Second Battle of Fallujah

Staff Sergeant David Bellavia of the Army's Task Force 2-2 Infantry was awarded the Medal of Honor.

David Gregory Bellavia (born November 10, 1975) is a former United States Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah.

The second battle was the bloodiest battle of the entire Iraq War, and is notable for being the first major engagement of the Iraq War fought solely against insurgents rather than the forces of the former Ba'athist Iraqi government, which was deposed in 2003.

The offensive was resumed in November 2004 in the bloodiest battle of the war: the Second Battle of Fallujah, described by the U.S. military as "the heaviest urban combat (that they had been involved in) since the battle of Hue City in Vietnam."

It was led by the U.S. Marines and U.S Army against the Iraqi insurgents in the city of Fallujah and was authorized by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Interim Government.

During this occupation, the Marines lead assaults on the city of Fallujah in April (Operation Vigilant Resolve) and November 2004 (Operation Phantom Fury) and saw intense fighting in such places as Ramadi, Al-Qa'im and Hīt.

Sergeant Rafael Peralta of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, was awarded the Navy Cross.

Rafael Peralta (April 7, 1979 – November 15, 2004), assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, was a United States Marine killed in combat during Second Battle of Fallujah in the city of Fallujah, Iraq.

The Second Battle of Fallujah—code-named Operation Al-Fajr (Arabic: الفجر "the dawn") and Operation Phantom Fury—was a joint American, Iraqi government, and British offensive in November and December 2004, considered the highest point of conflict in Fallujah during the Iraq War.

The US armed forces have designated the offensive as Operation Phantom Fury.

It was led by the U.S. Marines and U.S Army against the Iraqi insurgents in the city of Fallujah and was authorized by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Interim Government.

This led to an abortive US operation to recapture control of the city in Operation Vigilant Resolve, and a successful recapture operation in the city in November 2004, called Operation Phantom Fury in English and Operation Al Fajr in Arabic.

Three other Marines were awarded the Navy Cross: First Sergeant Bradley Kasal of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade of Bravo Co, 1st Battalion 8th Marines, and Corporal Dominic Esquibel of H&S Company, Scout Sniper Platoon, 1st Battalion 8th Marines.

Aubrey Leon McDade Jr. (born July 29, 1981) was a United States Marine who was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in Iraq War, in which he rescued two U.S. Marines during an enemy ambush during the Second Battle of Fallujah, in November 2004.

Shortly afterward, on 31 March 2004, four American private military contractors from Blackwater—Wesley Batalona, Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko and Michael Teague—were ambushed and killed in the city.

Seven months later, in November 2004, a second attempt at capturing the city, the Second Battle of Fallujah, proved successful.

Three other Marines were awarded the Navy Cross: First Sergeant Bradley Kasal of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade of Bravo Co, 1st Battalion 8th Marines, and Corporal Dominic Esquibel of H&S Company, Scout Sniper Platoon, 1st Battalion 8th Marines.

Bradley Allan Kasal (born May 1, 1966) is a United States Marine who received the Navy Cross for heroic actions performed as the first sergeant of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during a firefight in Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq on November 13, 2004.

The 850-strong 1st Battalion of the Black Watch was ordered to help U.S. and Iraqi forces with the encirclement of Fallujah.

In October, the Black Watch was at the centre of political controversy after the United States Army requested British forces to be moved further north, outside of the British-controlled Multi-National Division (South East), to replace forces temporarily redeployed for the Second Battle of Fallujah.

Earlier, in April 2004, coalition forces fought the First Battle of Fallujah in order to capture or kill insurgent elements considered responsible for the deaths of a Blackwater Security team.

The loss of the Fallujah Brigade prompted the Second Battle of Fallujah in November that year.

The Fallujah Brigade, composed of local Iraqis under the command of a former Ba'athist officer named Muhammed Latif, took control of the city.

Nevertheless, the Fallujah Brigade dissolved and had turned over all the US weapons to the insurgency by September, prompting the return of US forces in the Second Battle of Fallujah in November, resulting in US reoccupation of the city.

