Contact Admin. Miguel Santana, 35, of Miami, Fla. Sniper and machine-gun fire, as well as the low boom of mm tank rounds, echoed throughout the city just after dawn as soldiers, Navy SEALs and veteran Iraqi soldiers kicked off a cordon-and-search operation in one of the most hotly contested sectors of Ramadi.
The battle began just before 8 a. For roughly the next hour, tanks and Bradleys waged a hectic assault on buildings spread over a five-block area, killing at least a dozen insurgents. Before the battle ended, a second SEAL was wounded in the shoulder and another killed by machine-gun fire as he and soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division attacked bunkered insurgents. In all, the tanks and Bradleys fired 11 main gun rounds, 6 TOW missiles, 25 mm cannon rounds and 2, co-axial machine gun rounds into bunkered insurgent positions and sniper perches.
Company B soldiers discovered the bodies of 12 enemies during the battle, but they reported that as many as 15 more had been dragged off by insurgents shortly after they were hit and could not be confirmed dead. In June, however, the 1st Brigade was transferred from northern Iraq to Ramadi, where the unit is now employing a hybrid variation of the U.
Instead of emptying the city of all civilians and taking on insurgents in an extremely violent and epic battle — as was done in Fallujah and Tal Afar — 1st AD troops are attempting to isolate and eliminate insurgents block by block. The Friedberg, Germany-based unit uses a ring of combat outposts within the city to stage daily patrols and larger operations against insurgents. As dismounted troops searched residences a half-mile away, Navy SEALs, Iraqi troops and two Abrams tanks headed for an area near the insurgent mosque.
The first SEAL was struck by sniper fire from a three-story building. The bullet crushed his cheekbone but did not kill him. As troops responded with heavy machine-gun fire, 1st Platoon tank gunner Spc. Michael Ford fired a main gun round into the building. Brian Stone, 20, of Topeka, Kan. The driver was preparing to fire an AK when a tank opened up with a co-axial machine gun, setting the vehicle ablaze. Bajema said he discovered them in an alleyway, fired another main gun round and killed two of them.
