1st Lt. Miguel Santana, 35, of Miami, Fla., of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, who is attached to Warrior Company, 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, sets out early Wednesday morning on a cordon and search operation in Ramadi, Iraq. for more photos from Wednesday's cordon-and-search operation. (Monte Morin / S&S)
RAMADI, Iraq — Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles with the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division pounded insurgent strongholds in the heart of downtown Ramadi on Wednesday morning in what commanders here described as the largest battle since U.S. forces launched a new campaign to tame the city two months ago.
“It was the biggest fight we’ve had by far,” said Capt. Michael Bajema, commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment. “We definitely hurt the enemy today.”
Sniper and machine-gun fire, as well as the low boom of 120 mm tank rounds, echoed throughout the city just after dawn as soldiers, Navy SEALs and veteran Iraqi soldiers kicked off a cordon-and-search operation in one of the most hotly contested sectors of Ramadi.
The battle began just before 8 a.m., when an insurgent sniper shot a Navy SEAL in the face, wounding him and pinning down the rest of his team. For roughly the next hour, tanks and Bradleys waged a hectic assault on buildings spread over a five-block area, killing at least a dozen insurgents.
Before the battle ended, a second SEAL was wounded in the shoulder and another killed by machine-gun fire as he and soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division attacked bunkered insurgents.
In all, the tanks and Bradleys fired 11 main gun rounds, 6 TOW missiles, 100 25 mm cannon rounds and 2,000 co-axial machine gun rounds into bunkered insurgent positions and sniper perches.
Company B soldiers discovered the bodies of 12 enemies during the battle, but they reported that as many as 15 more had been dragged off by insurgents shortly after they were hit and could not be confirmed dead. “Usually they recover their dead within a couple minutes,” said Bajema, 32, of Seattle.
Ramadi, Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab city, has been a hotbed of insurgent activity for much of the war. Until recently, U.S. forces have focused on defending points along the city’s main thoroughfare as well as its embattled government office building, leaving large swaths of town open to insurgent activity.
In June, however, the 1st Brigade was transferred from northern Iraq to Ramadi, where the unit is now employing a hybrid variation of the U.S. military’s “clear, hold and build” strategy.
Instead of emptying the city of all civilians and taking on insurgents in an extremely violent and epic battle — as was done in Fallujah and Tal Afar — 1st AD troops are attempting to isolate and eliminate insurgents block by block.
The Friedberg, Germany-based unit uses a ring of combat outposts within the city to stage daily patrols and larger operations against insurgents.
The outposts, as well as the unit’s heavy armor, have allowed them to put unprecedented pressure on insurgents here and, according to some commanders, drive insurgents into the city’s violent center.
“You’ve heard of the chewy center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?” said Lt. Col. Peter Lee, the brigade’s executive officer. “Well, we’ve been putting constant pressure on the enemy, squeezing him out of his safe havens and what we’re down to now is the chewy center.”
Wednesday’s operation began just after dawn as troops and tanks began working their way toward an area where four Marines were killed a week ago. As dismounted troops searched residences a half-mile away, Navy SEALs, Iraqi troops and two Abrams tanks headed for an area near the insurgent mosque.
The first SEAL was struck by sniper fire from a three-story building. The bullet crushed his cheekbone but did not kill him. As troops responded with heavy machine-gun fire, 1st Platoon tank gunner Spc. Michael Ford fired a main gun round into the building.
“We fired one round and then we waited for the smoke to clear,” recalled Ford, 21, of Eufaula, Okla. “A few minutes later we put another one into the middle of the building.”
The driver, Pvt. Brian Stone, 20, of Topeka, Kan., said he was covered with a coating of fine dust that showered into the vehicle from ventilation hatches after the big gun fired. “It’s like being inside a revolver when it fires,” Stone said of the blast.
As Stone’s tank left the scene to escort the wounded SEAL back to COP Falcon, Bajema ordered another three rounds fired from his own tank, gutting the structure.
As tanks covered the SEAL team’s exit, a blue sedan closed in on their position along a major thoroughfare. The driver was preparing to fire an AK-47 when a tank opened up with a co-axial machine gun, setting the vehicle ablaze.
As troops scanned the streets for signs of a counterattack, a robot surveillance aircraft spotted eight men moving toward Bajema’s location carrying RPGs and assault rifles. Bajema said he discovered them in an alleyway, fired another main gun round and killed two of them.
By this time, the SEAL team and Bradleys were searching for the other men in the group. They found two of them in another building. The Bradleys unloaded 50 rounds at them with their 25 mm cannon, killing both.
The SEALs prepared to enter another building where insurgents had holed up. The insurgents opened fire, fatally wounding one SEAL who was hit with a blast of gunfire through a window. The rest of the team returned fire, killing the insurgents.
One more SEAL was wounded in the shoulder when insurgents began firing at them from another bunkered house. Bajema responded with four main gun rounds, destroying the building.
Bajema said he considered the operation a success, although he admitted to some mixed emotions.
“There’s a psychological effect of going into an area the enemy owns and causing so much damage,” he said. “I think that will pay dividends.”
