7 November(D-1): The Plan
***NOTE*** THe November 22 issue of TIME provides a pretty good map of Fallujah. Although it has its limits, I will refer to some graphics on that map.
Who the hell am I? I just got here and I'm supposed to brief a plan to men who've been here for 3 days, who've already gone out on a recon and seen the battlefield, who've thought about nothing but Fallujah for almost a month. Meanwhile, I was drinking beer and partying with my friends for the last two weeks. Please wait while I wipe the crust from my eyes and the dust off my rifle.
Task Force 2-2 Infantry was a battalion sized element, hand picked and designed to do one thing in Fallujah: Isolate, fix and destroy. 2-2IN is the one infantry battalion of 3rd Brigade. When 2-2IN gained an engineer platoon from 82nd EN and a tank platoon from 1-63AR, it was no longer a pure mech infantry battalion. It was now Task Organized. With this TO, it is referred to as a Task Force. You can task organize a unit so that it is shaped precisely to do what you need to do. Almost every battalion in Iraq is task organized. Avenger Company is task organized because we gave away a tank platoon and gained an engineer platoon before we entered Iraq from Kuwait. That makes us Team Avenger. And even though Bravo and Charlie are pure tank companies, 2-63 AR BN is now TF 2-63.
For Fallujah, TF2-2 was comprised of their headquarters company which provided all of the command and logistics at the battalion level plus the scout platoon and mortar platoon. TF2-2 had brought one of it's own mech infantry companies, Alpha company, nickname Terminator(TO'd with two Brad platoons and a tank platoon). TF2-2 had a tank company attached, Team Avenger(task organized with two tank platoons and one engineer platoon) from TF2-63. Finally, it had the Brigade Reconnaissance Team from FOB Warhorse(TO'd with 2 scout platoons and a mech infantry Bradley platoon). TF2-2 further TO'd the BRT by giving the BRT two tanks from Avenger, and giving two Brads from the BRT to Avenger in return. For the first time, Avenger had infantry. And for the first time, the BRT had tanks; firepower on the ground it had never reckoned with before.
As a scout element, the BRT's primary mission was to screen line. Get eyes on the battlefield way before the main effort reaches the attack point. Be the forward observer for the TF, calling indirect fire on any enemy targets. Destroy any enemy mortar positions, sniper positions, and enemy strongholds. All the while, providing reconnaissance for the main effort, observing enemy activity.
The BRT's assets included a valuable tool known as the LRAS, Long Range Acquisition System. It's a powerful sight allowing us to get eyes deep in the battlefield. Our mission in the BRT, was to escort the quartering parties who would occupy the attack position on D-Day. Then we were to get eyes on the battlefield 10 hours prior to H-Hour(1900) which was LD time(the time when the task force crosses the line of departure...the line of scrimmage, if you will).
The main effort of TF2-2 was made up of Terminator and Avenger. They were to storm through the city from north to south doing something unprecedented; rolling tanks and bradleys through the tight streets of Fallujah, going from house to house, clearing buildings and killing every enemy force in sight.
"No dismounts will enter a building that hasn't been cleared by artillery or main gun fires. The infantry will mop up the rubble." That was the intent our leaders were pushing. I loved it. A tanker's paradise.
For the first time, tanks and brads were being used in the same sentence as CQC-close quarters combat. This was normally a light infantry-game only. We were going to re-write the textbooks at the Schoolhouse.
Prior to LD, my platoon of two tanks and two brads were to set up on the highway in the east in a Support By Fire position(SBF) and engage due west and shift our fires south. We were to kill the enemy as they fled from north to south. It would be a turkey shoot. They would run for their lives and we would blind side them. We would always stay in front of the main effort and to their east. As they pushed south, we would push farther south. As long as we didn't shoot one bit north of due west, we knew we wouldn't be shooting friendlies.
The plan was to start fighting at 1900. It would take about 8 to 10 hours to storm through the north half of the city and reach Phase Line(PL) [Julie]. Julie was the major highway that ran east and west and cut the city in half. The Marines would be to the west of TF2-2. They would be doing the same thing, but on foot. It was going to take them 48 hours to accomplish the same thing.
I briefed my men on this plan. We would set up in SBF 1. As the main effort reached certain PLs, we would bound south as a tank/brad section to SBFs 2,3, and 4, putting 25mm HE, 120mm main gun, 7.62mm and .50cal into anything that posed a threat. That was the Operations Order(OPORD) for taking the first half of the city. After that, we would receive the plans for the rest of the battle in fragments known as FRAGOs, each day. Since things change based on so many factors, it was easiest to give the small maneuver units the initial plan, and then adjust off of what the enemy was doing, and how well we were holding up.
