FALLUJAH, Iraq -- “I feel like a fly walking into a room full of frogs,” said Sgt. Cory Johnson, a cavalry scout with the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Reconnaissance Troop (BRT).
Johnson laughed nervously as he sat talking with his fellow scouts in the dining facility at Forward Operating Base Warhorse on the eve of their departure for Fallujah with Task Force 2-2 Infantry, and Operation Phantom Fury - a joint operation to aid the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in wresting control of the city from a deep-rooted insurgency.
The BRT’s mission: Secure the city’s eastern flank and to help clear a path for the main effort sweeping down through the city from the north.
“Everyone’s excited, happy not to be left out. They’re like little kids,” said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Neusch, platoon sergeant for the BRT’s “Hunter” platoon. “It’ll be one to tell the grandkids about.”
As the troop moved out to the Marine base of Camp Fallujah at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 4, Staff Sgt. Nicholus Danielsen turned to Sgt. Brock A. McNabb, a medic from Charlie Company, 201st FSB who was attached to the troop, and grinned.
“Are you ready to get your work on?” he asked.
Danielsen, a section sergeant for the BRT’s “Outlaw” platoon, assumed the roll of platoon sergeant for the mission while the platoon’s senior enlisted man, Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Loy, rotated out on leave.
A natural leader, Danielsen slipped into the role effortlessly, crediting Loy with preparing him and the platoon well in advance of his absence. Always maintaining control, he also joked with troops, in an attempt to ease nervous tension.
“Shut your mouth!” he would occasionally growl at the sometimes raucous troops, then break into a wide grin. They would respond with a chuckle, continuing on with their mission.
After arriving at the Marine base camp, the scouts spent a few restless days in preparation for the main assault.
On Nov. 8, the day had arrived. A 2 a.m. wake-up call for the scouts, who would be the first to position for the initial push late that night. By 5 a.m., they rolled out into a wet, cold morning, rain and wind whipping at the men up in the turrets.
“Man, I feel sorry for the Marines,” said Spc. James Taylor, who sat shivering miserably in one truck’s turret. “They have to live here all the time.”
Once in position and looking west down into the city, the scouts used their Long Range Acquisition Sight (LRAS) – a device that uses thermal imaging to register heat signatures - to call for fire on targets deep into the city in preparation for the main push.
“(Sgt. Michael R.) Cowles has been Johnny on the spot today,” said Sgt. Trevor Bremer, referring the LRAS truck commander who had been calling in artillery strikes. “I’ve been listening to him on the radio all day.”
Airmen from the Tactical Air Control Party of the 2nd Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron and Sgt.. Raymond Sapp, a forward observer from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery who is attached to Task Force 2-2, deployed together and accompanied the troop to help integrate fires.
“We’re here so fratricide doesn’t happen,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Horgan from the TACP. “The only time they use us is when a bomb is going to be dropped in close proximity to friendlies.”
Reinforced by two M1A2 Abrams tanks from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor, and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry, the Soldiers and Airmen maintained their position on a screen line above the city’s eastern flank for days while receiving sniper fire and an incoming mortar rounds.
During the day, a fierce blue sky to the west provided a stark contrast to the haze of smoke hanging over the city as an endless chorus of thunderous booms from artillery, mortars and bombs rained down on targets throughout the city.
As the main push began and firefights raged, the scouts, tankers and infantrymen on the screen line added to the cacophony with their own direct fire weapons – the tank main rounds, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle 25mm canons, the 240B and .50 caliber machine guns, Mark-19 automatic grenade launchers and every other weapon in their arsenal.
On day two at about 7 a.m., the troops again began taking sniper fire.
“That sniper’s still targeting us, my truck just took a couple more hits,” said Cowles.
“Yeah, he’s targeting the LRAS, he knows we’re scanning for him,” responded Danielsen.
As the gunners responded by returning fire from their turrets, Danielsen grabbed an AT-4 (shoulder-fired rocket) launching it into the building the shots originated from. The blast sent a shock wave rolling through the nearby vehicles, and elicited cheers along the screen line.
“He ain’t shooting from there anymore, is he?” he said with a laugh. “Whew!”
“No way, man,” said his gunner, Sgt. Trevor Bremer.
Later in the day, the troops again began receiving sniper fire. As Taylor scanned the city through the LRAS, he spotted another sniper in a window about 1200 meters out.
Sgt. Omar Torres, an infantryman and sniper from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry scout platoon joined the men on the road, bringing with him his .50 caliber M107 sniper rifle. With Taylor acting as a spotter, he sent several rounds into the building.
“Oh man, you nailed him,” shouted Taylor who was still watching through the LRAS. “That was so cool, he just exploded!”
The men were excited to learn that while calling for fires, they had taken out a top lieutenant of Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant with ties to al-Qaeda, said Outlaw Platoon Leader 1st Lt. Chris Boggiano.
As the scouts and tank crews scanned the city that day, both witnessed men running back and forth carrying weapons into a building in a mosque complex. With dual confirmation from both the tanks and the LRAS crews, a precision strike was approved, destroying the building but leaving the mosque itself intact.
“Both the tank and the LRAS saw bodies flying through the air,” said Boggiano. “They said they saw them flying several stories high. It was pretty exciting because we knew we’d gotten someone big.”
By Nov. 11, the fourth day of operations, the task force had secured the city north of phase line Fran, an east-west route running through the middle of the city. The scouts had been extremely effective in calling for fires and allowing the main effort to push forward very quickly, said Task Force Commander Lt. Col. Peter Newell.
That day, Outlaw platoon was performing a reconnaissance mission into the southern outskirts of the city. As they dismounted to clear a house near their observation post and ran toward the house, they began receiving sniper fire from the north. Danielsen and Bremer, the first two out of the vehicles, were caught in the open. They ran and dove into a depression behind a small berm.
Staff Sgt. Jimmy Amyett, a section sergeant, maneuvered his vehicle between the men and the sniper fire, allowing them to take cover, as the other gun trucks returned fire.
“That truck never looked so good coming up over the berm. Sand was kicking up at my feet when I was running,” said Danielsen. “It was just like in the movies. It was like in a dream when you just can’t run fast enough.”
Danielsen and Bremer laughed nervously as they recounted the experience to the others - as always, maintaining a sense of humor about the experience.
“That would have made a perfect commercial,” said Bremer. “Not going anywhere for a while? Have a Snickers bar.”
After days of performing a more traditional scout role during the initial assault, the troop also began performing more direct, infantry-type duties. While one platoon maintained an observation post or conducted reconnaissance missions, another would take a dismounted force into the city to aid the main effort in clearing buildings.
“We went house to house, door to door, street by street, side by side with Alpha 2-2,” said Troop Commander Capt. Kirk A. Mayfield. “We have a very mobile force, and the way the BRT is designed right now, it is reinforced with a mechanized platoon so we brought some armor capability which allowed us to get into the city and have that extra punch.”
The attached tank platoon from A, 2-63 was also proving to be an invaluable asset.
“1st Lt. (Neil) Prakash made me a believer in tankers,” said Mayfield referring to the tank platoon leader attached to the BRT. “He’s a great officer with two great crews in his tanks. Their ability to get into the city and provide overwhelming firepower against the AIF was instrumental in the BRT’s success when we got into the middle of the fight.”
As the troop began clearing houses and buildings in the eastern and southern sectors, they secured safeholds from which they mounted operations. Nights were spent posting guard and sleeping in shifts. Early on, firefights raged and artillery and bombs continued to pound the city around them, shaking the buildings to their foundations.
The fatigued troops slept on cold hard concrete floors amid broken glass with concrete blocks as pillows.
While conducting clearing operations, they came under fire numerous times and found several buildings rigged with explosive devices, but came through the encounters unscathed. They found caches, fighting positions, and intelligence items during these operations, the largest on Nov 17.
“Oh my God, I found the motherlode!” shouted Amyett after leading a squad into a storage facility in the industrial district of southern Fallujah.
After several hours of searching and clearing buildings in the sector, the exhausted scouts had found a cache consisting of several anti-aircraft guns and systems, dozens of 60mm rockets, about 50 boxes of 14.5mm and 12.5mm rounds, and about 100 mortar rounds – a VBIED factory.
The following day, the troops were treated to a fireworks display when the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team, deciding there were too many munitions to move, blew them in place.
Over the last few days, the troop finished clearing the last remaining sectors in the city with little resistance.
Back at Camp Fallujah, the scouts, tankers and infantrymen who had worked so well together during the operation smoked victory cigars while congratulating one another and recounting the events of the past 16 days. Age-old branch rivalries – at least for the moment – were set aside.
“The combined arms effort was beautiful,” said Prakash. “It was just the way it’s supposed to be. Tanks protecting the dismounts and dismounts protecting the tanks.”
The night before the troops were to leave Camp Fallujah, the Marine command thanked the service members of Task Force 2-2. Word had also gotten round that the Marine command was to award those who fought in the battle with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force combat patch.
“I’m really just happy and proud that we all made it back safe,” said Pfc. Martin Reyna, a scout from the BRT’s Hunter platoon. “If we got awarded that patch, it would be a nice thing to have. My dad was a Marine so I always had a high opinion of the Marines. There’s nothing wrong with calling for help, it was a big operation. But I never expected for them to call us in there.” (Story by Sgt.. Kimberly Snow, 196th MPAD)
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