Grunts (85 page)

Chapter 10

1
James Cross, “What Is the Army’s Job?”
Military Review
, June 1956 (although Cross wrote in the 1950s, his words apply very well to the early twenty-first century); David Bolgiano, “Deadly Double Standards,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 3, 2007; Peter Mansoor,
Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander’s War in Iraq
(New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 345-46; Tom Ricks,
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
(New York: Penguin, 2006), p. 144; Adrian Lewis,
The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Force from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom
(New York: Routledge, 2007), pp. 387-88. The
Washington Post
estimated that IEDs caused 61 percent of American deaths. A French study estimated that they caused 41 percent. As a rough estimate, I have chosen to split the difference.

2
“AIF Cells Operating in Tikrit” (the Americans called the insurgents Anti Iraqi Forces, or AIF); “Enemy Threat”; “Tikrit Tribal Breakdown”; “2-7 Infantry, Dispersion of Forces”; Lieutenant Colonel Todd Wood, personal biography, multiple conversations circa 2004-2006; A/2-7 Infantry Summary of Operations During OIF III; B/2-7 Infantry, After Action Report (AAR), these and all subsequent documents in author’s possession, courtesy of 2-7 Infantry; 2-7 Infantry, Officer’s Group Combat After Action Interview with the author, May 22, 2006; Ricks,
Fiasco
, p. 233. The information on the 7th Infantry Regiment’s lineage comes from my own personal knowledge as the official regimental historian. For more on the unit’s compelling battle history, see my two books on the topic:
The 7th Infantry Regiment: Combat in an Age of Terror, the Korean War Through the Present
(New York: Forge, 2008), and
American Courage, American Carnage: The 7th Infantry Chronicles, the 7th Infantry Regiment’s Combat Experience, 1812 Through World War II
(New York: Forge, 2009). During the Iraq War, every company had a nickname, such as “Rage” or “Bushmasters.” To avoid confusion, I have chosen to refer to all of the companies in this chapter by their designated names, rather than their nicknames.

3
D/2-7 Infantry, AAR; E/2-7 Infantry, AAR; F/2-7 Infantry, AAR; B/2-7 Infantry, AAR; A/2-7 Infantry, Summary of Operations; First Lieutenant Jon Godwin to family and friends, July 25, 2005, copy of this and all subsequent letters in author’s possession, courtesy of Lieutenant Godwin; 2-7 Infantry, Enlisted Group Combat After Action Interview with the author, May 23, 2006; 2-7 Infantry, Officer’s interview;
The Cottonbaler: 7th Infantry Regiment Association
, Spring 2005, p. 7; Lieutenant Colonel David Kilcullen, “Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency,” copy of this paper in author’s possession.

4
A/2-7 Infantry, AAR; D/2-7 Infantry, AAR; E/2-7 Infantry, AAR and Memorandum for Easy Co 2-7 IN transition into 2-7 IN and missions in Iraq, May 19, 2006; “2-7 Infantry, Company Mission Set,” “Daily Operations,” and “Troop to Task Schedule”; 2-7 Infantry, Officer’s interview; Enlisted interview; conversation with Specialist Dan Driss, May 2006.

5
2-7 Infantry, Officer’s interview; Enlisted interview; “7th Infantry Regiment: Fallen Soldiers, 2005”; Captain Diogo Tavares, casualty notifications, 2005; PFC Travis Anderson, Sergeant Kurtis Arcala, Lieutenant David Giaimo, Sergeant Carl Morgain, Private Wesley Riggs, biographies; Godwin to family and friends, September 26, 2005. Tavares was 2-7’s rear detachment commander back at Fort Stewart, Georgia. One of his responsibilities was to notify families and the public of battalion casualties.

6
“Tikrit Tribal Breakdown”; A/2-7 Infantry, AAR; B/2-7 Infantry, AAR; Lieutenant Colonel Todd Wood, update, April 2, 2005; 2-7 Infantry, Officer’s interview; Enlisted interview; Anna Badkhen, “Colonel’s Toughest Duty,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, October 14, 2005; “Unity Pulls Battalion Through Anxiety, Loss,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, October 31, 2005; Godwin to family and friends, April 11, 2005.

