Iraqi insurgents with around five-hundred of these being “hardcore” guerrilla fighters and the others “part-time” employees.
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