The U.S. Army’s Ready First Brigade Combat Team (1st Armored
Division) adopted a radical and innovative strategy to take back Ramadi
from the malevolent clutches of the insurgency—Seize, Clear, Hold,
Build. It called for U.S. forces to penetrate into the most dangerous
enemy-held neighborhoods, push back insurgent fighters, and construct
permanent U.S. combat outposts from which to base further operations.
Iraqi soldiers were brought in to take part in the effort. Once a foothold
was established in enemy territory, the next step required a show of force
in enemy controlled areas and engagement with the Iraqi populace in the
neighborhood. Though the battles raged around them, hundreds of
thousands of civilians lived in the city and simply tried to survive.
Securing the people and protecting them from the brutal jihadi fighters
that hid among them was the key to victory. Integral to the success of
this strategy were cordon and search operations—clearing through city
blocks house by house. Often executed during daylight hours, these
operations could be treacherous for the U.S. Army Soldiers, Marines,
and Iraqi troops as they cordoned off neighborhoods (or sectors) and
moved street to street, building to building through some of the most
violent areas of the city.
* * *On one particular operation, Team Bulldog (U.S. Army Bravo Company,
1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment) planned a large cordon and
search operation in a particularly dangerous area of South-Central
Ramadi spanning several blocks from their base located in the heart of
enemy territory, a combat outpost called COP Falcon. Such an operation
required some one hundred Soldiers on the ground, supported by armor
—M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles