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NARRATIVE NOMINATING SSG DAVID BELLAVIA FOR THE MEDAL OF HONOR DURING OPERATION PHANTOM FURY FALLUJAH, IRAQ On the night of 10 November 2004 Third Platoon, A Company, Task Force 2-2 IN near OBJ Wolf in Fallujah, Iraq, was ordered to attack to destroy six to eight Anti Iraqi Forces (AIF). 1LT Edward Iwan, the A Company Executive Officer, had identified six to eight AIF who had entered a block of twelve buildings. These AIF had engaged A55 and tanks from Team Tank with automatic weapons and rocket fire. Having a 25 mm cannon malfunction, 1LT Edward Iwan cordoned off the...

A status update on the operations in the Baghdad Belts and beyond Operation Phantom Fury, the name of the overarching operation to secure the Baghdad Belts, is now in its fifth day. As noted yesterday, Phantom Thunder is a corps level operation, with multiple U.S. and Iraqi divisions engaged on multiple fronts. Iraqi Security Forces and Multinational Forces Iraq are engaged in intense fights in four main theaters: Baghdad proper, and the belts regions consisting of Diyala and southern Salahadin province to the north, northern Bail province to the south, and eastern Anbar province to the west of Baghdad. The...

U.S. soldiers show their flag with Sept. 11 written to mark the 5th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Sept.11, 2006. Five years after Sept. 11, the United States is winning the war against terrorism, but any let-up in the fight now would only embolden terrorists such as al-Qaida, said U.S. officials Monday. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)

SOLDIERS PAUSE — U.S. Army soldiers from Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, pause at the end of a patrol near Wynot, Iraq. (U.S. Army courtesy photo)

Iraqi Shi'ites pray during weekly Friday noon prayers at the Imam Hussein shrine in the holy city of Kerbala, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, September 8, 2006. Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims are expected to gather in Kerbala during the weekend religious celebration marking the birthday of a Shi'ite Saint. (REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammad) (IRAQ)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki , second left, takes a pen from top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, after signing a document which puts the Iraqi prime minister in direct control of the country's military, at a ceremony, in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday Sept.7, 2006. Coalition forces handed over control of Iraq's armed forces command to the government on Thursday, a move U.S. officials have hailed as a crucial milestone on the country's difficult road to independence. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

U.S. President George W. Bush makes remarks on the global war on terror to the Military Officers Association of America in Washington September 5, 2006. (REUTERS/Jim Young) (UNITED STATES)

LIVE-FIRE RANGE – Marines serving with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's (Special Operations Capable) MEU Service Support Group 24 participate in an enhanced marksmanship program and crew-served weapon live-fire range while training in Dijibouti, Africa, Aug. 26, 2006. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jeffrey A. Cosola)

Sun Sep 3, 1:21 PM ET - Iraq's national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, seen here in July 2006, has said that Hamed Jumaa al-Saedi -- Al-Qaeda's number two in Iraq -- has been arrested. Saedi is accused of masterminding an attack on a revered Shiite shrine that triggered a brutal wave of sectarian killings. (AFP/File/Ali Al-Saadi)

Head of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni block with 44 seats in parliament, Adnan al-Dulaimi addresses a press conference, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday Sept. 2, 2006. Al-Dulaimi urged all militia groups to stop the killings and kidnappings of Iraqis especially in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)

Iraqi special police commandos attend target practice in Baghdad August 29, 2006. The training is aimed at providing tighter security to high Iraqi government officials and other VIPs. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud) (IRAQ)

New graduates from the Iraq Military Academy embrace relatives and fellow new officers after their graduation ceremony in Baghdad August 28, 2006. (Faleh Kheiber/Reuters)

The top U.S. commander in Iraq George Casey, center front, leaves after a visit to an Iraqi army camp in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday Aug. 27, 2006. A series of bomb explosions left at least 18 people dead and dozens were wounded Sunday as Iraq's relentless violence remained unabated despite an appeal from Shiite prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for reconciliation and an end to sectarian fighting. (AP Photo/Adam Hadei)

Thu Aug 24, 12:07 PM ET - Army General John Abizaid is seen in this August 3, 2006 file photo. Abizaid on Thursday praised a major U.S.-led security clampdown in Baghdad, saying it has brought 'great progress' and said that Iraq was far from civil war. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Witness Moussa Abdullah Moussa shows a document with photographs of people he claims that were also killed by chemical attacks during his testimony on day 3 of the Anfal Campaign trial in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Wednesday Aug. 23, 2006. For a second day, survivors took the stand in the trial, in which Saddam and six co-defendants are charged over the 1987-1988 Anfal campaign, a military sweep against the Kurds of northern Iraq in which tens of thousands of people were killed. (AP Photo/ Daniel Berehulak, Pool)

