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May 10, 2005
Snap Reactions to "Operation Matador"
1:01pm The 2d Marine Division's 2nd Marine Regiment, task organized as Regimental Combat Team-2, is conducting Operation Matador in western Anbar province, along the Syrian border, and concentrating on several towns at the intersection of the border and the Euphrates River.
The 2nd Marines have been to Iraq before: they were the ground combat element of Task Force Tarawa during the invasion in 2003. TF Tarawa was the name given to the task-organized 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. RCT-2 fought a great deal in the city of Nasiriyah after the 1st Marine Division passed through. I would guess that about 75% of the unit has probably turned over since then, but Marine infantry units have pretty good historical memories -- and the remaining 25% have definitely risen in rank since then.
The 2nd Marine Division web site states that two of RCT-2's organic battalions are deployed, the "Warlords"of 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, and the "Betio Bastards" of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines. Not sure which infantry battalion is filling out RCT 2 in place of 1/2, but it might be the reserve battalion 3/25.
News reports in several sources say that the force conducting the attack is about 1000 strong, so more than likely only one of these battalions is engaged in the operation, while the other two are continuing with their normal security and stabilization activities. The Regimental HQ is probably C2ing the attack because of the nature of supporting assets: possibly several squadrons of aviation assets from more than one service, and a massing of armored vehicles such as tanks, LAVs and AAVs. Also, having the regiment C2 the attack allows it to quickly move the remaining two infantry battalions into supporting positions, or even to reinforce whichever one is primarily engaged as the main effort.
1:18pm The "platoon" in the mountains ready to call down airstrikes on fleeing forces (see Belmont Club for sources) is most likely a Reconnaissance platoon, not a line infantry platoon. Recon platoons have a much higher density of people trained for Close-Air Support calls than a regular infantry platoon would. And it is highly unlikely that a regular infantry platoon would operate independently, or be asked to cover so much terrain. Those Marines in the Close-air overwatch are probably reconnaissance Marines.
1:19pm One more thought then I must return to work (Arrgh!). The latest CentCom press release on the operation has some interesting tidbits:
Soldiers from the Army's 814th Multi-Role Bridge Company constructed a pontoon bridge across the Euphrates River where intelligence reports indicate the enemy is located 9 May. Marines crossed over from the southern banks to the north and are now operating in the northern Jazirah Desert and are in pursuit of the enemy.This shows the extent of planning that went into this operation. Transferring units from one headquarters to another is not done without lots of thought, especially when different services are involved. This was planned as a deliberate river-crossing. More on that later, and if anyone is interested, I may even break out a pub or two on that type of operation.
Next, this:
Ten terrorists, who surrendered to the Marines, are at a nearby detention center.This is out of context, but the surrendered bad guys had just counter-attacked a Marine convoy. And they surrendered? Seems to reinforce the idea that the bad guys in this fight are trained military personnel, either from maybe Saddam's old forces, or from Syria, rather than Jihadists -- though its probably safe to assume a mix. Ten surrendering certainly doesn't sound like anyone eager to get to paradise like we've come to expect.
It will be interesting to see if there are torture chambers and the like in these cities. If these terrorists are secular in background, they may not have been torturing the populace like happened in Fallujah. They may merely have coalesced here for rehearsals (some of the company-sized terrorist attacks that have been mounted recently have needed detailed rehearsals) and for initial arming and manning after coming from Syria and before scattering through the rest of the country.
More tonight! As much as there is news to comment upon . . .
Posted by Chester at May 10, 2005 1:03 PM
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