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Retired Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commanding general, First Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks about the 2004 Battle for Fallujah at Little Hall on Oct. 30 as part of the Gen. Graves B. Erskine Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by both the Marine Corps University and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

Photo by John Hollis

Fallujah recalled 10 years later

7 Nov 2014 | John Hollis Marine Corps Base Quantico

It was a key campaign in Iraq most characterized by its sheer ferocity, but the Second Battle for Fallujah could serve as a textbook study in the effective use of joint operations among the different branches of the U.S. military and other nations.

It’s been 10 years since that epic fight to dislodge a determined insurgent force became etched into Marine Corps lore, but three of the principal architects were on hand at Little Hall on Oct. 30 to discuss it as part of the Gen. Graves B. Erskine Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by both the Marine Corps University and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

Speaking before a packed auditorium were retired Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commanding general, First Marine Expeditionary Force; retired Lt. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general, First Marine Division; retired Lt. Gen. Keith J. Stalder, commanding general, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing; and retired Lt. Gen. Richard S. Kramlich, commanding general, 1st Force Service Support Group.

Maj. Gen. Michael R. Regner, staff director, Headquarters Marine Corps, served as the panel moderator.

All three retired generals lauded the high degrees of trust, meticulous planning and courageous efforts of their Marines, as well their counterparts in the Army, Navy and Air Force, necessary in ridding Iraq of a terrorist stronghold that had become a “sucking chest wound in the middle of the country.”

“The pride is in the way the whole team came together,” Sattler said following the two-hour discussion that included a question-and-answer session. “This was not a Marine fight. It was a joint operation from start to finish.”

It was combined elements of the Marines and Army who were largely responsible for the vicious block-by-block, house-by-house and room-by-room fighting necessary to eliminate the insurgents who months earlier had seized control of the densely populated city located along the Euphrates River just 40 miles west of Baghdad. Working in unison with consistent Marine, Navy and Air Force fixed wing air support, the two services combined to largely clear the city of its 250,000 civilians before sealing it and commencing “Operation Al Fajr” to retake Fallujah on Nov. 8, 2004.

“We were very fortunate that most of the Iraqi people left,” Natonski said. “The people understood that, if they stayed, they were going to be in a battleground.”

Stalder took great pride in noting that there were no friendly fire deaths from coalition aircraft throughout the campaign.

“That’s the magic of the [Marine Air-Ground Task Force] and that’s what it takes,” he said.

Additional elements involved in the fight of a little more than six weeks included U.S. Navy Seals, Air Force dog teams and British Army troops. Iraqi troops also played key roles in the retaking of the city that insurgents had been using as a staging point to mount attacks on Baghdad, Ramadi and other cities before retreating to sanctuary across the border in Syria.

“It was a situation that could not stand,” Natonski said.

Also critical to the mission’s success was the presence of the more than 90 embedded reporters, whose presence denied the insurgents the ability to score propaganda victories with falsehoods.

Kramlich said the operation underscored “how dynamic cooperation can be throughout MAGTF and the coalition force.”

The operation’s successful outcome was a far cry from the First Battle of Fallujah in April 2004. That battle, which was precipitated by the murder of four American contractors in the city and the desecration of their bodies, was hastily conceived and immediately ran into problems, including a lack of sufficient force and necessary political backing. It quickly delved into a nightmare for the administration of President George W. Bush and a public relations coup for insurgents.

Sattler said U.S. officials were determined to learn from earlier mistakes.

“All those lessons came together,” Natonski said.

Writer: jhollis@quanticosentryonline.com

Marine Corps Base Quantico