"Lead Pursuit - Limited Dissemination" (A first hand account of Fallujah)

We have been really busy out here lately and therefore I haven't had the opportunity to write too many updates. Sorry.

As many of you know I have been involved in the Battle of Fallujah (Operation Phantom Fury) for the past few weeks. It has been the wildest experience of my time in the Marine Corps.

My Battalion was the Main Effort during the attack. We were given the Jolan District and the southern suburb we call "Queens." These two areas, without a doubt, were the insurgency stronghold in the city.

We cleared every house (3 times) (bulldozed over a hundred with a D-9) and faced the insurgents one-on-one. This is the way they preferred it. For these guys, there is no honor in being martyred by a Abrams Tank or a Bradley. They want the opportunity to take out an American Marine. That was fine with us!

We were led into the city by the Army's 2/7 Cavalry. They had the Tanks and Bradleys but only had about 90 dismounted troops who were capable of clearing out the small areas these guys hide. They did a great job though.

We have about 900 Marines in my Battalion. Every single guy performed like a seasoned professional and all did so with honor. They really gave it their all. 22 Marines in my Battalion gave their lives for our country during this fight and over 200 Marines earned the Purple Heart. Without a doubt, Third Battalion, First Marines (3/1) had the toughest mission for a reason. We did the dirty work no one else wanted to do. Thousands of dead insurgents will back me up on that statement.

We had been prepping for this fight for the past few months. We made numerous "feints" or false attacks into the southern portion of the city where all of their bunkers and fighting positions were located.

We would act like we were moving in for a large attack (with tanks, air strikes, lots of troops and trucks, etc...) and take pot shots at the city. After doing this a few times it was obvious they thought this was the direction we would do our major attack when the time was right. This was the side of the city that the Marines attacked back in April. Closer to the actual attack date, we dropped leaflets, passed messages over the radio, television and mosques speaker systems warning the "good citizens" to leave the city. Furthermore, we shut off all the electricity, water, cell phones, etc.. a few days prior to the attack. Finally, we continuously sonic boomed the city with jets at the speed of sound (this really pissed them off), played Rap/Rock 'n Roll Music and taunted them over loud speakers (this really! , really pisses them off!!) and began to shape targets with bombs and artillery.

We attacked the city from the North, under the darkness of night, and took them by surprise. For the first day or two the insurgents were exposed outside of their houses while trying to get to alternate fighting positions in the North of the city. Our pilots picked these guys off one by one. Once we entered the city and started to move south, the fighting was up close and personal and the use of mortars, artillery and air support was really limited. It is too complicated to know where all of the friendly units are within the city.

Booby trapped doors, car bombs, trip wires, dropping grenades through spider holes in the rooftops, pre-positioned machine guns, RPGs, snipers from the rooftops and minarets (mosque steeples), mortars, and landmines. These were their means of fighting (we encountered all these types at some point in time). They knew the houses they were hiding in and where the most complex hiding spots were located. The spots that gave them the best geometry to fire on us without us seeing them. These guys were smart, well trained and worst of all, willing to fight to the death. These were not the nickel and dimers we have been facing on the outskirts during the months leading up to this.

They knew how to fight us in an urban environment. They didn't challenge the tanks and armor and blended in the city without obvious signs to target. They would move house to house and fall back as we approached. They had weapons/ammo staged in every house. It was really complex.

After clearing the houses (over 3000) 3 different times and still finding insurgents, we just started to bulldoze the houses with D-9's.

It was awesome. They were not expecting it and it was hilarious to watch. I have some great photos. I have great photos of the whole attack. A ton of good stories too. You will have to buy me a beer or two to get the good ones out of me though.

My Battalion is the (infamous) unit that had Kevin Site (NBC Reporter) talked about.

We had the guy who allegedly murdered a wounded insurgent (I think he is faking it!). There is an investigation and I am sure the military will come the correct conclusion. Not much else to comment on there.

We also found/searched Zarqawis house (it was really shabby), tons of propaganda, money, weapons, ammo, torture chambers (sickos out here), videos of suicide bombings and beheadings, and the list goes on. We killed Chechnyians, Syrians, Moroccans, Saudis, you name it. This was the "show" for all of the weirdo terrorist/jihadist in the world. We found other things that are still classified and I hope will be made public someday soon. You wont believe it. Bottom line is, this was a necessary mission.

The day before we step off on the attack, my Battalion had the 1st Annual Ben Hur Thundering Third Chariot Race. You might have seen a few pictures on the news. It was the tension breaker we all needed.

We had confiscated some horses and carts a while back. We dressed up a number of Marines to look like chariot drivers (Spartans, Romans) and race the horses. These horses were in terrible shape. One was named "Ribs" for obvious reasons if you had seen the horse up close.

Eventually only one horse would race so we had time trials to determine the winner. It was hilarious. I will never forget it.

