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11th MEU holds down Fallujah rear

Marine Corps News

Story Identification #: 200412843214
Story by Cpl. Matthew S. Richards

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (Dec. 8, 2004) -- While several 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit units joined the 15,000 servicemember sweep of Fallujah last month, Marines and sailors of the MEU were also committed to ensuring the security and stability of the assault's back door here.

Task Force Blackhorse, comprised of elements from Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, pushed here from An Najaf, Iraq, just before the main assault started. The task force's Company B, Combined Anti-Armor Team A, Scout Sniper Platoon and Explosive Ordnance Technicians relieved Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, who went to join the main assault. Task Force Blackhorse assumed operational responsibility of the towns of Kandari and Nasar Wa Salam, and immediately began conducting security and stability operations.

During the turnover, they were told it would be difficult to keep the area as it was when they arrived.

"We were told 'if you can maintain the status quo you'll have exceeded our expectations,'" said Capt. Samuel H. Carrasco, task force commander.

Since they found them, the cities aren't the same -- they're better. After conducting more than 120 patrols, 13 platoon reinforced raids, a company reinforced cordon and search of the entire town of Kandari, attacks by improvised explosive devices have diminished. Attacks on locals have reduced and numerous enemy personnel have been detained or killed. But most importantly they insured that the 1st Marine Division did not have to worry about their rear supply routes and communications during the fight, according to Carrasco.

The areas of Kandari and Nasar Wa Salam were essentially built up during the 1980s by Saddam Hussein. He began moving displaced Shias to the areas -- in the middle of the Sunni triangle, where Sunnis dictate the majority of the insurgency effort -- to be regulated by his Sunni regime at the time. But now the Shias make up the majority of the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi Police in the area and find themselves policing the Sunni dominated insurgency.

Upon arriving, Blackhorse found itself flung into a full-fledged counter insurgency in Al Anbar province. They came from An Najaf where local authorities are taking control and peace is prevalent.

"If we learned anything in Najaf, it was how to work with the local authorities," said 1st Sgt. Joe Morales, company first sergeant, Co. B. "Coming over here, it's like a power vacuum."

So they set out on the security and stability mission in an area where many anti-Iraqi forces operate frequently. Carrasco equates their approach in the area to that of the Old Chicago Police Department of the 1920s. They commenced to "walk the beat" instead of isolating themselves in mounted patrols.

"Back then everybody knew who the cop was. He befriended the people who appreciated his presence and he knew who to keep his eye on," Carrasco said.

Marines went on regular foot patrols knocking door to door, talking to people. Everyone in the task force worked together patrolling six to nine times a day.

"We're constantly out there. We'd try to find out what they needed, what we could do for them and what they could do for us," Morales said.

In one instance, insurgents blew a main water line. Blackhorse was immediately in the area delivering water to the people affected by this attack.

"The people out there can see what we do and they see the insurgents offer them nothing but violence," Morales said.

With their actions, they developed a base of allies within the local populace. The task force now has a good idea of who's on whose side.

"We're verifying key leaders who are pro-Iraq-- we realize the secret to their success is to cooperate with coalition forces," Carrasco said.

Blackhorse members conducted joint patrols with the ING and IP and conferred with the city council and local religious leaders to improve the situation.

This committed hodgepodge of pro-Iraq forces pursued the insurgents -- whether they presented themselves directly in a firefight or indirectly with IEDs and mortars -- "relentlessly," according to Carrasco. Blackhorse was proactive, forcing the insurgents to be reactive.

While out on the "beat," IEDs were their biggest threat. Just finding them when they're out and about is like "plugging a dike that's constantly sprouting holes," said Morales.

EOD conducted 75 missions, rendering safe or destroying 12 IEDs, conducting 25 IED post-blast investigations, and destroying 278 items containing a total of 613 pounds of explosives.

So, with raids and cordon and searches the task force went out to get the bad guys marking them and sending them backpedaling.

"Now, instead of reacting to the enemy we found ways to make the enemy react to us," Morales said.

All kinds of the insurgents' attacks in the area decreased and Blackhorse found that the majority of the Iraqis out here "just want to live their lives," according to Carrasco. It's a small minority who ruin it for everyone else.

"The only way they can get us is if they sucker punch us," Morales said. "And the only way they can do that is if you're acting like a sucker."

Carrasco and Morales are proud of their Marines, who performed as the professionals they are.

"When we go out we're winning the hearts and minds of the people, but at the same time, at the drop of a dime, we're ready for a gunfight if needs be," Morales said. "We don't feel we could have a better company of Marines doing this."

Carrasco commends his Marines on their excellent judgment.

"The decisions they exercised (here) have been superb and they make me proud every time I see and hear them," he said.

While working hard and being out for long hours at a time, Marines still found a way to keep up morale.

Corporals David H. Garrett and James M. Ramsey, both scout snipers with Scout Sniper Platoon, still found a way to enjoy themselves despite a schedule packed with erratic missions.

They chatted with their wives online, made constant trips to the gym nearby and wrestled around for fun. They still joked and laughed even with the ongoing missions all around them.

Morales was surprised he noticed this among his Marines.

"Even with the holidays coming up, I've got all kinds of Marines volunteering to stick around here to see the mission is done," he said. "And even with everything going on around them, everybody seems to get their movies and workouts in, and morale is still high."