11 December 2006
Fallujah: Tactics in Urban Warfare
My son recently dug up an interesting read about the infantry tactics used during Operation Phantom Fury, the Battle for Fallujah. I recall listening to predictions of a bloodbath; an American bloodbath, just before the assault. In fact, US forces made history, and no matter what happens to Iraq in the end, Operation Phantom Fury will go down as one of the greatest successes in urban warfare… ever. 92 Americans died, 500 were wounded, and about 5000 insurgents were killed in the clearing of an entire city.
The whole Piece can be found HERE. For those who aren’t into reading the entire thing, some excerpts are given below:
The layout of the city is random. Zoning distinguishing between residential, business, and industrial is non-existent. An infantry squad could be clearing a house and next door may be clearing a slaughterhouse or furniture wood shop… The streets are narrow and are generally lined by walls. The walls channelize the squad and do not allow for standard immediate action drills when contact is made …The houses are densely packed in blocks. The houses touch or almost touch the adjacent houses to the sides and rear. This enables the insurgents to escape the view of Marine over-watch positions. The houses also are all made of brick with a thick covering of mortar overtop.
The two types of insurgents that the squads are engaging will be labeled the Guerrillas and the Martyrs … The Guerillas … purpose is to kill many Marines quickly and then evade. They DO NOT want to die. The Martyrs purpose is to kill as many Marines as possible before they are killed.
An infantry squad can assault structures using two different methods. Traditionally, the top down assault is taught as being the most ideal method for clearing a structure. Realistically, this may not be the best option for the infantry squad …Surprising the enemy by moving from the top down may throw the enemy off balance. The enemy's defenses may not be prepared for a top down assault and the squad could overwhelm the enemy rapidly. (In the bottom up method) … the squad leader has a slew of options when contact is made. The structure does not have to be flooded. Momentum can be maintained in assaulting or breaking contact and the squad leader can switch rapidly from one to the other relatively quickly.
CASUALTIES MUST NEVER BE LEFT BEHIND! The squad leader must ensure that every Marine moves with a buddy. Each buddy is responsible for pulling the other out of the fight if he goes down. The squad leader and fire team leaders must have accountability for all their Marines at all times. There is no excuse for Marines being left behind in a building while the squad pulls out.
Throughout contemporary American military history there has not been any opponent that could not be overwhelmed by American supporting arms. The United States Marine Corps has historically been an innovator with the employment of supporting arms … Fallujah has been another proving ground for American supporting arms. The insurgents were completely overwhelmed by the massive indirect fire and close air support on the first two days of the battle.
Fixed wing CAS is an enormous weapon that has great effects on the ground. The major problem with it is the amount of time it takes to get bombs on target. It took entirely too long for bombs to be dropped when Marines were in contact … In contrast to fixed wing CAS, rotary wing CAS was extremely timely, but the effects on target were not extraordinary. The Hellfire missiles used did not bring down entire structures, but they did do some damage … By far the best two supporting arms used were tanks and CAAT … The battle would have been incredibly bloodier if it hadn't been for tanks and CAAT.
