By 3 April, the enemy mortar fire attacks had declined to one round every two hours. White desperately searched for the gravel road that would lead them to the dam. Stores opened. The Rangers pushed it the final fifty meters to safety. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgent. Marines of all companies kept up the pressure on AQI, and simultaneously worked to rebuild the civic infrastructure that was decimated by AQI. Summary of all of the indirect fire engagements during the seven days at Haditha Dam. Platoon sergeant SFC James Lauder (pseudonym) led a squad to the south side of the road to clear buildings. On our route back we stopped again in the vicinity of Haditha dam and conducted a 21-Gun Salute in Georges honor. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Thank you. 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. 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. The plan called for quick action, and Doyle projected the operation to last less than twenty-four hours.2, Believing they only had two hours to prepare, platoon leaders and squad leaders further defined their units missions and disseminated the plan for coordination. The time: 1730 hours. 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. Chief Greg Coker joined Ranger Company C to conduct mission planning for the next important objective in the fight for the dam. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. On the fourth day of the battle, the Rangers suffered their first casualties in an attack that foreshadowed the coming insurgency. With a replacement flight of Little Birds providing reconnaissance, the Rangers breached the final barrier, racing to reach the dam before daylight broke. Critics Consensus. 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. Star Jared Shaw 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. Stores were shuttered, schools closed and hospitals inoperable, all the while the enemy would attack and then slip away. A hidden battery of Iraqi 155 mm howitzers also pounded the beleaguered Rangers for hours, prompting brief memories of the artillery barrages of World War I. 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/B also arrived, and the pressure finally began to ease. [1] One round even impacted the concrete rail only seventy-five meters from CPT Doyles command post; luckily, it never exploded. Russ was there with the Rangers when a car pulled up several meters from the barricade. Mission complete, CPT Thompson consolidated his platoon atop the dam and hunkered down for the night.16. Russ was a very energetic man of immense courage and always sporting a positive attitude. With 1st Squad leader SSG Jesse Ragan in the lead, three vehicles and twenty-seven Rangers maneuvered down the steep embankment into Objective Cobalt. This story was first published in its entirety in The Year in Special Operations; 2006 Edition. Taking advantage of the bright daylight, he directed his platoons to concentrate on clearing areas skipped during the frenzy of the initial assault. 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. B Company arrived at H1, a dusty airfield in west-central Iraq, on 29 March 2003. Strikes within 200 meters of a friendly position are considered danger close. The 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. He was a good man, a damned-good man and well all miss him forever. Tony knew Chief had his back with his six-guns. After the "Black Hawk Down" battle in Mogadishu in 1993, Night Stalkers, both pilots and crew, have carried more lethal personal weaponry, including sidearms and M4 rifles. One of the most horrific examples of this occurred when a squad from Echo Company happened across a young Iraqi girl on a bicycle wearing a Mickey Mouse backpack. A Battle For Haditha Dam Jan 24, 2016 | 42m 11s | tv-14 v,l | CC Iraq 2003: A group of U.S. Army Rangers fights to seize control of Haditha Dam - a strategically key location in Operation. CPT Doyle briefed his plan to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) pilots and tweaked the fire support plan. After a seven-month deployment to the Triad, Marines of the Third Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, or 3/3, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Norman Norm Cooling, began preparing to return to their home base at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. All of the Iraqi Army soldiers in the film are seen wearing the "three-color" DCU uniform, although in the time period that the movie takes place in (late 2005), the Iraqi military wore the "chocolate-chip" DBDU uniform. 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. Haditha Dam was codenamed "Objective Lynx," while an old airfield nearby was codenamed "Objective Serpent.". 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 movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. Faircount Media Group. See production, box office & company info, Very skillful exploration of the Iraq war. Actors would then improvise much of the dialogue based on director. Early on the night of April 1, the Rangers and Delta Force operators stormed the dam. The Triad would become one of the most violent places in the war, as the terrorist network oppressed the local citizenry and lashed out at American forces deployed to the region. Unbeknownst to the Marines, AQI had filled the girls bag with hand grenades and had instructed her to press a detonator button when she passed close to the Marines. They are our primary customers, and the 160th supports them with assault and precision close air support. Rangers were alert and kept the car at gunpoint, as no Iraqis were to be trusted at this point in the battle. The Delta operators conducted reconnaissance of the dam before the main assault. B Squadron came and relieved us. Platoon sergeant SFC Roger Sherry (pseudonym) spotted an Iraqi peeking from behind the gatehouse, but he was quickly captured. The 8km-long Haditha dam and its hydro-electrical facility, located to the north-west of Baghdad, supply 30% of Iraq's electricity. One of the largest dams in the world, the Haditha complex provided fully one-third of the Iraqi electrical grid load in 2003. Based on their Afghanistan experience, the Rangers knew that a guy with a weapon did not actually indicate combatant status; everyone carried weapons, both militia and civilians. A man stepped out indicating to his apparently pregnant wife inside and held up empty water bottles. And when unbearable conditions forced some to fall into themselves, those same Rangers fought to get back into the fight and help win a dramatic victory. During the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, most Coalition troops entered the country from the south. Later, the Iraqis tried to infiltrate some personnel near the bridge in a kayak and several small boats, which were promptly sunk. See more stories on Insider's business page. Yet, nobody exited the eastern side of the dam.6, Finally locating a door into the administrative building, White brought up two squads to clear the facility and search for demolitions. With First Lieutenant (1LT) Graham White on point, the convoy headed northeast into the night, following a route designed to avoid enemy troop concentrations. Russ was out on one of A Companys roadblocks set up to keep civilians from wandering onto the dam. The lead Rangers in Duncans element dismounted their vehicles near the western entrance of the dam, and paused to get their bearings. While Rangers scrambled to finalize operational details, a pair of AH-6 Little Bird attack helicopters arrived at the assembly site to provide an aerial escort and close air support to the assault force. An additional bonus would be by capturing both locations the Iraqi Army would be drawn away from their defense of Baghdad, which was under assault by the US Army V Corps. 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. The MH-6 had a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera to paint targets for the two AH-6s. 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. The Premier Online Military History Magazine. Captain Timothy Donald (pseudonym), A Company, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 12 September 2003, Fort Campbell, KY, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. Sign up for notifications from Insider! 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. During their deployment, 3/3 maintained a strong outside the wire presence throughout the Haditha Triad, making great strides in the counterinsurgency campaign in the areabut at a cost; the battalion lost 15 of their members. Pilots and crew also fired 6,000 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition from their personal M-4 rifles and dropped 90 M-67 fragmentation grenades, making four runs to rearm and refuel. Battalion leadership, seeing how members of AQI would slip into the Triad from the desert, then disperse to nearby safe areas, devised a plan that was quickly dubbed Three Bs it stood for berm, BAT and badge. C-17s flew the tank company and Ranger battalion from Talil to H-1 and then to MSS (Mission Support Site) Grizzly, a desert strip runway established by Delta Force located between Haditha and Tikrit; C Squadron, Delta Force was flown directly to MSS Grizzly. Another mortar team, firing from a small island, was engaged and silenced by a Ranger Javelin team. Their actions earned CSM Birch and SFC Duncan Silver Star commendations.11. The Battle of Haditha Dam: Mowing Iraqis down like bowling pins. They were a pitiful sight to be sure, the prisoners were; just ordinary men, they two. US intelligence estimates put the number of enemy at more than 3,000, with over 1,000 killed in action and many more wounded. 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. Flying in broad daylight, the flight arrived at the dam less than an hour after Feldbusch went down. 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