7
“IA Takes Over”; “IA Conducts Counterinsurgency Ops”; “Iraqi Police Partnership”; “2-7 AO Attacks, Pattern Analysis”; “2-7 AO MSR Attacks”; “Operation Able Delaware (Elections)”; A/2-7 Infantry, AAR, Summary of Operations; B/2-7 Infantry, AAR; C/2-7 Infantry, AAR; D/2-7 Infantry, AAR; E/2-7 Infantry, AAR; 2-7 Infantry, Officer’s interview; Enlisted interview; Godwin to family and friends, April 18, May 8 and 16, 2005; Lieutenant Colonel Todd Wood, comments,
The Cottonbaler
, Spring 2006, p. 6, Wood conversations. In my group interviews, the enlisted soldiers were significantly more skeptical and cynical than the Cottonbaler officers about the quality of Iraqi Army soldiers and policemen. Thus, in my assessment, I tried to strike a balance between the differing shades of opinion.

8
A/3-7 Infantry, Unit History, copy in author’s possession, courtesy of Major Ike Sallee; 3-7 Infantry, Officer’s Group Combat After Action Interview with the author, May 22, 2006; 3-7 Infantry, Enlisted Group 1 Combat After Action Interview with the author, May 23, 2006; Lieutenant Reeon Brown and Sergeant First Class Joe Benavides, letter to the author, March 4, 2005; First Sergeant Michael Shirley, e-mail to Father Phil Salois, March 11, 2005, copy in author’s possession, courtesy of Fr. Salois; Captain Ike Sallee to Roland and Team Alpha, March 26, 2005, copy in author’s possession as a member of Team Alpha; Kilcullen, “Twenty-Eight Articles”; Captain Irvin Oliver, Jr., “Death Before Dismount: A Relic,”
Armor
, July- August 2006, pp. 11-14.

9
A/3-7 Infantry, Unit History; 3-7 Infantry, Enlisted Group 2 Combat After Action Interview with the author, May 24, 2006; Officer’s interview; Enlisted, Group 1 interview; Staff Sergeant Jason Vandegrift, e-mail to author, May 4, 2005; Captain Ike Sallee to Attack Families, June 2, 2005, copy in author’s possession; Sallee to Roland and Team Alpha; Richard Chin, “Army Captain Knows Firepower Alone Won’t Win War,” Knight-Ridder Newspapers, August 20, 2005. Alpha Company’s nickname was “Attack.” As with 2-7 Infantry, the enlisted soldiers of 3-7 were more skeptical than the officers about the usefulness and dedication of the ISF men. Everyone respected the MOI commandos, though.

10
A/3-7 Infantry, Unit History; Officer’s interview; Enlisted, Group 2 interview; Lieutenant Colonel Funk, update, circa June 2005; Funk, memorial services speeches; Captain Eric Hooper, casualty notifications, 2005; “7th Infantry Regiment Fallen Soldiers, 2005”; Vandegrift e-mail; Sallee to Attack Families; T. J. Pignataro, “Two Soldiers from Area Are Killed,”
Buffalo News
, April 22, 2005; First Lieutenant Ken Segelhorst, “Small-Unit Kill Teams and IED Interdiction,”
Armor
, January- February 2008, pp. 26-33. Hooper was the rear detachment commander for 3-7 during the deployment.

11
A/3-7 Infantry, Unit History; Officer’s interview; Enlisted Group 1 interview; Enlisted Group 2 interview; Kilcullen, “Twenty-Eight Articles”; Colonel Ed Cardon and Command Sergeant Major Louis Torres, 4th Brigade update, October 17, 2005; Lieutenant Colonel Funk, update, November 8, 2005; Nancy Youssef, “Fatal Shooting of Teacher Illustrates Why Iraqis Fear U.S. Convoys,” Knight-Ridder, June 16, 2005; “Fatal Error Deepens Mistrust of U.S.,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 6, 2005; Captain David Connolly, “Media on the Battlefield: ‘A Nonlethal Fire,’”
Infantry
, May-June 2004, pp. 31-37. The Youssef story included a heartbreaking portrait photo of the slain teacher and her widowed husband.

