# URBAN OPERATIONS - USMC PRESENTATION



## TangoTwoBravo (21 Jan 2005)

I just came out of an excellent presentation made by a Maj from the USMC regarding urban operations in Iraq.  He had been a Weapons Company Commander during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom and then returned as the S3 (Ops O) of a Bn.  He served in the initial fighting in Falluja last April and he had some excellent points to make.

It came as no suprise that he emphasized that the battle was a Cpl's fight, with the four man team as part of a three team squad as the focal point.  Low level leadership and the importance of being able to deal with casualties and death were brought out.  

He didn't get into the mechanics of house clearing etc, but he had several points regarding tactics and equipment:

a.   Precision small arms fire is crucial.  They tried to get optical sights for every Marine and this allowed the teams and squads to take out the enemy quickly and with little collateral damage.  Aimed shots appear to be better than sheer volume (no big suprise but worth noting).

b.  Artillery was not used, 81mm mortars were not used, although the 60mm mortars were employed in a "direct, observed fire" role.

c.  Fast air is very useful as long as the pilots have the right "graphics."  Helicopters are less useful as they are vulnerable, get shot down and then need rescuing.  The AC-130 was outstanding and they would call in fire against targets across the street from friendlies with confidence (He said just keep your head down and open your mouth).  The insurgents hated moving around at night because of the Spectre.

d.  Tanks are critical!  He had a platoon of M1s attached to his battalion and they were vital.  They were usually employed as single tanks but always in the company of light infantry.  He is a big believer in the tank/light infantry team (and he is infantry). 

e.  Your CSS people must be trained and equipped to defend themselves.  His were and this meant that he did not have to devote infantry to convoy escort.  His Heavy Guns Platoon with HMMVWs did escort convoys but all the CSS folks were "riflemen."

f.  Snipers are critical (bit of an extension of the first point but worth bringing out).  The FACs were sometimes located with the snipers.

g.  UAVs often provided misleading information.

h.  Adjust positions at night to catch the enemy off guard.  The insurgents would determine were it was "safe" to move and would move up with little caution in those areas.  If the Marines moved up by night they could catch the insurgents off-guard.

i.    His attached engineer platoon was critical.

I've probably missed some points but I wanted to give the flavour of his presentation.  The leadership part was critical and he emphasised several times the vital importance of "letting the Cpls fight the battle."  He recounted one account of a platoon that responded to a downed-helicopter and sustained 1 x KIA and several WIA when returning from the crash site (they had been told to stay at the site by higher to ambush insurgents).  They had a couple of hours to clean the vehicles and talk about what had happened when the same platoon  had to act as a QRF to rescue two AAV crews who had been ambushed and were cut-off in the middle of the city.  They went in with an M1 platoon, rescued their fellow marines and recovered a marine who had been killed manning his veh MG to cover the move of the crews to a nearby house.  He talked about the importance of an organization "getting back in the saddle" after casualties are sustained.

It was an excellent presentation and my understanding of the first Fallujah battle has been greatly deepened.  I'll try and buy him a beer but I imagine that there will be a big line-up!   

Cheers,

2B


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## Zipper (31 Jan 2005)

Wow, that sounded like a great presentation. Hell, buy him a beer for us too.  

Except for the spectre. the tactics used sound rather similar to those used by our boys in WWII in Italy and N.W Europe. The critical nature of Tank/Infantry squad (platoon) working well together is very evident.

Thanks for that.


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## ArmyRick (31 Jan 2005)

It good to hear from the horses mouth so to speak...
Nothing can be more valuable than those who were in the thick of it.
I would actually welcome a similar seminar but also include a couple of USMC CPLs, section comds, tank comds, engineers... It would be great to hear all sides aspect from lower levels to higher.
I seen some of the video out of Falluja and it looked pretty crazy.


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## Scoobie Newbie (3 Feb 2005)

I don't suppose there is a link to his presentation ie power point etc.


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## George Wallace (3 Feb 2005)

2Bravo gave a fairly good synopsis of his presentation and then had the chance to talk to him briefly.  You will have to pick 2Bravo's brain or perhaps Franko's (who was also in the briefing).  

GW


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## Scoobie Newbie (3 Feb 2005)

I do agree with you GW however the reason I ask is I want to compile some of that information to send to some important people and would like if possible to get it from an official source vice some one's synopsis


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## TangoTwoBravo (3 Feb 2005)

CFL,

I'm afraid that I do not have his presentation, and I think that a video tape of the presentation would be more useful than the notes in any case.  He did not read off the slides so much as use them as a guide.  The tank bit came in at the end but it sure got my attention!  If you are looking for support for a submission perhaps you could try the various lessons learned pubications in the US.  As published documents they would be easier to quote.  You are right to want the official source, as my synopsis is "hearsay" so to speak.  Someone else who attended might have walked away with completely different lessons than I did!  Maybe I focused on the parts that I agreed with and glossed over the others.  Still, my intent was to share my impressions and I hope that I was at least successful in this.

I think that the presentation got everyone who attended thinking and also gave us a glimpse of "ground truth" beyond what we see in the news.  

Cheers,

2B

p.s. Alas, I did not get the chance to speak to him personally.


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## tomahawk6 (3 Feb 2005)

Here is a link to a new US FMI that has been isued to leaders in Iraq.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-07-22/index.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/90-10/toc.htm

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/20030912.asp


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## Scoobie Newbie (3 Feb 2005)

Thanks everyone.


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