These two videos add a little bit of understanding as to what happened during the April 11th attack on Gannon, and how the dumptruck and firetruck VBIEDs were stopped, or deterred from penetrating the perimeter, where they would have been far more lethal.

The first just shows a civilian firearms enthusiast, firing an M249 SAW at the full ‘cyclic’ rate, without letting off the trigger. This is essentially the same type of weapon that Josh Butler fired at the VBIEDs.  And it’s a vivid example of how fast the M249 will go through ammo on cyclic.

This second video is from the Tactical Rifleman YouTube channel, and features Rob French, former Force Recon Marine and now an instructor with the Tier 1 Group, showing the impact of bullets on various types of glass, including “bullet-proof” windshields (hint: they’re not really bullet-proof).  This really illustrates the effects that Butler’s 5.56mm rounds probably had on the VBIED windshields during the 11 Apr 2005 attack.

The ING compound was an advanced battle position about 350 meters east of Gannon, consisting of several buildings that provided overwatch on Market Street and parts of Husaybah. India kept it manned round the clock (no Iraqi soldiers were there at that time), rotating platoons through. On the morning of 11 April, 3rd platoon was posted there and became caught up in the complex attack that hit both Camp Gannon and the ING compound.

David Pinkham has vivid memories of the big attack, and has shared a detailed account of that morning.  He also confirms several things I’ve been trying to pin down, including the location of the 1st VBID strike. I’m posting it with his permission.

My squad was in the building [you indicated]. We had built/improved the sandbag posts on top of the building. By April we were fairly accustomed to regular incoming mortars. On April 11th I was trying to sleep in the morning after a long night of standing post filling sandbags. Some of my squad had just gotten back from the main part of the ING where hot chow was brought most mornings and nights. They woke me up and I decided sleep was more important then food that morning. I heard/felt quite a few mortars land pretty close and I remember thinking how inconsiderate those bastards were for disturbing my precious sleep.

I started to drift off again and then BOOOM! I was thrown from the cot into the wall… An SUV [had] exploded [right outside] where I was sleeping in the ING building… I heard one of my squad mates screaming ‘WERE HIT!!’  All I can see is dust and I have a faint ringing in my ears. I grab my boots, flak, helmet and rifle and start running to the roof where our posts were. My ears start to pick up lots of gunfire on the roof.

My whole squad was running towards the stairwell for the roof. I was about to take my first step up and another massive blast threw everyone down the stairs and onto the ground. Again I couldn’t hear anything but a faint buzz and dust was so thick I could barely see a couple feet. We all got back to our feet and scrambled to the roof.

There were two posts on the roof facing south into the city where the majority of the attack was coming from. We took to the lip around the wall of the rooftop for cover and began to gain fire superiority. The houses to the south closest to us had been taken by our attackers. As best I could assess there was 15-20 enemy infantry. I honestly don’t remember hearing/feeling a third big explosion, maybe it was the adrenaline. I remember concrete being chipped off the wall in front of us and hitting us from bullet impacts. After what seemed like a split second, time also morphed into an eternity. Adrenaline is a strange rush.

The main firefight died down after about 45 minutes. At one point we had helicopters flying around shooting a couple Hellfires. The last few shots were fired probably an hour or hour-and-a-half after the first blast woke me. I remember Capt Diorio telling us we killed about 35 enemy as reported by the locals. I know three of them had me to thank for that. Then came the waiting game. I had to stay on that roof for 8 more hours because after the fighting died down, it was time for me to take my post.

Besides being a great story, this confirms that the first VBID detonated nearby the ING compound, NOT by the Gannon ECP. The well-known video of the attack is very confusing about that particular point (here’s a detailed analysis of the video).

–Ajax

Several India Company Marines helped me gain clarity on what exactly  happened during the 11 April 05 complex attack on Camp Gannon.  You can see the details they provided in the draft chapter, Attack on Gannon

For example, Dali Markovic of 2nd Platoon provided me the probable location of the enemy cameraman, and a pretty cool story about how India came close to taking him out.

Like most of AQI’s ‘martyrdom operations’, the April 11th attack was planned to maximize the propaganda value.  At least one camera crew was in place to capture the explosions.

The result was a dramatic video that was distributed to jihadist websites. Subsequently, it was featured on the now-inactive terrorism tracking website, globalterroralert.com, and later migrated to YouTube where it has been viewed thousands of times.

A little-known aspect of the attack is that India Co. came close to killing the cameraman.  Marines manning the ‘P1’ tower spotted the insurgent media team through binoculars.

They were on a rooftop some 800 meters to the southeast of Gannon.  “We called for fire on his location, but it was declined due to the helicopter being too close”, says Dali Markovic, a Team Leader in 2nd Platoon.  “We couldn’t tell they were filming, [but] we considered them hostile due to their activity on the roof at the time of the attack and the fact that we were receiving fire from that approximate direction.”

So, while the bad guys were shooting the video, Markovic and other Marines weren’t just watching them, they had their position dialed in and were trying to kill them.

–Ajax

I want to thank the 3/2 vets have been corresponding with me on Facebook. You’ve been providing valuable insights and first-hand info.  Several of my questions have been answered, and other issues have been clarified.  In the case of 3/2’s history, there are many subjects where eye witness accounts are the only possible source.  So it’s pretty cool to be able to chat and talk with these guys.

Here are some of the things they’ve helped me learn over the past few days…

Regarding the attack on Gannon, despite the several written accounts and the famous YouTube video, it’s been hard for me to understand just how the attack unfolded.  But thanks to Aaron Cook, an India Co. Marine who was there that day, now I have this Google map, showing the route the three SVBIEDs took, and where they detonated. That’s a big help, as I work on a detailed page, or series of pages, on the 11 April complex attack.  BTW, if anyone wants to clarify this further, let me know.

Update (18feb17): I now have a draft chapter/section on the Gannon Attack, incorporating a lot of input from India Co. Marines who were there.  That includes a more accurate map. See this link

Update (19jan17): Thanks to a couple of other sources, I now have a much more detailed understanding of where the VBIDs hit, and what else happened.  I’ll be posting that soon.

Jeff Maniscalco, from Kilo, 3rd Platoon, gave me two good bits of info. First, he confirmed that “Quell the storm… Ride the Thunder” was in fact the BN motto under LtCol Mundy in 2005.  I’ve been trying to nail that down.  He even shared this photo, of a carrying handle on his custom-built AR-15.

And second, Jeff helped me narrow down the location of the 3/25 AAV that was tragically hit and destroyed by triple-stacked mines on 11 May 2005, during Operation Matador.

I have been trying to figure out that location by correlating photos and video, and written descriptions.  A while back I came up with an educated guess.  But it was good to get a semi-confirmation from someone who was onsite.  He was pretty sure I’d pegged the location accurately.

Another Kilo Marine, Ian Norris, gave me good feedback on a previous blog post about a grunt-level video of Operation Spear.  I wasn’t sure what the platoon/squad was.  Was thinking it was either 3/2 Kilo, or maybe Marines from the 3/25 that came up from Haditha to support the operation.

What I found out was that 3/2’s Lima Co (which I thought was stuck at Al-Asad pulling base security for the whole deployment) sent some elements to be in Operation Spear. Ian knows the guys at the start of the video.  So, I learned a new dimension there.  Will try to connect with those guys and find out more about what 3/2 Lima did.

Anyway, there are already dozens of other examples where first-hand accounts from 3/2 Marines have really deepened my understanding.  I don’t think I could really tell the story without these guys sharing their experiences and insights.

–Ajax