Epilogue

1
Department of Defense Web site, Fiscal Year 2010 Budget by Service; Mackubin Thomas Owens, “Let’s Have Flexible Armed Forces,” editorial,
Wall Street Journal
, January 27, 2009; Richard Lardner, “Aging Air Force Wants Big Bucks Fix,” Associated Press, February 18, 2008; August Cole and Yochi Dreazen, “Boots on the Ground or Weapons in the Sky?”
Wall Street Journal
, October 30, 2008; Ann Scott Tyson, “Army, Marines to Seek More Troops,”
Washington Post
, December 13, 2006; John Keller, “2010 DOD Budget Proposes Increases for Navy, DARPA Spending; Army Faces Big Cuts,”
Military & Aerospace Electronics
, May 22, 2009; Ralph Peters, “The Counterrevolution in Military Affairs,”
Weekly Standard
, February 6, 2006, p. 18; Tom Donnelly, “The Army We Need,”
Weekly Standard
, June 4, 2007, pp. 21-28; Brian Mockenhaupt, “The Army We Have,”
Atlantic
, June 2007, pp. 86-99; S. L. A. Marshall,
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Command in Future War
(Alexandria, VA: Byrrd Enterprises, Inc., 1947), pp. 208-09. As of early 2008, the Army’s active duty strength was about 512,000 soldiers. Mockenhaupt, in his research, found that among seventeen- to twenty-four-year-olds, the prime group the Army relies upon for its recruits, only three in ten are eligible for service under Army standards. The rest are disqualified for physical, mental, or criminal reasons. The pool of available infantry recruits is obviously, then, even smaller and more elite.

2
David Watson, e-mail to the author, January 4, 2008; Robert Harriman, e-mail to the author, March 4, 2008; Robert Kaplan, “Modern Heroes,” editorial,
Wall Street Journal
, October 4, 2007; Lieutenant Donald Taggart, “You’re Part of the Infantry,”
Infantry
, July 1944, p. 21; Charles Edmunson, “Why Warriors Fight,”
Marine Corps Gazette
, September 1944, pp. 3-10; Adrian Lewis,
The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Force from World War II Through Operation Iraqi Freedom
(New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 457.

3
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, “On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs,” extracted from
On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace
(Portland, OR: PPCT Publications, 2007).

INDEX

Aachen, Germany, 1944

Abizaid, John

Abrams tanks:

at Fallujah

in Gulf War

Abu Ghraib scandal

AC-130 Bashers

Adams, George

Adamski, Ed

Adda, Lionel

Adelup Point, Guam

Admire, John

Afghanistan, U.S. War in

African-American soldiers

Agat, Guam
mapmap

Aidid, Mohammed

Airmobile infantry combat

Air power vs. ground power

Air strikes:

at Aachen

at Dak To

at Fallujah

at Guam
map

in Gulf War

in Operation Masher/White Wing

at Peleliu

Akins, John

Al Anbar, Iraq

Aldridge, Joe

Al Jazeera

Allawi, Ayad

Allen, Roy

Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Alpha Troop, 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Amphibious combat:

Guam

Peleliu

Amyett, Jimmy

Anderson, Travis

Andrasovsky, Henry

An Lao Valley, Vietnam
map

Arcala, Kurtis

Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP)

Arnold, Hap

Asan Point, Guam
map

Attrition strategy in Vietnam War

Ayres, Christopher

Babitz, Joe

Back clearing

Bacon, Clinton

Baghdad, Iraq

Ballard, Bill

Banzai attacks

Barnes, John

Barnes, Richard

Baroni, Michael

Bartkiewicz, Edward

Battle of the Slopes, Vietnam

Battleson, David

Bayow, Steven

Beckman, John

Beckwith, Charlie

Belanger, Roger

Belknap, Glen

Bell, Terry

Bellavia, David

Bellon, Dave

Bercaw, William

Berg, Nicholas

Berger, Hugh

Berger, Spencer

Bickerstaff, Ted

Big Boy (war dog)

Big-unit warfare in Vietnam

Binh Dinh province, Vietnam
map

Biological weapons

Black Watch Regiment (British Army)

Blankennagel, Richard

Bledsoe, Patrick

Bobrowski, Igor

“Bodies” (Drowning Pool)

Bodnar, George

Body counts, in Vietnam War

Boeger, Alvin

Boehme, William

Boggiano, Chris

Boicourt, Harold

Boland, Dillard

Bolger, Daniel

Bombardments (
see
Air strikes)

Bone, Otis

Bong Son plain, Vietnam
map

Booby traps:

at Aachen

at Peleliu

in Vietnam War

Boos, Francis

Boswood, Justin

Botsford, Robert

Bowles, Gary

Bradley Fighting Vehicles:

at Fallujah

in Gulf War

Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry (U.S. Army)

Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (U.S. Army)

Bremer, Paul

British Royal Navy

Brockaway, John

Brown, Charles

Brown, Cory

Brown, Hop

Brown, Neil

Brown, Reeon

Broz, Jack

Bryant, Gary

Bryant, Tammy