thedrifter
01-08-09, 06:09 AM
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Jan. 7, 2009) — The second Battle of Fallujah, known both as Operation Phantom Fury and Operation Al-Fajr, served as a major turning point in the Marine Corps’ mission to crush the insurgency and bring stability to the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.
The battle that began Nov. 8, 2004 lasted for one month and is known throughout the Corps as some of the heaviest urban combat since the 1968 Battle of Hue City in Vietnam. The fight for Fallujah became one of the bloodiest battles to occur in the Iraq War to date, with a recorded 38 U.S. troops, six Iraqi soldiers and 1,200 insurgents killed.
Logistics was a common denominator that carried the success of Marines during that storied battle. Without the continuous support in the form of ammunition, food, and equipment, many Marines feel the battle would not have turned out as successful.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do our job as infantrymen without combat logistics units supporting us,” said Sgt. Johnathan D. Nash, an instructor and assistant operations chief at the 2nd Marine Logistics Group’s Battle Skills Training School, who fought with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines during the fight for Fallujah. “We wouldn’t have lasted long at all in the fight without them.”
Nash, an infantry mortarman (fire direction) by trade, served in Iraq from June 2004 to February 2005. The Minden, La. native gained a plethora of experience and knowledge from combat engagements in Haditha, Iraq and Fallujah during that time.
But he said in order for those logistics Marines to support him and his fellow Marines in the fight, they had to go through the frontlines and through the fighting. He said because of this, those Marines needed quality training in basic combat skills.
Today, he and 24 fellow infantrymen train primarily logistics Marines from 2nd MLG in preparation for combat. As the logistics group prepares to embark on its next combat deployment to Iraq later this year, the knowledge of warfare is as important now as in years past.
“Every Marine is a rifleman,” said Nash, who joined the Marine Corps in 2003 after seeing the actions of Marines in the initial invasion of Iraq. “We fight on the frontlines of war, so everyone has to be prepared for the worst. We are here to show logistics Marines what they can expect in combat while they’re trying to support us.”
Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Farage, an infantry unit leader and course head for the Machine Gun Assistant Instructor Course at BSTS, said it takes an average of seven logisticians to support one infantryman, defining the importance of a non-combat arms Marine’s ability to fight and stay alive.
“If one of those seven falls, the infantrymen have to stop and get into a defensive position because they will no longer be getting the support they need to continue,” said Farage, a native of St. Louis.
The instructors at BSTS come from a wide variety of backgrounds, all with different experiences to add to the training. The instructor staff is made up of mortarmen, machine gunners, assaultmen and infantry unit leaders, with the addition of motor transport experts and corpsmen.
All of the instructors have a minimum of two combat deployments under their belt to hot spots like Afghanistan and Iraq, but also to other places like Kosovo, Turkey and Lebanon.
Staff Sgt. Charles Calfee, an infantry unit leader, primary Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor and chief instructor at the school, said the reviewing process to admit instructors is extremely difficult. He said Marines can request to come be an instructor at the school, but only the most qualified and experienced will make it.
“The success of the school relies on the instructors,” Calfee said. “In order to keep the highest quality of training, we have to maintain a high quality of instructors.”
Throughout the year, the combat arms Marines conduct many Combined Pre-Deployment Training Packages, Machine Gun Assistant Instructors Courses and Convoy Leadership Courses, amounting to more than 100 hours of combat training per class.
Students learn everything about combat from how to search people, clear rooms and check vehicles, to running convoys, guarding bases and protecting convoys with the use of machine guns, said Sgt. Shane R. Burge, a mortar man (forward observer) and instructor at the school. The Lyons, Kan. native said the schools impact can be the difference as to whether or not Marines come home.
“It’s knowledge that could one day save their lives,” Burge said. “If they don’t know how to operate a machine gun, they wont be able to protect the convoy they’re on. If they don’t understand the convoy order process, they won’t understand the mission they’re on.”
Instructors use their combat experiences to train Marines in martial arts as well. Calfee said a Marine’s weapon could one day jam in close quarters combat, and then all that Marine has left is his body. He said that is only the physical aspect, stating that the martial arts training gives Marines the mental confidence to overcome situations that they face no matter how difficult.
Calfee said a tour for instructors at BSTS lasts three years. He said when the instructors eventually return to their combat arms roots, they will bring along with them a wealth of knowledge that can only improve their unit’s combat effectiveness.
Nash plans to return to the infantry around September in hopes of joining Marines in the current fights going on in Afghanistan. He said he will leave the logistics group happy with what he’s been able to accomplish as an instructor.
“We’ve never had negative feedback from our training courses, so we feel we have had a positive effect on their deployments in years past,” Nash said.
