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1/2 Marines battle insurgents in Jurf as Sakhr

Marine Corps News

Story Identification #: 200412105240
Story by Lance Cpl. Zachary R. Frank

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq (Dec. 10, 2004) -- Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit clashed with anti-Iraqi insurgents in the town of Jurf as Sakhr Dec. 1, the last day of a nine-day offensive aimed at flushing out insurgents south of Baghdad.

The Marines once again used the full spectrum of combined arms to hammer the insurgents from the air, land, and sea.

Shadowed by the cover of darkness in the cold, early-morning hours, Iraqi national guardsmen, Marines from Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, and soldiers from the British Army's Black Watch Regiment set out to conduct a cordon-and-search mission through Jurf as Sakhr- a town west of the Euphrates River where ambushes, mortar attacks and road-side bombs are prevalent.

With tanks set up in blocking positions and helicopters circling above, the coalition forces divided the town into smaller sectors and went house to house looking for weapons, bomb-making materials and anti-Iraqi insurgents.

Just as the sun began setting - after what had already been a long day for the Marines - eight mortar rounds followed small-arms fire from the eastern side of the Euphrates and began to land near the tank's position.

Bravo Marines, who observed the mortar firing position, rushed through fields and over canals and returned fire from behind a large mound of dirt.

"We were in a very good firing position," said Cpl. Paul E. Durst, a squad leader in Bravo's 3rd Platoon from Shelby, N.C. "We were behind a (mound of dirt) and had great observation on the enemy."

With some distance between them and the enemy insurgents, Bravo Company returned fire hoping to overpower the enemy long enough for Marines from Small Craft Company, who were patrolling the river, or Alpha Company patrolling the eastern side of the Euphrates, to come in to support.

Exchanging fire with the Marines, the anti-Iraqi forces ran into a house that afforded them some cover. The Marines from Bravo continued to engage the enemy as tanks provided fire support with 120 mm rounds from the tank's main gun.
Air then arrived on scene as a UH-1N Huey and AH-1W Super Cobra from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 provided close air support with a Hellfire missile strike on the house.

Marines from Small Craft Company then swept the area on the east side of the river finding one insurgent.

"We've had numerous problems come out of this area -- mortars, (improvised explosive devices), firefights and ambushes," said Lance Cpl. David Carroll, a squad leader in Bravo's 3rd Platoon from Chapel Hill, N.C. "It feels good to have a payoff after we get bombed and mortared. To confront the people responsible for all we go through."

When the firefight ended, Marines packed up everything they had seized that day -- six AK-47 rifles, a vintage World War II-era German rifle, four grenades, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, multiple bundles of firing wire and 12 detainees - and headed home, wrapping up what has proven to a be a very successful operation for the MEU.

The long-term impact of Operation Plymouth Rock is still being assessed, but Marine leaders are confident that the capture of 204 suspected militants and the discovery of 11 arms caches has caused serious near-term disruption to insurgent activity here.