I was confident in my ability to fight under pressure. My pure tank platoon had been in heavy contact in Baqubah on June 24 and we laid waste to the most dedicated enemy fighters I have ever seen. Those guys were so dead-set on dying for a cause that there was nothing we could do but accomodate them.
When I finished briefing my platoon, half of whom I just met for the first time, I couldn't help but wonder if they were thinking, "Who is this guy? He just got here yesterday from two weeks of drinking beer and sleeping in late and now he's going to tell us what we're doing? We've doing nothing but studying Fallujah since mid-October. Furthermore, they were infantry and I was a tanker, there's not much love for tankers in this world. Everyone thinks we're big dumb idiots.
We were told to bed our guys down by 1900. For the BRT, it was a 0200 wake up on D-Day. Line up the vehicles and roll out by 0445.
"This 1900 lights out is bullshit. No one's going to be able to fall asleep. This shit is too crazy," SSG Terry said
"Hey Guys, just so you know, I'm sleeping on my tank," I told my section as I grabbed my assault pack. Inside was a change of shirts, my toilet kit, and some socks. Outside, my sleeping bag and my weapons cleaning kit were attached.
"Fuck that, let's just stay in the tents. It's warmer," SSG Terry replied.
"Well, I just don't feel like walking all the way to the motor pool to get REDCON1(ready condition 1 meant engines running, crew in position, we can roll out now)." That was a load of crap. The truth was, I just wanted to get my game face on. Everything felt different now. This was so huge and I was thinking about how we were going to be sleeping in or on our tanks for the next two weeks. I didnt think I was going to be able to sleep in the tent anyways; we were all too excited. I felt like I was taking this more seriously if I just stayed close to my tank. I walked out of the tent. To my surprise, my crew, and eventually my wingman and his crew followed me. I think they felt the same way.
We got to the tanks and laid out across the top of the turret. It was dark, but it was impossible to sleep anyways. The 155mm artillery guns were hammering away at Fallujah. It was so loud on the camp. And off in the distance, you could watch the 155 HE burn in as it came upon the city. You couldn't see the city but we knew where it was. Huge curtains of fire rained down right above the horizon. It looked like the backdrop to Hell. Those sorry sons of bitches. They really want to stick around for this fight. Fuck 'em. They are gonna be worse than hammered dogshit after this.
I kept thinking about those 4 American contract workers; burned, mutilated and desecrated in Fallujah. Hanging from the bridge. "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans" one poster said. Damn these insurgents. Damn the time it took for us to raise this warmachine and bring retribution to these less-than-humans.
Who the hell am I? I just got here and I'm supposed to brief a plan to men who've been here for 3 days, who've already gone out on a recon and seen the battlefield, who've thought about nothing but Fallujah for almost a month. Meanwhile, I was drinking beer and partying with my friends for the last two weeks. Please wait while I wipe the crust from my eyes and the dust off my rifle.
Task Force 2-2 Infantry was a battalion sized element, hand picked and designed to do one thing in Fallujah: Isolate, fix and destroy. 2-2IN is the one infantry battalion of 3rd Brigade. When 2-2IN gained an engineer platoon from 82nd EN and a tank platoon from 1-63AR, it was no longer a pure mech infantry battalion. It was now Task Organized. With this TO, it is referred to as a Task Force. You can task organize a unit so that it is shaped precisely to do what you need to do. Almost every battalion in Iraq is task organized. Avenger Company is task organized because we gave away a tank platoon and gained an engineer platoon before we entered Iraq from Kuwait. That makes us Team Avenger. And even though Bravo and Charlie are pure tank companies, 2-63 AR BN is now TF 2-63.
For Fallujah, TF2-2 was comprised of their headquarters company which provided all of the command and logistics at the battalion level plus the scout platoon and mortar platoon. TF2-2 had brought one of it's own mech infantry companies, Alpha company, nickname Terminator(TO'd with two Brad platoons and a tank platoon). TF2-2 had a tank company attached, Team Avenger(task organized with two tank platoons and one engineer platoon) from TF2-63. Finally, it had the Brigade Reconnaissance Team from FOB Warhorse(TO'd with 2 scout platoons and a mech infantry Bradley platoon). TF2-2 further TO'd the BRT by giving the BRT two tanks from Avenger, and giving two Brads from the BRT to Avenger in return. For the first time, Avenger had infantry. And for the first time, the BRT had tanks; firepower on the ground it had never reckoned with before.
As a scout element, the BRT's primary mission was to screen line. Get eyes on the battlefield way before the main effort reaches the attack point. Be the forward observer for the TF, calling indirect fire on any enemy targets. Destroy any enemy mortar positions, sniper positions, and enemy strongholds. All the while, providing reconnaissance for the main effort, observing enemy activity.
