by Oliver North
As it turned out, the GMV was the only serious casualty. It was riddled with bullets and its block ruined. The driver was hit in the foot by a ricochet, and the Ranger manning the gun took several rounds in the ceramic plate on his body armor. He was sore afterward, but otherwise unharmed. The other two men inside miraculously escaped injury. With the vehicle bleeding out oil and engine coolant, the Rangers moved it into an over-watch position before it quit so they could make use of its top-mounted weapon system.
The buildings the GMV mistakenly approached turned out to be the command-and-control center for Iraqi forces in the area. Inside was a large armory with stockpiles of weapons, ammunition, and communications gear. The Iraqis occupying the buildings refused to surrender and the U.S. force was too small to root them out so the Rangers called in air strikes to eliminate the threat the position posed to their mission.
In front of the dam was a stretch of wide-open desert initially appeared to be devoid of any threat. But at dawn the Rangers discovered the area was crisscrossed with trench lines and bunkers, from which the Iraqis staged multiple attacks in the coming days.
On the morning of 1 April, 1st and 2nd Platoons were in the process of fortifying their positions on the southwest end of the dam when Iraqi machine guns began raking the front of the dam. Mortar rounds and RPGs soon followed, raining down among the Rangers as they dove into their fighting positions and returned fire.
Rangers firing the M3 Carl Gustav recoiless rifle
The Iraqis followed up with human wave attacks against C Company at the base of the dam. Fifteen to twenty Iraqi soldiers at a time would charge their positions, only to be cut down by accurate rifle fire, 120-mm mortars and Army attack helicopters. These gunfights went on for the entire day, leaving the weary Rangers no time for rest.
During one of these engagements, a Ranger observed a puff of smoke from an island too far out in Lake Haditha to engage with small arms. Concluding that he had discovered an Iraqi mortar position, he alerted his squad leader who brought up a Javelin anti-tank missile. The gunner crouched down atop the dam, lined up the island in his sights and fired. The missile exited the tube, ignited, and detonated on the target with a muffled explosion. To make sure the position wouldn’t be reoccupied, the Rangers hit the island with multiple air strikes.
The Ranger in the foreground is armed with an MK-48 Mod belt-fed machine gun.
Though enemy attacks continued throughout the day accompanied by intensified artillery and mortar bombardments, Captain Doyle was able to evacuate his casualties and Iraqi detainees. The helicopters also brought in ammunition, water, food, and more medical supplies—but no replacements or reinforcements.
When his Rangers noticed a man in a kayak near the dam they were ordered to try and capture the individual. Two well-aimed shots from a .50 caliber sent the kayak to the bottom and the man, unhurt, was apprehended by a Ranger fire team. He was found to be carrying drawings of the dam and the Ranger positions on and around it.
It was becoming very apparent the enemy was preparing a major counter-offensive to retake the dam complex. The Rangers would soon be pressed to the limits of their endurance.
The real fight began on 2 April. Hundreds of artillery rounds began to fall all around and inside their perimeter. Huge explosions rocked the dam as Iraqi 155-mm artillery unloaded on them from multiple positions. Human wave attacks continued sporadically, but most of the Rangers had nothing to shoot at, and the feeling of helplessness intensified as indirect fire screamed in and exploded around them. It continued day and night for the next seventy-two hours. They had already been on the move and in combat nearly nonstop for two straight weeks. Now, a steady rain of exploding steel meant these men who had already gone without rest for more than thirty hours would be unable to do so until the bombardment stopped.
Warfare of this sort is horrific. Hunkered down, unable to shoot back, every man begins to wonder where the next incoming high explosive round is going to detonate.
For three days straight the Rangers endured the barrage, forcing themselves to stay alert for the enemy and wishing for a way to fight back. Their only recourse, air strikes called in by their USAF JTAC on enemy gun positions were often too far away to observe their effect.
Incredibly there were few American casualties inflicted by the bombardment. Several Rangers were wounded by shrapnel, but none were killed. One Ranger who was there said, “We really gauged the passing of time by the consumption of our ammunition.” In the end only four of them had to be evacuated due to wounds or injury. The remaining 150 men held their ground for ten days and nights against everything the Iraqi army threw at them. During the operation, they, and the air strikes they call in are credited with killing nearly three hundred enemy soldiers and destroying two dozen mortar positions, thirty tanks, twenty-eight artillery pieces, and almost as many anti-aircraft sites.
The only American KIAs during the operation came at a blocking point several miles from the dam. The circumstances of how they were killed indicate the nature of the enemy American troops faced in Iraq.
