Battle of Ramadi (2006)
| Second Battle of Ramadi (2006) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Iraqi civil war and the Iraq War | |||||||
1st Armored Division soldiers take up positions on a street corner during a foot patrol in Ramadi, August 2006 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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United States United Kingdom New Iraqi Army |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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COL Sean MacFarland LTC Ronald Clark LTC Vincent J Tedesco MAJ Matthew J Van Wagenen LCDR Jocko Willink LtCol Stephen Neary USMC |
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Omar al-Baghdadi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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5,500 troops 50 troops | ~5,000 insurgents (U.S. estimate) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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80+ killed | 749 confirmed killed (roughly 1,100 estimated killed) | ||||||
The Second Battle of Ramadi was fought during the Iraq War from March 2006 to November 2006, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A joint US military force under the command of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division 3rd Battalion 8th Marines (3/8 Kilo Co., 3/8 Echo Co., 3/8 India Co.), and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts or "COP's" throughout the city, with the main efforts concentrated at the Government Center, OPVA, Hurricane Point, Blue Diamond, Hospital, and Corrigador.
U.S. military officers, specifically Captain Travis Patriquin led the outreach effort to tribal leaders, which resulted in the formation of the Anbar Awakening. In August, insurgents executed a tribal sheik who was encouraging his kinsmen to join the Iraqi police and prevented his body from being buried in accordance with Islamic laws. In response, Sunni sheiks banded together to drive insurgents from Ramadi. In September 2006, Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha formed the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of approximately 40 Sunni tribes.
U.S. Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the battle. On September 29, 2006, he threw himself upon a grenade which threatened the lives of the other members of his team. Monsoor had previously been awarded the Silver Star in May for rescuing an injured comrade in the city.
The battle was marked with the first death of a U.S. Navy SEAL in Iraq, Marc Alan Lee, August 2, 2006.
The battle also marked the first use of chlorine bombs by insurgents during the war. On October 21, 2006, insurgents detonated a car-bomb with two 100-pound chlorine tanks, injuring three Iraqi policemen and a civilian in Ramadi.
In December, while participating in a mounted patrol, south of the intersection of Checkpoint 295 and Route Michigan, a large Improvised Explosive Device detonated directly underneath a military Humvee carrying Captain Travis Patriquin, Marine Captain Megan McClung and Army Specialist Vincent Pomonte.