Finally, the Rangers demonstrated the value that a flexible, cohesive, and highly trained assault force can bring to the modern battlefield. Support Veteran Journalism . In the course of the hour-long firefight, the Rangers killed or wounded several guards, and forced five to surrender.10, During the clash, two of the wounded Iraqis jumped the concrete barrier and tried to escape down the steep embankment. They were a pitiful sight to be sure, the prisoners were; just ordinary men, they two. The Marines convinced Farouk to establish a resurgent police force, with he as the chief. Two hours later, the building was clear. Platoon sergeant SFC James Lauder (pseudonym) led a squad to the south side of the road to clear buildings. As American forces continued to pummel AQI in places like Fallujah and Ramadi, the insurgent survivorsthe most battle-hardened and highly skilled of their ranksabsconded to the Triad. Back at the FARP Chief refueled and reloaded immediately, ready to spring from Serpent to re-engage with any froggy Arabs. The ensuing four-day battle at Haditha Dam was the single largest engagement of the entire war. 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. Anticipating two buildings, Lauder and his men soon discovered twelve more buildings not depicted on maps. Haditha is a city on the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. They are our primary customers, and the 160th supports them with assault and precision close air support. B Squadron came and relieved us. Sign up for notifications from Insider! down I could see that I had been hit, but that the round had hit the last chance plate on the back of my body armor. The bullet-riddled and oil-leaking vehicle finally died just short of 1st Platoons position. Combined with Company As seizure of the Ramadi Highway Bridge to the south, the Rangers had taken control of all the Euphrates River crossings of importance in western Iraq. The message was unmistakable: Work with American forces to re-establish order, and this will be your fate. The Rangers called in airstrikes, which hit the structures with a total of 20 bombs. George died there with his comrades all around him. The Battle of Haditha Dam: The beer is on us! 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 they realize they are outnumbered by a strong Iraqi force. Rangers move across the top of the dam. With American forces remaining long after the removal of Saddam Hussein, one of the key tasks was to protect the critical elements of the Iraqi infrastructure, some of which they had helped to secure in the first place. Jesse Ragan, 3rd/C moved down a steep access road into the objective area. P.S., The cartoon I made in honor of Chief Greg Coker made it to T-Shirts at SOFREP (Geos Winchester) pretty slick! Chief cleared the way for Tony and watched him offload his Ranger and drone. A side effect of extended exposure to enemy fire, especially artillery and mortars, it has the ability to disable even the most hardened veterans. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. Later the Rangers captured an Iraqi forward observer dressed as a civilian after sinking his kayak with .50 caliber machine gun fire, the observer had maps of all of the Rangers positions in and around the dam. B Company arrived at H1, a dusty airfield in west-central Iraq, on 29 March 2003. One of the most important, and enduring, victories of 3/3's time in the Haditha Triad was tracking down a former Iraqi army colonel from the region named Farouk and returning him to his home city of Haditha. Task Force Merrill January 30, 2016 41min TV-14 W hen militants in Iraq made their . 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. Command Sgt. Unable to access the area from the top of the dam, CPT Taylor directed his men to reverse course and head back through 1st Platoons blocking position. Throughout the day, the A-10s pounded the relentless enemy. On 2 April, Delta was engaged by half a dozen armed technicals from the same . U.S. Army photo. Smith aimed and registered the first enemy kill of the operation. Colonel Farouk held firm. Rangers were alert and kept the car at gunpoint, as no Iraqis were to be trusted at this point in the battle. There, like a cornered, wounded animal, they would put up their final fight. Chief called his five-minute approach warning to Mo on the call for fire frequency. Weapons or Whiskey Company, re-tasked to function like an infantry line company, went to a number of locations throughout the desert south of Haditha, but spent most of their time at the small village of Albu Hyatt. The Delta operators conducted reconnaissance of the dam before the main assault. These attacks would continue to come every 30 minutes for the next two days. The Rangers followed the same procedure as in the western building, breaking and blowing down doors, and collecting all items of potential intelligence value. A writer and photojournalist who spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan. 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. Ordering his 1st squad to lay down suppressive fire, the other two squads moved up and took a number of the guard force personnel prisoner. As one of them said later, I remember just starting to fold up, and fall in on myself. "We always work well together as a combat team, a well-oiled machine. 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. SSG Narrow cleared Jones to engage, and in seconds the silent round from Jones rifle struck the first Iraqi, passed through his body, and hit the propane tank, which exploded and killed the other two men.9, Soon after the three Iraqis were taken care of, CPT Doyle directed Duncan to move his element and secure the eastern side of the dam. With a replacement flight of Little Birds providing reconnaissance, the Rangers breached the final barrier, racing to reach the dam before daylight broke. In order for U.S. forces to use Objective Serpent for fixed-wing transport. The Ranger 3rd Company endured a withering barrage of Iraqi small-arms fire from a pair of buildings, which continued over the next three days, until the Rangers were forced to call in twenty airstrikes on the structures. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The Battle of Haditha Dam: The beer is on us! - May 12, 2010. Since they did not have counterbattery radar, observers had to visually pick up mortar sites, observation posts, and artillery pieces one at a time, and guide airstrikes to take them out. Significant actions, or SIGACTS Marine terminology for attacks went from over 300 per month to less than six. The Battle of Haditha Dam: Mowing Iraqis down like bowling pins. Tony knew Chief had his back with his six-guns. Im not sure how long it took and how it happened, but I remember being back with my weapon and on the line sometime on the 3rd., Such mental toughness is almost impossible to comprehend, and one of the reasons, Doyle later said, As the battle progressed, [the] Rangers showed why they are specially selected and that they are well trained. On 1 April 2003, B Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stormed the Al-Qadisiyah (Hadithah) Dam complex northwest of Baghdad. Today, the capture of the Haditha High Dam is one of the most impressive examples of direct action by SOF units ever executed. Haditha Dam was designated "Objective Lynx." West of Lynx was Objective Serpent, an old airfield and pumping station. . There were two prisoners being held there at Serpent so Chief and Tony decided to go have a close-up gander at their adversary. I just saw this movie and found it very moving. The assault went as planned, with the Rangers quickly securing the dam and setting blocking positions on the east and west entries of the structure, while Delta operators breached the facility to clear any explosive devices that Iraqis might have planted. Critics Consensus. The turning point came after a series of atrocities committed by AQI insurgents fighters used local children as unwitting suicide bombers. Combat stress trauma is hardly a new phenomenon. Russ was there with the Rangers when a car pulled up several meters from the barricade. 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. History of Army Corps of Engineers Projects: Missile and Space Programs to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, How 80 Coast Guardsmen Saved an Alaskan Town During Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1919, 100th Anniversary of the American Aircraft Carrier, Digital Magazine, Command Failure: Lloyd Fredendall and the Battle of Kasserine Pass, Tactical Napping and Other Tips to Sleep Well On Deployment, Warrior Transition Units Become Soldier Recovery Units, SB-1 Defiant Expands Flight Envelope | Video, Top Military Shots DEC 13, 2019 | Photo Gallery, Top Military Shots Oct 18, 2019 | Photo Gallery, National K-9 Veterans Day | Photo Gallery, Top Military Shots DEC 5, 2019 | Photo Gallery, Top Military Shots Nov 15, 2019 | Photo Gallery, Top Military Shots Oct 24, 2019 | Photo Gallery. By Almighty God, with honor, and on behalf of CWO4 Gregory Gravy Coker, John D. Gresham "We had no warning we'd be facing such a fierce response from the Iraqis none whatsoever," retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Greg Coker told Insider. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ With permission granted, Birch and Duncan sprinted down the hill, under antiaircraft artillery fire (firing in a direct fire mode) from the south. About the same time, 3rd/C began to move down into Objective Cobalt, on the river level below the dam face. We were racked out just a few hours when one of our men on guard reported a truck approaching with a DShK heavy machine gun mounted on it. Chief Greg Coker coordinated a Blackhawk helicopter to retrieve the bodies of the three deceased Rangers. The Iraqis, however, kept trying to get back to the dam. 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. 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). However, it took the Rangers many hours to clear the dam complex due to its huge size and the hundreds of rooms it contained. Enraged by this loss, his young Marine buddies carry out a brutal retaliation. 