Calfee said leaders will always look to Marines like Nash for knowledge of combat when they return to the fleet. And as one prepares to move on, another will come to continue the rotation of knowledge from combat arms to logistics.
The battle that began Nov. 8, 2004 lasted for one month and is known throughout the Corps as some of the heaviest urban combat since the 1968 Battle of Hue City in Vietnam. The fight for Fallujah became one of the bloodiest battles to occur in the Iraq War to date, with a recorded 38 U.S. troops, six Iraqi soldiers and 1,200 insurgents killed.
Logistics was a common denominator that carried the success of Marines during that storied battle. Without the continuous support in the form of ammunition, food, and equipment, many Marines feel the battle would not have turned out as successful.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do our job as infantrymen without combat logistics units supporting us,” said Sgt. Johnathan D. Nash, an instructor and assistant operations chief at the 2nd Marine Logistics Group’s Battle Skills Training School, who fought with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines during the fight for Fallujah. “We wouldn’t have lasted long at all in the fight without them.”
Nash, an infantry mortarman (fire direction) by trade, served in Iraq from June 2004 to February 2005. The Minden, La. native gained a plethora of experience and knowledge from combat engagements in Haditha, Iraq and Fallujah during that time.
But he said in order for those logistics Marines to support him and his fellow Marines in the fight, they had to go through the frontlines and through the fighting. He said because of this, those Marines needed quality training in basic combat skills.
Today, he and 24 fellow infantrymen train primarily logistics Marines from 2nd MLG in preparation for combat. As the logistics group prepares to embark on its next combat deployment to Iraq later this year, the knowledge of warfare is as important now as in years past.
“Every Marine is a rifleman,” said Nash, who joined the Marine Corps in 2003 after seeing the actions of Marines in the initial invasion of Iraq. “We fight on the frontlines of war, so everyone has to be prepared for the worst. We are here to show logistics Marines what they can expect in combat while they’re trying to support us.”
Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Farage, an infantry unit leader and course head for the Machine Gun Assistant Instructor Course at BSTS, said it takes an average of seven logisticians to support one infantryman, defining the importance of a non-combat arms Marine’s ability to fight and stay alive.
“If one of those seven falls, the infantrymen have to stop and get into a defensive position because they will no longer be getting the support they need to continue,” said Farage, a native of St. Louis.
The instructors at BSTS come from a wide variety of backgrounds, all with different experiences to add to the training. The instructor staff is made up of mortarmen, machine gunners, assaultmen and infantry unit leaders, with the addition of motor transport experts and corpsmen.
All of the instructors have a minimum of two combat deployments under their belt to hot spots like Afghanistan and Iraq, but also to other places like Kosovo, Turkey and Lebanon.
Staff Sgt. Charles Calfee, an infantry unit leader, primary Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor and chief instructor at the school, said the reviewing process to admit instructors is extremely difficult. He said Marines can request to come be an instructor at the school, but only the most qualified and experienced will make it.
“The success of the school relies on the instructors,” Calfee said. “In order to keep the highest quality of training, we have to maintain a high quality of instructors.”
Throughout the year, the combat arms Marines conduct many Combined Pre-Deployment Training Packages, Machine Gun Assistant Instructors Courses and Convoy Leadership Courses, amounting to more than 100 hours of combat training per class.
Students learn everything about combat from how to search people, clear rooms and check vehicles, to running convoys, guarding bases and protecting convoys with the use of machine guns, said Sgt. Shane R. Burge, a mortar man (forward observer) and instructor at the school. The Lyons, Kan. native said the schools impact can be the difference as to whether or not Marines come home.
“It’s knowledge that could one day save their lives,” Burge said. “If they don’t know how to operate a machine gun, they wont be able to protect the convoy they’re on. If they don’t understand the convoy order process, they won’t understand the mission they’re on.”
Instructors use their combat experiences to train Marines in martial arts as well. Calfee said a Marine’s weapon could one day jam in close quarters combat, and then all that Marine has left is his body. He said that is only the physical aspect, stating that the martial arts training gives Marines the mental confidence to overcome situations that they face no matter how difficult.
Calfee said a tour for instructors at BSTS lasts three years. He said when the instructors eventually return to their combat arms roots, they will bring along with them a wealth of knowledge that can only improve their unit’s combat effectiveness.
Nash plans to return to the infantry around September in hopes of joining Marines in the current fights going on in Afghanistan. He said he will leave the logistics group happy with what he’s been able to accomplish as an instructor.
“We’ve never had negative feedback from our training courses, so we feel we have had a positive effect on their deployments in years past,” Nash said.
Calfee said leaders will always look to Marines like Nash for knowledge of combat when they return to the fleet. And as one prepares to move on, another will come to continue the rotation of knowledge from combat arms to logistics.