Suspected insurgents sit inside a military headquarters in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad August 22, 2006. The men were among the 13 people arrested and assorted weapons were confiscated from them during an early morning raid in Muqdadiya, a military official said. (REUTERS/Stringer) (IRAQ)

Mon Aug 21, 12:31 PM ET - US President George W. Bush, seen here, has said he was worried that Iraq might slip into civil war but forcefully rejected calls for an immediate US withdrawal, saying that would be a "disaster." (AFP/Paul J. Richards)

An Iraqi policeman helps a suspected militant from a police truck, in Baqouba, 60 kilometers, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug.20, 2006. Working on an intelligence report, Iraqi policemen on Aug.19, 2006, raided a neighborhood near Baqouba and captured 25 suspected militants, poice said. (AP Photo)

Iraqi children play soccer on a deserted street, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday Aug.19, 2006. An uneasy silence cloaked the streets of Baghdad on Saturday at the start of a two-day vehicle ban aimed at preventing attacks during a major Shiite religious gathering, as seven pilgrims were shot dead in a Sunni neighborhood. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

In this photo released by the Iraqi Presidential Press office, Jordanian envoy Ahmed al-Lozi, left, presents his credentials to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday Aug. 18, 2006. Al-Lozi has become the first fully accredited Arab ambassador in the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein, an official said Friday. (AP Photo/Iraqi Presidential Press Office)

An Iraqi soldier patrols a street in Basra, Iraq's second largest city August 17, 2006. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan) (IRAQ)

IRAQ VISIT –Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace poses with fellow Marines after giving a speech in Fallujah, Iraq, Aug. 13, 2006. Pace is in Iraq to meet with U.S. military commanders and visit the troops. (Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, U.S. Air Force)

An unidentified member of an Iraqi Shiite group, right, talks to a member of a Sunni group, during the national reconciliation meeting, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday Aug. 12, 2006. The meeting, which was attended by several representatives of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups Saturday discussed ways for reconciliation and ending escalating sectarian violence. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

An Iraqi marine holds his weapon as he patrols near the Basra Oil Terminal off the Iraqi coast in the waters of the Northern Arabian Gulf close to the port town of Umm Qasr on Tuesday. The terminal is the main source of Iraq's revenue. (Thaier Al-Sudani / AP Photo)

U.S. Colonel Michael Beech (R) speaks during a joint news conference with Iraqi Police Brigadier General Abd al-Rahman Yusif in Baghdad August 10, 2006. (REUTERS/Ahmad al-Rubaye/Pool) (IRAQ)

Wed Aug 9, 1:08 PM ET - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (R) talks with Romanian President Traian Basescu during their meeting in Baghdad. Maliki met with Basescu and urged him to help develop Iraq's dilapidated oil sector. (AFP/Pool/Hadi Mazban)

In this photo released by the Iraq President's office, Iraq President Jalal Talabani, right, talks with General George Casey,third left, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Aug. 7, 2006. Casey said that he has discussed with Iraq's President a security plan to bring fundamental change to the security situation in Baghdad. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo/ President Office, HO)

An Iraqi policeman stands guard against a billboard put up by the Iraqi Interior Ministry advising the public that additional police patrols and military convoys are for their safety, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2006. U.S. soldiers sent to reinforce security in Baghdad were seen for the first time on the streets of the capital, as six people were killed in Iraq's ongoing sectarian and political violence, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

U.S. military Stryker vehicles convoy down a main highway in a Sunni populated area in Baghdad August 5, 2006. Several Stryker vehicles were seen Saturday in Baghdad's mostly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliyah, where Iraqi police used loudspeakers to encourage residents to go about their business and reopen shops because the additional troops were there to protect them. As part of a campaign to curb sectarian violence in Baghdad, the U.S. Army transferred 3,700 soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade from northern Iraq to the capital to reinforce U.S. and Iraqi security forces. (REUTERS/Asaad Mouhsin/pool) (IRAQ)

Thu Aug 3, 1:39 PM ET - US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld(C) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace(L) look on as Gen. John Abizaid, commander of US Central Command answers questions during hearings by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Abizaid, the top US military commander in the Middle East warned that Iraq could slide into civil war if the sectarian violence there is not stopped. (AFP/Karen Bleier)

Tue Aug 1, 4:46 PM ET - An Iraqi technician fixes the wires of a power generator in Baghdad. Electric power generation and oil production in Iraq exceeded pre-war levels during the past quarter for the first time in more than a year. (AFP/File/Ali al-Saadi)