Captain Russell Rippetoe, a Ranger Forward Air Controller, and his team were tasked with setting up a blocking position on a highway south of the Haditha Dam. The twenty-seven-year-old Colorado native, and son of a two-tour Ranger veteran of Vietnam, Rippetoe knew from his training and earlier experience in Afghanistan exactly how to call in air strikes on any approaching Iraqi units.
Captain Russell Rippetoe (wearing ball cap)
With him at the blocking position were SSG Nino Livaudais, the father of two, with a pregnant wife at home; SPC Chad Thibodeau, also with a pregnant wife at home; and SPC Ryan Long—a fourth-generation soldier from Delaware. All of them were combat-hardened by two previous deployments to Afghanistan.
Charged with the responsibility of interdicting an attack from the south against the Rangers at the dam, they prepared fighting positions beside the road and began stopping vehicles, searching for weapons and enemy fighters.
Initially, all went as planned. But on 3 April, an SUV carrying several people, including two women approached their position. One of the women, apparently pregnant and obviously in distress, got out of the vehicle. All five Rangers at the checkpoint started to go to her aid, but Captain Rippetoe ordered them back and approached her himself.
He had almost reached the vehicle when it detonated. Packed with explosives, the SUV erupted in a cloud of fire and flying steel, instantly killing Rippetoe, Livaudais, and Long. Chad Thibodeau was knocked unconscious and suffered multiple shrapnel wounds.
Around his neck Captain Rippetoe wore a small medallion called a “shield of strength” next to his dog tags. On it was inscribed a verse from the book of Joshua 1:9: “I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, or discouraged, for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go.” Tags like it have been worn throughout the war zone by tens of thousands of American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines.
A week later Captain Russell Rippetoe was interred beside other American heroes at Arlington National Cemetery, becoming the first casualty of the Iraq War to be buried there. At his funeral, many spoke of the bigger-than-life warrior with an even bigger heart.
His father, Lt Col Joe Rippetoe, is convinced it was his son’s big heart that got him killed. But he also believes that a big heart is something of which to be very proud.
COURAGE: A COMMON VIRTUE
The battle for Haditha Dam saw so much Ranger gallantry, the entire unit was given a Valorous Unit Award. Though the Ranger Regiment is notoriously stingy in handing out personal decorations, four of those who took part in the mission were awarded the Silver Star, twenty-seven others received the Bronze Star for valor, and seventy-one Rangers were presented with Army Commendation Medals, for their actions over ten days of intense combat.
For their courage and sacrifice, Captain Rippetoe, Specialist Livaudais, and Specialist Long were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars with “V” device for valor.
THE RANGER CREED
Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of the Rangers.
Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move further, faster, and fight harder than any other soldier.
Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight, and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some.
Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.
Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.
Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.
Rangers Lead the Way!
RANGER SCHOOL
Duration: Sixty-one days
Course Type: Leadership
Mission/Objective: Conduct Ranger, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance leader courses to further develop the combat arms related functional skills of officer and enlisted volunteers who are eligible for assignment to units whose primary mission is to engage in the close combat, direct fire battle. Rangers.
Two months carrying a forty-pound rucksack with very little to eat, even less sleep, being graded on everything. That’s Ranger school in a nutshell.
Named for the Army’s fabled experts in small unit infantry tactics, Ranger school is not a Special Operations course, per se. It is the Army’s premiere leadership course, open to combat arms volunteers from both the officer and enlisted corps. Only forty percent of those who enter will pin the Ranger tab on their shoulder two months later.
Located at Fort Benning, Georgia, the 4th Ranger Training Battalion exists to train Ranger students to lead small unit operations in close combat. The Benning or “Crawl” phase of Ranger School is twenty-one days long. It is designed to develop the military skills, physical and mental endurance, and the confidence a soldier must possess in order to successfully motivate men in the heat of battle. This is accomplished through a process of stress inoculation meant to simulate the strain of combat, but since they can’t actually shoot at the students, pressure is applied by forcing them to operate under field conditions where there is never enough food, sleep, or time to get the job done. Ranger students are given a variety of challenges in the initial phase of training designed to weed out those whose physical or mental conditioning are lacking. These include physical testing, hours of training in the hand-to-hand pit, a swim test, land navigation, and the obstacle course.
The mountain phase is also twenty-one days long and is overseen by the 5th Ranger Training Battalion, Dahlonega, Georgia. During this phase students learn knot tying, rope bridges, and assault climbing skills. They also perform nightly patrols through the north Georgia mountains on reconnaissance, ambush missions, and raids.