I am just back to get a shower and change of uniform (it's been 17 days) and then I am heading back into the city. We should be there until the elections are done with and then we can come back home. We haven't let the people back into Fallujah yet. That is when it will get

interesting. I am sure we will see roadside bombs, car bombs and suicide bombers by the truck load. We are trying to clean up the dead bodies and clear the streets of rubble before they can come back in.

This information is provided by LEAD PURSUIT as a service to Military Commanders and Aviators with the purpose of offering relevant and timely information on (open source) defense, aviation, emergency, law enforcement, terrorism and OPSEC issues. FMI: please write to Nena Wiley at CoyoteArz@aol.com or go to www.purepursuitintelnetwork.com

After clearing the houses (over 3000) 3 different times and still finding insurgents, we just started to bulldoze the houses with D-9's. It was awesome. They were not expecting it and it was hilarious to watch.

Here is info about the D9 for those who are not familiar.

Here is an article from last year about the U.S. version:

6 March 2003 Army's new D9 bulldozer digs into duty in Kuwait By Joseph Giordono , Stars and Stripes, European Edition

CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait — They were as giddy as kids in a sandbox, testing out the Army’s newest engineering toy — if you consider a 62-ton, armored bulldozer a toy and the vast, empty Kuwaiti desert a sandbox. Members of the 94th Engineer Combat Battalion based in Vilseck, Germany, became the first unit in the Army to push, scrape and rip through the earth with the D9, a 400-horsepower behemoth making its field debut last weekend. If the unit is called upon to breach obstacles for a U.S. force invading Iraq, the armored, mine-resistant D9 will provide extra power and extra protection. “It’s possible that we will be put in situations where you might not want to send an unarmored dozer, so it’s a definite improvement,” said 1st Lt. Ryan Kracht, leader of the 94th’s equipment platoon. As Kracht looked on, engineers tested out a half-dozen of the D9s, digging huge gouges in the desert, piling up sand berms and rolling through concertina wire. Farther out in the desert, a group of Marine Corps engineers used the new D9 to practice digging artillery and tank positions. In all, nine of the dozers arrived in Kuwait late last week. All are currently with the Army units at Camp Virginia, but some could be parceled out to Marines. The D9 eventually will replace the smaller, less-powerful D7 as the main engineering dozer, officials said. The D9 has already proved more useful than the D7 in Kuwait. A solid layer of limestone sits just a few feet under the desert sand in most places, and the D7 was unable to penetrate the rock. With a giant, clawlike ripper on its rear, the D9 tears right through the rock layer, shaking the ground. “There’s more space, there’s more horsepower; it’s just a better machine,” said Sgt. Jerel Moses, a 24-year-old dozer operator from Sumter, S.C. Moses smiled broadly as he manipulated the levers, pedals and joysticks that control the tracks, bulldozer scoop and rear ripper. “One of the tricks we’ve already learned is that you can tilt the blade to control where the dozer goes. It’s really useful when you’re cutting.” The blade itself is more than 14 feet long and 7 feet tall; the entire machine is about 20 feet tall and 25 feet long. Because of its larger blade and increased horsepower, the D9 can do double the amount of work as the D7 in the same amount of time, Moses said. The hulking dozer offers comfort and safety: The air-conditioned, two-man cab is also encased in armor plating and is fitted with glass that has held up against .50-caliber rounds in testing. Engineers can also fit the cabs with their own heavy machine guns or M-19 grenade launchers. Those capabilities had not yet been tested in the field, troops from the 94th Engineers said. Each D9 has a crew of two — an operator and a track commander, who acts as both a lookout and a gunner, if necessary. The dozers cost about $1 million each and are specially manufactured by the Caterpillar Co. in Peoria, Ill. “Operationally, it’s not that much different,” said Sgt. First Class Carl Foreman, a trainer from the Department of Training and Development at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. “But it’s just such a big piece of equipment that the operators need to get used to how it works,” said the 37-year-old from Blackshear, Ga. Foreman has been working with the D9s for two months, and is anxious to see how they perform in real field situations. “The biggest thing right now is familiarization and preventive maintenance. That is pretty difficult with all the dust around here.”

Joseph Giordono / S&S Two D9 bulldozers work in tandem outside at a training range near Camp Virginia, Kuwait.

Joseph Giordono / S&S Sgt. Jerel Moses, of the 94th Engineer Support Battalion, gets used to operating the new D9 dozer at Camp Virginia, Kuwait. It will replace the older D7 version.

Joseph Giordono / S&S The rear ripper on a D9 dozer digs into the dirt. The clawlike ripper is able to tear through the rock layer, shaking the ground.

Joseph Giordono / S&S Crewmembers from the 94th Engineer Support Battalion trade places in one of the new 400-horsepower D9 bulldozers.

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