It was a routine they would conduct many times over in the week ahead. The road blocks came under sporadic mortar and rocket fire, resulting in the AH-6 helicopters flying multiple gun runs to silence the Iraqi mortar and rocket positions. On 1 April 2003, B Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stormed the Al-Qadisiyah (Hadithah) Dam complex northwest of Baghdad. The Marines convinced Farouk to establish a resurgent police force, with he as the chief. With 1st Squad leader SSG Jesse Ragan in the lead, three vehicles and twenty-seven Rangers maneuvered down the steep embankment into Objective Cobalt. As the section moved into blocking positions, they suddenly heard gunfire.5, While 1LT White was walking across the road and searching for an entrance to the western administrative buildings, he heard a Ranger shout, Hes got a gun! SSG Smith had observed someone dive under a piece of sheet metal, and then spotted the barrel of a weapon. Three Rangers were killed on 3 April by a VBIED at the blocking positions as they were searching a car;[2] the car was driven by a young pregnant Iraqi woman who seemed distressed and asking for water. The HIMARS rocket system saw its first combat deployment at the dam, firing counter-battery missions. Mar 23. The ensuing four-day battle at Haditha Dam was the single largest engagement of the entire war. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. Once everybody was refueled and positioned, the convoy of seventeen vehicles and 140 Rangers penetrated the moonless night. He said that even if George had been in OR it would have been next to impossible to save him. Soon after the sniper had been taken care of, two more Rangers discovered three armed and dazed guards in an apparently unmanned shack. Thats the way I remember it there may be some detail off here or there, but thats just how I remember it.. On 1 April, C squadron, Delta Force and 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment conducted a night-time ground assault into the target on foot and in armored vehicles against the Haditha Dam complex. Already tired from almost two weeks of continuous operations, and fully exposed to the elements and noise of the barrage, some of the young Rangers began to fall victim. Later I found that the round had hit the plate around an inch up and in from the lower left corner, which was right over my left kidney. Securing it was one of the first objectives of US special forces . The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgent. She didnt understand the instructions, so AQI set the bomb off remotely shortly after she rode by the Americans, killing her instantly. Golf Company was dispatched to Haqlaniyah. US reinforcements arrived and relieved the battered Rangers. As they approached the six-mile-long dam, the Rangers recognized the spillway, the dam crane, and the tall entrance towers on either side of the spillway.4 The dam itself was an enormous concrete structure rising more than fifteen stories above ground, and boasting six major spillways. With a replacement flight of Little Birds providing reconnaissance, the Rangers breached the final barrier, racing to reach the dam before daylight broke. All Rights Reserved. The Battle of Haditha Dam: The beer is on us! Amazingly, Alan escaped with only a gunshot wound to his toe, and Gale was unhurt.13, Last in the movement order, 1st Platoon established two blocking positions across the road leading to the dam complex. The roots of the Haditha Dam seizure date to long before the start of OIF. Unfortunately, SPC Alan (pseudonym) made a wrong turn on the way down, and entered a developed area serving as an academy for antiaircraft artillery. Staff Sergeant James Narrow (pseudonym), B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. US commanders chose the Rangers of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment to take the dam. Composed of the city of Haditha and the outlying towns of Haqlaniyah, Barwana and Albu Hyatt, the Haditha Triad lies along the Euphrates River corridor, deep in the desert, far from Baghdad. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. Captain Timothy Donald (pseudonym), A Company, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 12 September 2003, Fort Campbell, KY, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. Located in northwestern Iraq, Haditha Dam was a strategic target for both sides. One particularly pesky mortar position, on an island about 2,000 yards behind the dam, was taken out with a Javelin anti-tank missile, along with a pair of 1,000-pound bombs. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider One of Georges teammates that was there at the fight with him recounts it as follows: We were some 300 miles inside the border traveling at night and sleeping hidden during the day. Soon after 1st Platoons firefight, CPT Doyle repositioned his troops and prepared for the next phase of the once-uncomplicated mission. Taking advantage of the bright daylight, he directed his platoons to concentrate on clearing areas skipped during the frenzy of the initial assault. Early on the night of April 1, the Rangers and Delta Force operators stormed the dam. The Battle of Haditha Dam: Mowing Iraqis down like bowling pins. Big-hearted Russ The Rangers at the barricade immediately opened fire on the vehicle behind the one that had just detonated; it too went up in a massive explosion another VBIED! In order for U.S. forces to use Objective Serpent for fixed-wing transport. Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. The medics removed Feldbuschs blood-covered helmet and suctioned his airway, hoping to avoid a tracheotomy. By the end of their deploymentafter 23 of their ranks had died and 177 having sustained serious woundsAQI forces in the area were finally defeated. Tribal fighters seen during a battle with ISIS militants, in Haditha, Iraq, Aug. 25, 2014. Within minutes, an A-10 rolled in and dropped a two thousand pound bomb just three hundred meters from 2nd Platoons location. CPT Doyle soon figured out that his mission was expanding by the minute, because at the DLS his company was supplemented by a platoon from C Company and attachments from 3rd Battalions tactical operations center (TOC) II: an Air Force enlisted terminal attack controller (ETAC), a physician assistant (PA), the Command Sergeant Major (CSM), and the battalions executive officer (XO). Unfortunately, the mortars were replaced by 152 millimeter heavy artillery from the southwest. Returning to the ROD site, CPT Doyle assembled his First Sergeant, MAJ Kilburn, and SFC Stanley Morgan (pseudonym), the fire support noncommissioned officer, to develop a plan. Their actions earned CSM Birch and SFC Duncan Silver Star commendations.11. Significant actions, or SIGACTS Marine terminology for attacks went from over 300 per month to less than six. Weather, including sandstorms, began reducing visibility and interfering with the Night Stalkers' flying, but on the third day, an MH-47 Chinook helicopter braved enemy fire and resupplied the Rangers, who were approaching 72 hours under fire on what was planned as a 24-hour operation. A quarter of the way across, a vehicle came barreling down on the Rangers. As the GMV reversed direction, the gunner manning the Mk 19 40 mm automatic grenade launcher took a point-blank hit from an AK-47 as the vehicle escaped. Visit his website www.darack.com or follow him on Twitter @EdDarack. We really gauged the passing of time by the consumption of our ammunition.. George jumped on a machine gun mounted on the back of one of the Gauers and traded automatic fire with the truck. By Fred Pearce August 25, 2014 The Rangers anticipated that the dam would be very well defended, with at least a platoon on Objective Lynx, and a mechanized company to the south, near Hadithah village. The destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. Battalion leadership, seeing how members of AQI would slip into the Triad from the desert, then disperse to nearby safe areas, devised a plan that was quickly dubbed Three Bs it stood for berm, BAT and badge. Support Veteran Journalism . Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. After several coordination delays, the Rangers ultimately moved out at 2240, two hours later than planned. The Marines fought an army of phantoms on a battlefield of shadows. But the fight was only beginning. Chief flew an escort mission that night for his own teammate Ranger Tony Ely, who was tasked to fly his MH-6 scout helo to the dam to deliver a surveillance drone and operator to the Rangers so they could get long eyes downrange. When Lauder and his team arrived, Feldbusch was not breathing and his face was turning blue. The Iraqi dictator's claims that the US would target and destroy the dam complicated matters further. An Iraqi man exited the vehicle and pointed to his seemingly pregnant wife still in the car, shouting to the American commandos for water and medical assistance. A Battle For Haditha Dam Aired on Jan 24, 2016 Iraq 2003: A group of U.S. Army Rangers fights to seize control of Haditha Dam - a strategically key location in Operation Iraqi Freedom - when. For their actions against the enemy, they both received the Silver Star. At one point during the four-day battle, the Iraqis attacked Serpent in an attempt to cut of the Rangers' support. The Rangers called in airstrikes, which hit the structures with a total of 20 bombs. Captain David Doyle, B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by David Jenkins, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. 616K views 1 year ago #TheWarfighters Iraq 2003: A group of U.S. Army Rangers fights to seize control of Haditha Dam - a key location in Operation Iraqi Freedom - when they realize they are. While most of the rounds fell in the lake, every platoon had a few shells fall within a kilometer of their position. Feb 29. Cowed by beheadings, rapes, murder and general intimidation, the locals of the area remained rarely emerged from hiding. But a small special-operations contingent was sent to an objective close to the Iraqi capital. As American and coalition forces focused on Baghdad and the nearby cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, AQI would retreat to the relative safety of the Triad to rest, train, regroup and plan new attacks. NOW WATCH: What the US needs to do to prevent a new ISIS in Iraq. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. CPT Doyle briefed his plan to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) pilots and tweaked the fire support plan. Mar 02. The area exploded in violence as members of each respective company moved into their home forward operating bases throughout the Triad: Echo Company went to the city of Haditha; Fox Company went to Barwana. Their mission was to prevent Saddam Hussein and his forces from destroying the dam. Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. 1LT White and his driver, Sergeant (SGT) Thomas Corley (pseudonym), guided the formation through the narrow opening in the breached fence, and onto a raised gravel road, which precipitously dropped thirty feet down on each side. Seeing that I had not been hurt, I got back onto my weapon and helped get us out of there. Back up on top of the dam, 1st and 2nd/B were in their blocking positions and working on fortifying their various points of fire when the Iraqis facing them finally began to come to life. The terrain grew more treacherous as they neared the dam, with barren desert giving way to scrub-covered hills and dry wadis (gravel streambeds). Chief came to be friends with the Fire Support Officer (FSO) of Company A, Captain Russ Rippetoe, in the time they spent working together to bring effective fire support to the Rangers. CPT Doyle outlined the plan: 2nd Platoon would lead the main effort, seizing a foothold on the dam and clearing the inside of the dam complex; 1st Platoon would be the supporting effort, seizing the dominating high ground to the west of the dam; and between the B Company platoons, 3rd Platoon, C Company, would clear Objective Cobalt, an area south of the dam structure comprising power station buildings and a transformer yard. Nevertheless, power continues to be generated, and road traffic passes over the Euphrates River every day. As the fire support officer and two troops neared the vehicle, the Iraqi couple detonated an improvised explosive device, killing themselves and all three Rangers. But the Iraqi forces at Haditha Dam were defeated by then. The pace of the combat was surprising. 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