The BRT's assets included a valuable tool known as the LRAS, Long Range Acquisition System. It's a powerful sight allowing us to get eyes deep in the battlefield. Our mission in the BRT, was to escort the quartering parties who would occupy the attack position on D-Day. Then we were to get eyes on the battlefield 10 hours prior to H-Hour(1900) which was LD time(the time when the task force crosses the line of departure...the line of scrimmage, if you will).
The main effort of TF2-2 was made up of Terminator and Avenger. They were to storm through the city from north to south doing something unprecedented; rolling tanks and bradleys through the tight streets of Fallujah, going from house to house, clearing buildings and killing every enemy force in sight.
"No dismounts will enter a building that hasn't been cleared by artillery or main gun fires. The infantry will mop up the rubble." That was the intent our leaders were pushing. I loved it. A tanker's paradise.
For the first time, tanks and brads were being used in the same sentence as CQC-close quarters combat. This was normally a light infantry-game only. We were going to re-write the textbooks at the Schoolhouse.
Prior to LD, my platoon of two tanks and two brads were to set up on the highway in the east in a Support By Fire position(SBF) and engage due west and shift our fires south. We were to kill the enemy as they fled from north to south. It would be a turkey shoot. They would run for their lives and we would blind side them. We would always stay in front of the main effort and to their east. As they pushed south, we would push farther south. As long as we didn't shoot one bit north of due west, we knew we wouldn't be shooting friendlies.
The plan was to start fighting at 1900. It would take about 8 to 10 hours to storm through the north half of the city and reach Phase Line(PL) [Julie]. Julie was the major highway that ran east and west and cut the city in half. The Marines would be to the west of TF2-2. They would be doing the same thing, but on foot. It was going to take them 48 hours to accomplish the same thing.
I briefed my men on this plan. We would set up in SBF 1. As the main effort reached certain PLs, we would bound south as a tank/brad section to SBFs 2,3, and 4, putting 25mm HE, 120mm main gun, 7.62mm and .50cal into anything that posed a threat. That was the Operations Order(OPORD) for taking the first half of the city. After that, we would receive the plans for the rest of the battle in fragments known as FRAGOs, each day. Since things change based on so many factors, it was easiest to give the small maneuver units the initial plan, and then adjust off of what the enemy was doing, and how well we were holding up.
I was confident in my ability to fight under pressure. My pure tank platoon had been in heavy contact in Baqubah on June 24 and we laid waste to the most dedicated enemy fighters I have ever seen. Those guys were so dead-set on dying for a cause that there was nothing we could do but accomodate them.
When I finished briefing my platoon, half of whom I just met for the first time, I couldn't help but wonder if they were thinking, "Who is this guy? He just got here yesterday from two weeks of drinking beer and sleeping in late and now he's going to tell us what we're doing? We've doing nothing but studying Fallujah since mid-October. Furthermore, they were infantry and I was a tanker, there's not much love for tankers in this world. Everyone thinks we're big dumb idiots.
We were told to bed our guys down by 1900. For the BRT, it was a 0200 wake up on D-Day. Line up the vehicles and roll out by 0445.
"This 1900 lights out is bullshit. No one's going to be able to fall asleep. This shit is too crazy," SSG Terry said
"Hey Guys, just so you know, I'm sleeping on my tank," I told my section as I grabbed my assault pack. Inside was a change of shirts, my toilet kit, and some socks. Outside, my sleeping bag and my weapons cleaning kit were attached.
"Fuck that, let's just stay in the tents. It's warmer," SSG Terry replied.
"Well, I just don't feel like walking all the way to the motor pool to get REDCON1(ready condition 1 meant engines running, crew in position, we can roll out now)." That was a load of crap. The truth was, I just wanted to get my game face on. Everything felt different now. This was so huge and I was thinking about how we were going to be sleeping in or on our tanks for the next two weeks. I didnt think I was going to be able to sleep in the tent anyways; we were all too excited. I felt like I was taking this more seriously if I just stayed close to my tank. I walked out of the tent. To my surprise, my crew, and eventually my wingman and his crew followed me. I think they felt the same way.
We got to the tanks and laid out across the top of the turret. It was dark, but it was impossible to sleep anyways. The 155mm artillery guns were hammering away at Fallujah. It was so loud on the camp. And off in the distance, you could watch the 155 HE burn in as it came upon the city. You couldn't see the city but we knew where it was. Huge curtains of fire rained down right above the horizon. It looked like the backdrop to Hell. Those sorry sons of bitches. They really want to stick around for this fight. Fuck 'em. They are gonna be worse than hammered dogshit after this.
I kept thinking about those 4 American contract workers; burned, mutilated and desecrated in Fallujah. Hanging from the bridge. "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans" one poster said. Damn these insurgents. Damn the time it took for us to raise this warmachine and bring retribution to these less-than-humans.
posted by REDSIX at 4:16 AM
1 Comments:
Great posting. You guys really are amazing. You make us all proud. Thank you.
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