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, left, and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie attend a press conference with at Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006, in Iraq. The two ministers signed an agreement Tuesday to develope the Iraqi agricultural sector which included the exchange of knowledge between the two parties. (AP Photo/Sabah Arah/Pool)

Soldiers with the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (SBCT) fire on a building using dummy ammunition during a test of high-tech vision and communications equipment at Fort Lewis, Wash., on Thursday. (Ted S. Warren / AP Photo)

Wed Jul 26, 12:42 PM ET - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (C) addresses a Joint Meeting of the US Congress as US Vice President Dick Cheney (L) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert look on. Maliki vowed that his country will remain resolute in the face of violent sectarianism ripping apart his country, calling Iraq the "front line" in the war against terror. (AFP/Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, in glasses back center, speaks at the League's headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday July, 25 2006, to the assembled representatives of Iraq's various ethnical and sectarian groups. Discussions focused on ways for reconciliation and ending escalating sectarian violence that threatens the break up of the war-battered country. Some 30 delegates representing Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and other smaller minorities are participating in the discussions, sponsored by the Cairo-based Arab League and aimed at preparing for a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad next month. Insurgents are not represented in the meeting. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Arkansas Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson, left, greets Vice President Dick Cheney at the podium Monday, July 24, 2006, during a fund-raising luncheon for Hutchinson's campaign at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center in Springdale, Ark. Cheney speaking at the fundraiser, said a rapid U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, as sought by some Democrats, would only provoke more attacks by al-Qaida on the United States. Cheney singled out proposals made by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. (AP Photo/Marc F. Henning)

CEREMONIAL SALUTE — An Iraqi army soldier from the 4th Infantry Division salutes his commanding officer during the pass and review portion of a turn over of authority ceremony at Forward Operating Base O'Ryan, Iraq, July 13, 2006. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jeremy L. Wood)

Iraqi soldiers search a man and inspect his vehicle at the start of a vehicle curfew, Friday, July 21, 2006, in central Baghdad, Iraq. In an attempt to increase security, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an extended vehicle curfew in Baghdad Friday by four hours from 11am till 7pm. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Tue Jul 18, 1:47 PM ET - From L-R: An unidentified translator, US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, US Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, are seen during a meeting at the heavily fortified Green Zone area in Baghdad. The United States urged Iraq to adopt a new hydrocarbon law that would enable US and other foreign companies to invest in the war-torn country's oil sector. (AFP/POOL/Wathiq Khuzaie)

OPERATION STARLIT — Soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, participate in Operation Starlit, July 6, 2006. The nine-day mission was conducted in the Salah-Ad-Din providence of Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika)

A U.S. soldier stands on guard outside the provincial government building in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, July 12, 2006. (Sabah al-Bazee - IRAQ/Reuters)

Young Iraqis are glued to the TV watching Italy vs. France during the World Cup final, Sunday, July 9, 2006, in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, Iraq. Italy beat France 5-3 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, attends in a meeting of foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors, plus Egypt and Bahrain, in Tehran, on Saturday, July 8, 2006. (AP Photo / Hasan Sarbakhshian)

A policeman stops a motorist on an empty road, as authorities enforced a four-hour traffic ban in Baghdad July 7, 2006. (REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz) (IRAQ)

RECRUITING DRIVE — An Iraqi police officer provides crowd control at an Iraqi police recruiting drive held in Qa’im, Iraq, June 29, 2006. More than 300 local Iraqis lined up at the Marines outpost in hopes of becoming policemen. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Antonio Rosas)

Tue Jul 4, 1:29 PM ET - US President George W. Bush(L) grabs some food from the cafeteria line with US Army Cpl Samantha Pettit from Michigan as he dined with US Army troops and military personel at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Bush warned that setting a timetable for a US troop withdrawal from Iraq would dishonor the deaths of US soldiers there and give new strength to terrorists. (AFP/Paul J. Richards)

A reproduction image of a partial list of the Iraq's new "Most Wanted List" distributed by the government on July 2. (AFP/Marwan Naamani)

A U.S. soldier holds up a photograph claiming to show recently discovered weapons caches found in Iraq, at a press conference in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, June 29, 2006. The U.S. military claims an advantage in the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq, saying the terror group has been disoriented since the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi leading to an increase in the arrests of foreign fighters. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (R) speaks with Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Abdul Dhiab in Baghdad June 27, 2006. (REUTERS/Wathiq Khuzaie/Pool) (IRAQ)

SECURITY —An Iraqi army soldier provides security during a weapons cache search along the Tigris River on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq, June 21, 2006. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock)