Battle of Ramadi (2004)

Last updated
Battle of Ramadi (2004)
Part of the Iraq War
Humvee In Ramadi - panoramio.jpg
DateApril 6–10, 2004
(4 days)
Location 33°21′N43°47′E / 33.350°N 43.783°E / 33.350; 43.783
Result U.S. victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States.svg United States Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg Ba'ath Party loyalists [1]
Commanders and leaders
  • Flag of the United States.svg Paul Kennedy
  • Flag of the United States.svg Robert Weiler
  • Flag of the United States.svg Christopher J. Bronzi
  • Flag of the United States.svg John S. Anthony
unknown
Units involved
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, NMCB 14, Navy Seabees. [2] unknown
Strength
1,500 troops 2,000 insurgents
Casualties and losses
12 killed [3] [4]
269 wounded
250 killed

The Battle of Ramadi was fought in the spring of 2004, during the same time as the First Battle of Fallujah, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. [5] A coalition military force consisting of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines were stationed to defend the city from an insurgent assault. [3]

Contents

In April 2004, Fallujah was under siege by Coalition Forces and insurgents were looking to relieve pressure on the city by attempting an offensive of their own. Ramadi, the capital of Al Anbar Province, was seen as a center of gravity to coalition forces, and thus a critical city in western Iraq.

Before the battle started, insurgents cut off the highway out of Al Anbar to Baghdad.

On April 6, 2004, Marines fought with insurgents throughout the city in running gun battles that day. At the end of the first day of fighting 12 Marines had been killed in action. [3] [6] The following day fighting continued. [7] Over the course of a four-day period it was reported that 250 insurgents had been killed.

After 6 months of fighting in Ramadi, 34 Marines and a Navy corpsman had been KIA, and 269 Marines had been wounded. [8] [9] The city remained an unstable environment throughout the course of the 2000s which lead to the subsequent battle in 2006. Five NMCB Seabees were killed in action and 31 were wounded. [3]

Battle

4 April

Beginning at 1048, Company G received small arms and RPG fire in the al-Maab District. The insurgents were pursued to a nearby building where two squads and a quick reaction force continued fighting from 1145 to 1205. From there the squads were pinned down and the quick reaction force move to a support position where they were engaged one block east of Company G's position. Captain Christopher J. Bronzi, commander of the company, led his Marines in 24 hours of action. At one point he led a team onto the street to recover the body of a fallen Marine. [10]

At approximately 1330 an explosives device was reported in Company E’s sector, on the eastern outskirts of the city, and while cordoning off the area the company received small arms fire. At approximately the same time just to the east, one of the battalion’s sniper teams set up near the Euphrates River was attacked by 12 to 15 men. At approximately 1400, a Company E patrol was ambushed. A quick reaction force was dispatched to reinforce the patrol when it engaged with the enemy still further to the east of the city. Two Humvees were hit, and its platoon commander was critically wounded. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Events in the year 2004 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fallujah</span> City in Al Anbar, Iraq

Fallujah is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates River, it is located roughly 69 kilometres (43 mi) to the west of the capital city of Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Fallujah</span> Operation of the Iraq War

The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an operation against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractors in March 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency</span> Part of the Iraq War

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq was completed and the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled in May 2003, an Iraqi insurgency began that would last until the United States left in 2011. The 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency lasted until early 2006, when it escalated from an insurgency to a Sunni-Shia civil war, which became the most violent phase of the Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Fallujah</span> 2004 battle of the Iraq War

The Second Battle of Fallujah, initially codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, Operation al-Fajr was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that lasted roughly six weeks, starting 7 November 2004. Marking the highest point of the conflict against the Iraqi insurgency, it was a joint military effort carried out by the United States, the Iraqi Interim Government, and the United Kingdom. Within the city of Fallujah, the coalition was led by the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army, the battle was later described as "some of the heaviest urban combat Marines have been involved in since Huế City in Vietnam in 1968" and as the toughest battle the U.S. military has been in since the end of the Vietnam War. It was the single bloodiest and fiercest battle of the entire conflict, including for American troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fallujah during the Iraq War</span> American bombardment of Fallujah, Iraq

