AAR NIGHT MISSION (6 SEP 08)

0600hrs September 6, 2008 – 40 miles south of Baghdad on the southwestern edge of An Najaf

Welcome gentlemen.

As you may be aware, the US 3Rd Infantry Division is advancing on Baghdad on our left as part of the 2 pronged attack with 1 MEU on our right. 2nd BCT from 3ID is bypassing the 1st BCT to our immediate left and will be skirting around the city of An Najaf immediately to our north. 1st BCT has been engaging Iraqi Republican Guard units and elements of Baddhist and Fedayeen fighters for the past 24 hours. Most of these attacks have originated from within An Najaf. The main route of attack is bypassing An Najaf because it is such a large and ancient city with very tight roads that sound disaster for our armour and also because of its spiritual significance to Shiite Muslims.

Therefore, as 2nd BCT cordons the west side of the city and moves past it altogether, we need your teams to move into the western outskirts of An Najaf and eliminate any troop buildups before they can organize themselves to launch assaults out to our flanks.

You are to INFIL at grid Alpha 17. Then move to a number of Phase Lines, slightly forward of the parallel advance of 2nd BCT in order to locate and destroy anyone planning to ambush the route of advance.

Phase Line Sabre is located from grid Golf 7 to Kilo 15 and must be cleared before reporting in to HQ and getting approval to move on the next objective.
Phase Line Sword is located from grid Juliet 4 to Oscar 14 and must be cleared before reporting in to HQ and getting approval to move on the next objective.
Phase Line Scimitar is located from grid Romeo 2 to Uniform 11 and must be cleared before reporting in to HQ and getting approval to move on the next objective.

EXFIL at grid Victor 6.

You have 60 minutes to clear all 3 Phase Lines.

Enemy
We are certain that most of any conventional force located in the area has already been engaged and destroyed. What remains is a constant stream of Baddhist and Fedayeen reinforcements trickling into the city from the north. Eventually this will be blocked as 2nd BCT get around the western side of the city and close off its northern approaches as it continues north to Baghdad. Expect a lot of unconventional militia types heavily armed with Soviet and European ARs, LMGs and RPGs. They also have access to Mortars but are not very well trained in their use and are often taken out by counter battery fire relatively quickly.

Comms Designations:
Danger Teams will be designated Danger 1 and Danger 2. Engage Teams will be designated Engage 3 and Engage 4.
QRF is available from A Company from 1/3rd Cavalry in Bradley IVFs which are currently resting as part of 1st BCT heavily engaged yesterday. They are tired and need rest but will ride out to assist if required.
You also have access to high priority mortars from 1/3rd Cavalry’s heavy weapons sections. They designation is “Rainfire”.
CASEVAC and RESUP is available from our south. Their designated callsign is “Maverick”.
Good luck gentlemen

AFTER ACTION REPORT

At 0600hrs 4 Special Forces teams moved off at prior to sunrise into the western edges of An Najaf city. This force split into 2 combat teams named “Danger” teams made up of Danger 1 and Danger 2 and “Engage” teams made up of Engage 3 and Engage 4. Each team had a full 9 man compliment and were armed to the teeth.

Engage Teams
Engage teams had trouble locating their INFIL point but eventually got the go ahead from HQ to move onto the 1st Phase Line. They encountered heavy contacts shortly after getting eyes on Phase Line Sabre and spent close to 30 minutes trying to break in to clear the objective. Such was the intensity of the defense that by the time they started making progress, 2nd BCT had already reached their Northwestern objectives and were moving East to close of the northern approaches to the city.
Engage teams were now no longer needed but they did manage to tie up a large portion of enemy combatants during their firefights and thus contributed greatly to the ease at which 2nd BCT were able to bypass the city as planned.

Danger Teams
Danger teams moved out to their INFIL point with some very clear plans in place. They moved off to the 1st objective efficiently, using cover and shadows and moving in depth to react with force to any contacts made. They did this on a number of occasions with great results.
Danger managed to clear Phase Line Sabre by about 0630hrs but then got bogged down and stagnant so that by the time 2nd BCT called off all the teams at 0700hrs, they had to break off from heavy contact around Phase Line Sword to allow a safe EXFIL.

Losses
At 0700hrs, all 4 teams were extracted from An Najaf with heavy losses to both Engage teams and only minor losses to Danger teams.

Scores
Round 1 – Engage Teams’ attack scored -500pts
Round 2 – Danger Teams’ attack scored +250pts

OBSERVATIONS

A lot of contacts resulted in some really assertive, aggressive and well communicated contacts.
Even though most of the time the 2 teams on each side separated, it was observed that some were using subgroups such as gun, command, rifle and scout groups.
Challenging Procedure was observed in some teams, although as the mission wore on, some of there were compromised and let to some disastrous results to one team.
1 side was observed to have considerable numbers in command control so that any contact could be met with massive firepower and overwhelmed well. This was witnessed on a number of occasions with good results.
Some members of teams had no idea what their attack of defensive plan was overall. This could either be due to not passing on the plan down the line or not ensuring all members were clear on their role in the plans.
Some attacks were too piecemeal which resulted in confusion and bad results.
Teams assets should always be in a command group with the Team Leader or at least close by for greater flexibility. Some occasions occurred where a number of Casevacs were needed but the Medic or Sig was MIA.
Plan and communicate your fallback points, rally points and/or future Casevac points. This is essential for casualties to gather in order to have cleaner and quicker Casevacs.
Don’t be afraid to withdraw from a contact. 1 team was observed fighting for their lives while engaged on 3 sides. No go! This is a fast way to fill body bags.
Team Roles such as Team Leaders, Squad Leaders, Signalers and Medics can still perform their role even when dead from an admin point of view. Obviously they can’t tell their teammates where the enemy is spotted but they can push their team and give guidance. Medics can’t heal teammates but they can facilitate the Casevac with the Squad or Team Leader and the Signaler with HQ.
Avoid milling around and chatting after a Casevac is performed. 1 side was observed having a majority of their team mates revived and chatting around for a while only to come under heavy fire. Determined firepower into such a condensed target area will lead to heavy casualties.
Perform headcounts often. It was observed that a member from the opposing side was milling around with a large group of the other team. Not on! Know who is on your side and following your challenging procedure.
Some top effort was observed considering a lot of those attending were on their 1st, 2nd or 3rd MilSims event.

WELL DONE

Well done to all and feel free to post or email or call through with any feedback, suggestions or battlereports.