Multi-National Forces West | |
---|---|
Active | March 2004 – January 23, 2010 |
Disbanded | January 23, 2010 [1] |
Country | United States of America |
Allegiance | United States Marine Corps |
Branch | United States Marine Corps |
Type | Division |
Role | Expeditionary combat forces |
Size | 37,000 (Peak in February 2008) [2] |
Part of | Multi-National Force – Iraq, Multi-National Corps – Iraq |
Garrison/HQ | Camp Fallujah (2004–2008) Al Asad Airbase (2008–2010) |
Engagements | Iraq War – Al Anbar campaign * Operation Vigilant Resolve * Operation Phantom Fury |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | James T. Conway John F. Kelly |
Multi-National Forces West (MNF-W) or United States Forces West (USF-W) was one of the coalition headquarters under Multi-National Force-Iraq. It was headquartered by either I or II U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force that rotated on a 12-month basis. Their area of operations was primarily the Al Anbar province which includes the cities of Ar Ramadi, Fallujah, Al-Qa'im, and Haditha. The force was the most important U.S. unit to take part in the Iraq War in Al Anbar Governorate.
Among the smaller multinational units operating within MNF-W was a platoon from the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
During the Iraq War, the Marine Corps regularly rotated command of MNF-W between the 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces.
MEF | Commander | From | To |
---|---|---|---|
I MEF | James T. Conway | March 2004 | September 2004 |
I MEF | John F. Sattler | September 2004 | February 2005 |
II MEF | Stephen T. Johnson | February 2005 | February 2006 |
I MEF | Richard C. Zilmer | February 2006 | February 2007 |
II MEF | Walter Gaskin | February 2007 | February 2008 |
I MEF | John F. Kelly | February 2008 | February 2009 |
II MEF | Richard Tryon | February 2009 | January 23, 2010 |
For convenience, these changes of command are listed below and the Marine command in MNF-W is simply referred to as "MEF":
I Marine Expeditionary Force | II Marine Expeditionary Force |
As the Marine Corps withdrew from Al Anbar Governorate, by September 2009 they were replaced by a single brigade, the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. The brigade was bolstered with an additional 16 advisers, though this did not reach the 48 assigned advisors that were supposed to be part of an 'Advise and Assist' brigade. [4]
The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areas with a U.S. Department of Defense mandate to be "on-call to fight any time, anywhere" at "the knife's edge of technology and readiness." Primarily based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division.
The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America's Contingency Corps." Its headquarters are at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an American-led operation of the Iraq War against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractors in March 2004.
Coalition Forces Land Component Command, or CFLCC, is a command directing all land forces of different allied countries on behalf of a combatant commander or Joint task force commander.
Marine Air Support Squadron 1 (MASS-1) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit that provides the Direct Air Support Center to coordinate close air support for the II Marine Expeditionary Force. Callsign "Chieftain," the squadron is based out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, and falls under the command of Marine Air Control Group 28 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) was a formerly multinational, later U.S. only, army corps created on 15 May 2004, fighting the Iraq War. Its superior body, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) had replaced Combined Joint Task Force 7 on May 15, 2004. The change was made due to "concerns that had existed for some period of time, that the Combined Joint Task Force 7 headquarters was not sufficient to handle the range of military operations in Iraq, including peace support, civil military operations, and at the same time conduct strategic engagement such as talking to the sheiks and talking to the political authorities."
Below is an estimated list of the major units deployed within the Multi-National Force – Iraq and other United States military units that were operating in Iraq under the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) in 2009, during the Iraq War.
The Second Battle of Ramadi was fought during the Iraq War from March 2006 to November 2006, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A joint US military force under the command 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city.
The United States Marine Corps' Anti-Terrorism Battalion was a specialized infantry battalion. The battalion was disbanded in 2013.
Operation Phantom Thunder began on 16 June 2007, when Multi-National Force-Iraq launched major offensive operations against al-Qaeda and other extremist terrorists operating throughout Iraq. It was the largest coordinated military operation since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Operation Phantom Thunder was a corps level operation, including Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala Province, Operation Marne Torch and Operation Commando Eagle in Babil Province, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon in Baghdad, Operation Alljah in Anbar Province, and continuing special forces actions against the Mahdi Army in southern Iraq and against Al-Qaeda leadership throughout the country. The operation was one of the biggest military operations in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah (Arabic:إسكندرية), or FOB Iskandariyah, was a United States military forward operating base located on the grounds of the Musayyib Power Plant and the banks of the Euphrates River, north of the town of Musayyib, Babil Governorate, Iraq from 2003 to 2009.
The 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade is a sustainment brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. It provides logistical support to and is part of 82nd Airborne Division.
The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.
Combined Joint Task Force 7 was the interim military formation that directed the U.S. effort in Iraq between June 2003 and May 2004. It replaced the Coalition Forces Land Component Command on 14 June 2003. CFLCC was the land forces component of United States Central Command that carried out the initial invasion of Iraq, was established by Commander, U.S. Army Forces Central Command, in 2002/3, to oversee two corps-sized organizations, I Marine Expeditionary Force and V Corps. These two corps-level formations carried out Operation Iraqi Freedom which began on 20 March 2003.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (BCT) of the United States Army. The unit is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska and is the only airborne brigade combat team which is part of United States Army Pacific. It is also the newest airborne Infantry BCT and one of only five in the United States Army; the others are the three Infantry BCTs of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
In 2009, the United States and NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition, along with Afghan National Army forces, continued military operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. 2009 marks the eighth year of the War in Afghanistan, which began late in 2001.
The Ground Forces Command at Victory Base Complex near Baghdad Airport was the most important fighting formation in the Iraqi Army. The headquarters of the Iraqi Ground Forces Command and the Iraqi Joint Forces Command are the same entity.
The 7th Division is a division of the Iraqi Army.
Operation Sayeed also known as Operation Hunter in English, was a series of operations conducted in western Al Anbar Governorate by the United States Marine Corps in 2005. It was an umbrella operation, consisting of at least 11 named operations between July 2005 to December 2005. The purpose was to drive Al-Qaeda in Iraq forces from the Western Euphrates River Valley. Some parts of Operation Sayeed were Operation Steel Curtain and Operation Iron Fist.
Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate, was under U.S. military occupation during the Iraq War. It was a focal point of Iraqi insurgency, which erupted into open armed conflict in 2004 and in 2006, part of the Iraq War in Anbar Province. Operation Murfreesboro was a U.S. offensive in February 2007 intended to cut off the Ma'Laab district of eastern Ramadi from the rest of the town in order to drive out Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda in Iraq.