Combat patrol missions are directed against a conventionally equipped threat force in a low intensity conflict scenario. These patrol missions are conducted both day and night over a four-day squad field training exercise (FTX) and a platoon five-day FTX that includes long distance patrols through rugged mountain terrain, vehicle ambushes, river crossings, and raids on simulated mortar or communications sites. During these missions the Ranger student may be selected to lead tired, hungry, physically expended students to accomplish yet another combat patrol mission at any time. All patrols are student-led and must be accomplished under the watchful eyes of their Ranger instructors. Most students will also participate in a parachute jump.
At the conclusion of the mountain phase, the students move by bus or parachute assault into the final (Florida) phase of Ranger training, conducted at Camp Rudder, near Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The swamp phase is seventeen days long. Each student trains an average of eighteen to twenty hours each day, with more patrolling, as well as small boat tactics, river crossings, and road marches, all while under the threat of enemy attack by soldiers of the 6th Ranger Training Battalion.
The Florida Phase ramps up the stress with progressive, realistic operations that stretch each student more than he ever thought possible. The ten-day FTX is a fast paced, extremely challenging exercise in which the students are required to prove their ability to apply small unit tactics they have learned throughout the course.
At the end of the course, those who have successfully completed all three phases return to Fort Benning to stand in front of Victory pond and have their loved ones pin the coveted Ranger tab on their shoulders. It is always a proud moment, as fewer than one percent of all soldiers ever earn the right to join the brotherhood who call themselves “Ranger.”
HUNTING PARTIES
SHKIN, AFGHANISTAN
The border region along Pakistan’s Federally Administrated Tribal Areas has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world. By Autumn 2003, the Operating Base at Shkin was similiar to the closest target at a carnival shooting gallery—everyone liked shooting at it. Foreign fighters aligned with al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters hiding just across the border in Pakistan frequently slipped across into Afghanistan at night to attack the nearest American outpost.
The base, manned by U.S. Special Operations Forces, an Afghan commando force, and a contingent of the 10th Mountain Division, also included members of the CIA’s super-secret Special Activities Division. One of them, William “Chief” Carlson, had done just about everything a Special Operator could do. A member of the Montana Blackfoot Nation, he began his Army career as an enlisted soldier in the 75th Ranger regiment and went on to become a Green Beret. From there he was selected for Delta Force, where he served out the remainder of his twenty-year Army career. Retirement didn’t suit him, so Carlson signed on as a contractor with the CIA, where his dark complexion and résumé guaranteed he would be deployed to Afghanistan almost immediately.
William "Chief" Carlson
Though Chief Carlson had a reputation as “one of the toughest of the tough,” all who knew him well admired his steadfast loyalty and sincere friendship. His wife, Cherri, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, cared for and raised their two sons during Chief’s long absences.
Another operator on the team at Shkin, Christopher Glenn Mueller, followed a different path into the ranks of the CIA. Overcoming asthma and a learning disability in high school prepared him for the challenges after graduation, when he enlisted in the Navy. Because of injuries in training, it took him three tries to make it through the rigorous SEAL selection process. Normally, a man is washed out of the program after being “recycled” twice. But Mueller’s instructors admired his tenacity and he finally became a SEAL.
Chris Mueller
Chris Mueller in Iraq
He spent four years with SEAL Team Five, deploying around the world for training and real-world missions. Enticed to apply for a position with the CIA’s Special Activities Division, Mueller left the Navy to attend UC San Diego to get the required college degree. Sheepskin and glowing transcript in hand, he joined the CIA as a paramilitary officer. His first overseas deployment was in support of operations in Iraq, where he spent nearly a year. After that he was sent to Afghanistan, where he linked up with Chief Carlson.
Both CIA operators were friends with Mark Donald, a highly trained SEAL medical officer and a key member of the small team at Shkin. Dark haired and intense, the wiry Lat
ino’s career path was also unique. Mark grew up in New Mexico, where he excelled in athletics but struggled with academics. Though his mother hailed from Matamoros, Mexico, his parents were fiercely American—a trait that rubbed off on their sons. During his senior year, Mark was impressed by the Marine recruiters who visited his high school. Deciding he wanted their self-confidence and bearing, Mark enlisted after graduation, though not yet eighteen. In the Marine Corps, he found the self-discipline he sought—and he put it to work in the area he was weakest—academics. After long hours of study, he applied for an inter-service transfer to become a Navy Corpsman and was immediately recruited into SEAL training. After nearly a decade as a SEAL he received a commission in the Navy Medical Corps as a Physician’s Assistant.
