- Introduction
Introduction to the writer - Breaking the News
How I told my family I was leaving in ten days. - The Road to War
Planning for combat operations aboard the USS Bataan enroute to the Middle East - Hurry Up & Wait
Life in the assembly area - Camp Shoup, Kuwait - Attack Positions
Occupation of final staging areas in Kuwait - Crossing the Line of Departure
Attacking into Iraq. - Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Speeding down the highway at night, without lights (going the wrong-way). - Attack!
Attack to seize key bridges in An Nasiryah. - "Punch out the TAC CP"
More action in the Battle of An Nasiriyah. - Running the Gauntlet
Racing through 4 miles of enemy held city. - Return to Friendly Lines
My encounter with an Iraqi tank on the return trip. - Counter Attack!
Iraqi night attack on our rear area. - Jessica Lynch Rescue
The rescue of Jessica Lynch and the next mission.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
A Personal Account of the Battle of An Nasiriyah
The Road to War
Loading LCAC's, Onslow Beach, Camp Lejeune, NC
I boarded a LCAC (landing craft, air cushioned) bound for the USS Bataan (LHD-5) on the 13th of January 2003. The Bataan was one of seven ships in Amphibious Task Force East (ATF East) that was taking the Camp Lejeune Marines to the Persian Gulf Region. At Camp Pendleton, California, Marines were loading the six ships that formed ATF West bound for the same destination. 50,000 other Marines were making their way to Kuwait via air.
It’s no easy feat loading hundreds of vehicles and thousands of Marines aboard seven ships on very short notice. My hat goes off to the Marines and sailors who made it happen.
After the hovercraft had been traveling out to sea for about 15 minutes, one of its crewmembers climbed down from his observation perch and shouted something into the troop compartment to us:
"You guys are going to the Kearsarge right?"
"No, we’re going to the Bataan!" we answered.
"Sure you’re not going to the Kearsarge?" he said hopefully.
"We’re going to the Bataan!"
He shook his head and mumbled to himself as he climbed back up into his station. A moment later, we felt the LCAC turn and we were speeding off to the correct destination.My time onboard ship was occupied learning the various personalities I would be interacting with over the next six months and planning for combat operations. As the S-6 of Regimental Combat Team-2 (RCT-2), it was my job to provide flexible, reliable and secure radio, telephone and computer network connectivity to my higher headquarters and subordinate commands.
RCT-2 was subordinate to 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2d MEB). During the war, 2d MEB was known as Task Force Tarawa. Under Task Force Tarawa was RCT-2, Combat Service Support Battalion 22 -- a small logistics element, and later, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (15th MEU (SOC)) and 24 MEU (SOC).
RCT-2 had over 4,000 Marines and sailors was comprised of the following units:
- 1st Battalion, Second Marine Regiment (1/2) -- A mechanized infantry battalion
- 2nd Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment (2/8) -- A motorized infantry battalion
- 3rd Battalion, Second Marine Regiment (3/2) -- A motorized infantry battalion
- 1st Battalion, Tenth Marine Regiment (1/10) -- A towed artillery battalion
- Company C, 2d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
- Company A, 2d Reconnaissance Battalion
- Company A, 2d Assault Amphibian Battalion (Attached to 1/2)
- Company A, 8th Tank Battalion (Attached to 1/2)
- Company A, 2d Combat Engineer Battalion
Aboard the Bataan, we learned our first mission in the war was going to be securing the Iraqi Airfield at Jalibah. Since it had been abandoned after the last Gulf War and there were only 21 Iraqi border guards between Kuwait and our objective, we were pretty confident that this was going to be an easy mission. Our follow-on mission concerned us greatly though.
After taking Jalibah, we were to be prepared to take three key bridges over the Euphrates River and the Saddam Canal at a city called An Nasiriyah. Two of these bridges, along Iraq’s Route 7, went through the city of An Nasiriyah itself. The other was 15 kilometers west of the city. An Nasiriyah was the home of the Iraqi 11th Infantry Division.
Our first request for information from 2d MEB was under what circumstances were we to take the bridges in the city. We weren’t interested in a fierce urban fight if the bridge to the west would be adequate for the attack on Baghdad. We never really got a clear answer from higher headquarters on that. Just assurances that the Iraqi’s will have capitulated by then or the Army’s missiles and attack helicopters will have crushed the enemies resistance by the time we arrived. We weren’t very confident in the responses we were getting and we continued to meet daily and plan for a worse case scenario -- an urban assault to take the bridges and their defense.
The Amphibious Task Force was concerned about terrorist attacks when it passed through various strategic choke points like the Straits of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, the Straits near Yemen (site of the USS Cole bombing and recently a French oil tanker), and the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The Marines augmented the Navy’s self defense forces with snipers, machine gun teams, and anti-aircraft missiles.
The Author in the Suez Canal
As the ATF passed through the Suez Canal, we had these forces visible along with other demonstrations intended to send a signal to the Iraqi’s, Al Qaeda, and anybody else who might be watching with an interest in our presence. On the ship’s flight decks we conducted martial arts training, machine gun drills, and had platoons of Marines hiking with packs while wearing their gas masks. All of this was clearly visible to the numerous observers on the narrow canal.
Transiting through the Suez Canal
We were watching them and they were watching us. One man was emphatically giving us the thumbs down signal from the balcony of his apartment. Others were shouting "Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda!" It was one of those moments that you clearly realized this was not a routine training exercise. This deployment was for real. At one point we intercepted a radio transmission from ashore detailing the number of aircraft and equipment visible on the ships’ decks and our activities. That was good. We wanted the Iraqi’s to know what was coming. Maybe Saddam would come to his senses.
Later, as we passed through the Straits of Hormuz, we had more excitement. Our seven-ship task force lined up in a column to quickly pass through the narrow body of water separating Iran from the United Arab Emirates. We had Cobra attack helicopters in the air and US and Canadian frigates escorting us to deter any threat from small vessels loaded with bombs. Our task force was buzzed several times by Iranian aircraft, flying low and taking pictures. The real concern was the numerous "cigarette" boats that zipped between Iran and UAE daily on high-speed smuggling runs.
Most of these boats got the message to go around our convoy. One must have been behind schedule and decided that adjusting his route was way too much trouble. He kept zooming towards us at a high rate of speed. A Cobra helicopter flew over the swiftly moving craft to convey our greetings -- but he still didn’t get the message and kept bearing down of the task force. The Cobra doubled around and hovered 20 feet over the water directly in front of the smuggler. Looking down the barrels of the Cobra’s 20 mm chain machine gun did the trick. The boat stopped abruptly and waited for us to pass. It’s sad, but machine guns speak a universal language. We passed through the straits safely.
Send in the Marines!
On the 14th of February, I packed up my rucksack and reported to the hanger deck. I was issued ammunition and waited for my helicopter serial to be called away. Soon after the sun rose, I was on a CH-53 flying to what was to be my home for the next month or so, Camp Shoup, Kuwait.
Next...
Hurry Up & Wait
Life in the assembly area - Camp Shoup, Kuwait