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. In 2004, the Gulf Region Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) carried out restoration works on one of the turbines to restore the dam's hydroelectric power station to full capacity. The new arrivals had little time for reunions, however, as they were almost immediately ordered to move out for Objective LynxHadithah Dam. Their mission was to prevent Saddam Hussein and his forces from destroying the dam. The medics removed Feldbuschs blood-covered helmet and suctioned his airway, hoping to avoid a tracheotomy. Fortunately, the Rangers had ample close air support, and passed the fire mission to the A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog) pilots. Using a hooligan toola combination axe and crowbar used by emergency personnelthe Rangers pried open the heavy metal door. The HIMARS rocket system saw its first combat deployment at the dam, firing counter-battery missions. One man stood in front of an apparent propane tank with an RPG, and the two others were standing behind the tank. RLTW NSDQ Sine Pari By Almighty God, with honor, and. There, they linked up with the bulk of 3rd Ranger Battalion, which had jumped in five days earlier. 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. All Rights Reserved. One of the most telling examples of their brutality occurred during the deployment of the Third Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment in 2005, when AQI killed a total of 48 members of the battalion over the course of their time there. Captain Brad Thompson, C 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. 3rd Battalions mission was to draw the Iraqi Armys attention way from the dam, so that special operations forces could cross and secure the facility. This is the concluding Part 3 of Hold Until Relieved: The Haditha Dam Seizure. Thats the way I remember it there may be some detail off here or there, but thats just how I remember it.. Within minutes, an A-10 rolled in and dropped a two thousand pound bomb just three hundred meters from 2nd Platoons location. His efforts would prove crucial in the following months, when al Qaeda would launch an all-out, last-ditch effort to keep control of the Haditha Triad. 3rd Platoon spent the morning consolidating enemy prisoners and improving its own fighting positions.15, In the afternoon, CPT Doyle issued an order to CPT Thompson to clear the eastern half of the dam complex. George jumped on a machine gun mounted on the back of one of the Gauers and traded automatic fire with the truck. Eight US Marines faced charges in the deaths, but only one was convicted of a crime, that of negligent dereliction of duty.. 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. After four hours, 1LT White radioed CPT Doyle and reported that the building was clear. This new line, stretching over a distance of 223 kilometres (139mi) with 504 towers, has a capacity of 400 kV and allows 350 MW from the Haditha Dam to be added to the national electrical grid. Battle of Haditha Dam: Former Delta operator and Ranger Sergeant Major saves the day by George E. Hand IV Mar 13, 2020 Share This: You can read the previous part here. Five of the armed Iraqi guards died instantly, and another nine piled out of the truck, taking cover behind the concrete railings along the dam. Praesidus brings homage to the military watch tradition. Best of all, reinforcements, initially in the form of a pair of M1A1 Abrams tanks, finally began to arrive. 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. By midday of the 1st, CPT Doyle felt that the Rangers effectively controlled the dam. Thompson took twenty men from 3rd Platoon and began the arduous task of clearing fifteen stories and over one hundred offices. Meanwhile, Rangers on the eastern side engaged a truck carrying fourteen Iraqi soldiers leading to a firefight that the Rangers won, killing at least five Iraqis. The Iraqi dictator's claims that the US would target and destroy the dam complicated matters further. OBJ Lynx, Haditha. 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After several coordination delays, the Rangers ultimately moved out at 2240, two hours later than planned. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgent 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. All of this was further augmented with personal ID badges for friendly civilians. Summary of all of the indirect fire engagements during the seven days at Haditha Dam. 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. Spotting two armed Iraqi guards with his night vision devices (Nods), lead vehicle gunner Specialist (SPC) Watson aimed his M2 .50 caliber machine gun at them. Insurgents have tried many times to attack, seize, and/or destroy both the Haditha Dam and Ramadi Bridge. The roots of the Haditha Dam seizure date to long before the start of OIF. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Haditha Dam Seizure - The Target - Defense Media Network", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Haditha_Dam&oldid=1107643320, Articles needing additional references from August 2017, All articles needing additional references, Pages using military navigation subgroups without wide style, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 August 2022, at 02:47. 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. Then an A-10 and Night Stalker MH-60 Direct Action Penetrator (DAP) Black Hawksshowed up and it was all over for the Iraqi attack. geo sends. Their violent house-searches lead to the massacre of 24 people, many of whom are women and children - tragic . THROUGHOUT THE WAR in Iraq, the news media focused primarily on actions in the Baghdad region, and to a lesser extent on the outlying battles in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. The invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was marked by a. Thompson quickly adjusted his attack. John Gale (pseudonym) said, I was facing forward when I felt this blow to my lower left back. Elsewhere, another Ranger platoon established road blocks on the main road leading into the dam complex to prevent the Iraqis from recapturing that area of the dam. By their eighth day on the dam, Doyles remaining 150 men were finally relieved and being transported back to H-1. But a small special-operations contingent was sent to an objective close to the Iraqi capital.. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. She didnt understand the instructions, so AQI set the bomb off remotely shortly after she rode by the Americans, killing her instantly. Soon after daybreak, the Rangers from the 3rd Company on the western side of the dam started taking RPG fire where Staff Sergeant Ronnie Jones, a Ranger sniper killed three Iraqi soldiers equipped with RPGs. Read Next: Battle of Haditha Dam: The saga comes to an end One man flew the gunship while the other leaned outside and gunned downed the Iraqis below. He said that even if George had been in OR it would have been next to impossible to save him. 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. A Battle For Haditha Dam January 23, 2016 42min TV-14 Subtitles Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages Audio languages English Iraq 2003: A group of U.S. Army Rangers fights to seize control of Haditha Dam a strategically key location in Operation Iraqi Freedom. By what name was Battle for Haditha (2007) officially released in Canada in English? Mar 23. Three Ranger platoons seized the dam's administrative buildings with after initially heavy opposition, while a pair of AH-6 little birds orbited overhead providing close air support to the Rangers. Each day the AQI attacks became worsemore sustained and deadly and indiscriminate; insurgents targeted both Marines and civilians. But for that, I would almost certainly be dead.. In the same year, a new power line was established between Haditha and Baghdad with the help of the USACE to restore a line that had previously been destroyed. By 3 April, the enemy mortar fire attacks had declined to one round every two hours. As the battle rages on, a medic must face his fears and put his skills to the test in order to save his teammate. 7K views 2 months ago #TheWarfighters 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 they realize. 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. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, United States Army Rangers seized the Haditha Dam on 1 April in order to prevent it from being destroyed. We sent a hundred guys, and they had like a battalion, so we were outnumbered. If the dam was breached, the resulting flood would not only impede 3rd Infantry Divisions advance through the Karbala pass en route to Baghdad, but devastate the population and agricultural centers in the floodplain. Buy HD $2.99 More purchase options 4. stay. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, United States Army Rangers seized the Haditha Dam on 1 April in order to prevent it from being destroyed. 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 CPT Brad Thompson was moving forward to the lead vehicle, team leader SSG Pete Corrigan (pseudonym) tossed a grenade and yelled, Frag out! The fragmentation grenade exploded, illuminating the objective and enough Iraqis to cause the platoon to pull back long enough to regroup. The Battle of Haditha Dam: Mowing Iraqis down like bowling pins. Mar 23. Led by Staff Sgt. 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. The Rangers were beginning to flag from the grueling work when they made an adrenaline-producing discovery.7, On the sixth floor, the Rangers found twenty-five startled civilian dam workers. Duncan radioed CPT Doyle, relayed the situation, and requested permission to recover the wounded Iraqis. Its hardly surprising that the 75th Rangers were awarded the Valorous Unit Award, along with five Purple Hearts, four Silver and 26 Bronze Stars, and 71 Army Commendation Medals for the Haditha Dam action. The Marines convinced Farouk to establish a resurgent police force, with he as the chief. Constantly on coalition planners' minds were the "scorched earth" tactics employed by Saddam Hussein during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The numbers in that fight were calculated out to be 1:22. One of the great stories of modern war, it remained untold for years. This story was first published in its entirety in The Year in Special Operations; 2006 Edition. The Delta team's reconnaissance of the dam indicated that a larger force would be needed to seize and hold it, so a request was made and approved for a second Delta squadron from Fort Bragg to be dispatched with a further Ranger battalion, along with M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks from C Company, 2nd Battalion 70th Armored Regiment. Company B, along with Mo, was still on the dam holding out as best they could, all the while waiting for long-overdue relief. A very close-knit team," Coker said. Read all Director Nick Broomfield Writers At that point, news also came in that Delta Forces Master Sergeant George Andrew Fernandez had been killed at approximately the same time in a gunfight in a different part of the country. 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