The United States bombardment of Fallujah began in April 2003, one month after the beginning of the invasion of Iraq. In April 2003 United States forces fired on a group of demonstrators who were protesting against the US presence. US forces alleged they were fired at first, but Human Rights Watch, who visited the site of the protests, concluded that physical evidence did not corroborate US allegations and confirmed the residents' accusations that the US forces fired indiscriminately at the crowd with no provocation. 17 people were killed and 70 were wounded. In a later incident, US soldiers fired on protesters again; Fallujah's mayor, Taha Bedaiwi al-Alwani, said that two people were killed and 14 wounded. Iraqi insurgents were able to claim the city a year later, before they were ousted by a siege and two assaults by US forces. These events caused widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis in the city and surrounding areas. As of 2004, the city was largely ruined, with 60% of buildings damaged or destroyed, and the population at 30%–50% of pre-war levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ramadi (2006)</span> 2006 battle in the Iraq War

The Battle of Ramadi was fought during the Iraq War from March 2006 to November 2006, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A joint US military force under the command 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Iraq spring fighting</span> Engagements during the Iraq War

The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war; the Spring Fighting marked the entrance into the conflict of militias and religiously based militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a Mahdi Army.

The Battle of Husaybah was fought in the spring of 2004 at the same time as the First Battle of Fallujah. In April 2004, Fallujah was under siege by United States Marines, and insurgents were looking to relieve pressure on the city by attempting an offensive of their own. Ten days before, the highway connecting Al Anbar to Baghdad was cut and the insurgents attacked the capital of the province, Ramadi. The attack was repulsed by the Marines and the battle resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. Now the insurgents were ready for another attack which would serve as third location attacked in a simultaneous assault against U.S. forces, on the city of Husaybah on the Syrian border. Infantry elements of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment Lima Company, 2 platoons from India Company, 2 platoons from Kilo Company and CAAT White, were deployed to Husaybah to counter the enemy offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Alljah</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2003–2011)</span> Campaign during the Iraq War

The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Sayeed</span>

Operation Sayeed also known as Operation Hunter in English, was a series of operations conducted in western Al Anbar Governorate by the United States Marine Corps in 2005. It was an umbrella operation, consisting of at least 11 named operations between July 2005 to December 2005. The purpose was to drive Al-Qaeda in Iraq forces from the Western Euphrates River Valley. Some parts of Operation Sayeed were Operation Steel Curtain and Operation Iron Fist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American occupation of Ramadi</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2015–2016)</span> Military campaign

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References

  1. "At Least 12 Marines Killed as Iraq Fighting Rages". Fox News. 6 April 2004.
  2. "NMCB 14 Honors Seabees US Army 1st Infantry Div Killed in Action". dvidshub.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Michaels, Jim. "The Magnificent Bastards look back on a key Iraq battle". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  4. "ICasualties | OIF | Iraq | Fatalities Details". Archived from the original on 2010-03-26. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  5. "CNN.com - Coalition forces under fire in Ramadi - Apr 6, 2004". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  6. Perry, Tony (2014-04-07). "Marines and family members mark 10th anniversary of Iraq war battle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  7. Dao, James (2012-05-28). "Learning to Heal, One Memorial Day at a Time". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  8. "After ISIS: Inside the Iraqi City Left in Ruins". ABC News. May 13, 2016. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  9. Kovach, Gretel C. (2014-04-02). "Ramadi remembered". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  10. 1 2 Estes, Kenneth W.; Division, US Marine Corps History (2011). U.S. Marines in Iraq 2004-2005: Into the Fray. www.MilitaryBookshop.Companyuk. ISBN   978-1-78039-386-5.