As part of [[Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq War#Task Force Black/Knight|Task Force Black]], D Squadron of the British SAS prepared to take part in the operation, but British political nervousness about the possible scale of casualties stopped any direct UK involvement in the ground battle.

The general chose the 3rd Battalion 1st Marines, experienced in heavy fighting from Operation Phantom Fury, to assault the city.

The same unit, operating under the command of the U.S. Army III Corps, then moved to the western approaches to the city and secured the Jurf Kas Sukr Bridge.

Stretching across the Euphrates in the tiny Iraqi village of Jurf Al Sakhar southwest of Baghdad, the 4-lane Jurf Al Sakhar Bridge was a primary target of Operation Phantom Fury in November 2004.

After Navy Seabees from I MEF Engineer Group (MEG) interrupted and disabled electrical power at two substations located just northeast and northwest of the city, two Marine Regimental Combat Teams, Regimental Combat Team 1 (RCT-1) and Regimental Combat Team 7 (RCT-7) launched an attack along the northern edge of the city.

Led by the 1st Marine Division, Operation Phantom Fury began with an assault north of the city, with four infantry battalions in the attack.

The U.S. military called it "some of the heaviest urban combat U.S. Marines and Soldiers have been involved in since the Battle of Huế City in Vietnam in 1968."

Three other Marines were awarded the Navy Cross: First Sergeant Bradley Kasal of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade of Bravo Co, 1st Battalion 8th Marines, and Corporal Dominic Esquibel of H&S Company, Scout Sniper Platoon, 1st Battalion 8th Marines.

Before the assault commenced, the operation was known as Operation Phantom Fury.

In February 2004, control of Fallujah and the surrounding area in the Al-Anbar province was transferred from the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division to the 1st Marine Division.

The Army's mechanized Second Brigade, First Cavalry Division, augmented by the Marines' Second Reconnaissance Battalion and A. Co 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, was tasked to infiltrate the city and destroy any fleeing enemy forces.

The division fought in many key battles against insurgents, including the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004, where the 2nd Brigade Combat Team engaged in house to house intense urban combat to root out enemy cells in the city.

In May 2004, the battalion with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the battalion again returned to combat in Iraq for a 9-month deployment, which was highlighted by a major victory against insurgent forces in Najaf, after the fighting at Najaf cemetery, Bravo Company guarded Abu Ghanrib prison and supported Operation Phantom Fury.

They were joined by two U.S. Army heavy battalion-sized units, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment (Mechanized).

In November 2004 Task Force 2-2, which comprised HHC; Company A; scouts of the 2/2; Company A, 2d Battalion, 63d Armor; 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Engineer Battalion; 2d Platoon, Company A, 82d Engineer Battalion; Troop F, 4th Cavalry; and 1st Platoon, Battery A, 1/6 Field Artillery, fought alongside U.S. Marines in the Battle of Fallujah.

Company C and D participated in the Operation Phantom Fury (Second Battle of Fallujah) in November 2004 - January 2005.

In November 2004, the Battalion, along with several other units, participated in Operation Phantom Fury (also known as Al Fajr (Dawn)) and was part of one of the biggest battles in Iraq to that time.

In February 2004, control of Fallujah and the surrounding area in the Al-Anbar province was transferred from the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division to the 1st Marine Division.

The division returned to Iraq in February 2004 and took control of the Al Anbar province in western Iraq; it was the lead unit in Operation Vigilant Resolve and Operation Phantom Fury in 2004.

Attacking from the west and south, the Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion with their U.S. Army Special Forces advisers, SEAL Sniper Task Elements from Naval Special Warfare Task Group Central and the U.S. Marine Corps Scout Platoon Mike Battery, 1st and 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment (Manchu), 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division (U.S. Army), 3rd Platoon Alpha Company 2/72nd Tank Battalion (U.S. Army), and 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, reinforced by Bravo Company from the Marine Corps Reserve's 1st Battalion, 23rd Regiment, and supported by Combat Service Support Company 122, from Combat Service Support Battalion 1, captured Fallujah General Hospital, Blackwater Bridge, ING building, and villages opposite of the Euphrates River along Fallujah's western edge.

Operation Phantom Fury: Fallujah Hospital and follow-on targets