Task Force Tarawa (TFT) was the name given to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade during the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. It was a Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanded by

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Richard F. NatonskiNatonski message. that was attached to the

I Marine Expeditionary Force The I Marine Expeditionary Force ("I" pronounced "One") is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It is ...

during the course of the invasion and was most notable for its participation in the heavy fighting in the city of an-Nāṣiriyyah. During its time supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, the task force suffered 23 Marines killed in action.

Deployment

The 7,100 Marines and Sailors of TFT departed Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

on January 15, 2003. They were transported on seven

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

ships that together formed Amphibious Task Force East (ATF East); otherwise nicknamed the 'Magnificent Seven'. The ships were the , , , , , , and the . ATF East arrived in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

on February 15, 2003 and quickly debarked their aircraft and ships then headed into the northern Kuwaiti desert. The Task force's equipment consisted of 81 aircraft, 46

Amphibious Assault Vehicle The Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV)—official designation AAVP-7A1 (formerly known as Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel-7 abbr. LVTP-7)—is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle manufactured by U.S. Combat Systems (previously by Unit ...

s, 24 LAVs, 14

M1A1 Abrams The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest t ...

tanks, 18

M198 howitzer The M198 is a medium-sized, towed 155 mm artillery piece, developed for service with the United States Army and Marine Corps. It was commissioned to be a replacement for the World War II-era M114 155 mm howitzer. It was designed and prototyped ...

s, and 4 M9 ACEs. (however they only had 12 Abrams when the fighting started.)

Operation Iraqi Freedom

TFT crossed into

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

on March 21, 2003 with the missions of securing Jalibah Airfield and then securing the 3 bridges over the Euphrates River at An Nasiriyah to allow the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is th ...

to continue its attack north. From March 23 to March 29, 2003, Task Force Tarawa was engaged in heavy fighting in and around the city of An Nasiriyah as they came in contact with

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

’s Fedayeen and members of the Iraqi 11th Infantry Division. TFT lost 18 Marines in the fighting and were involved in a

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

incident in which two

A-10 Warthog The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

aircraft killed a number of Marines when they strafed their

s with 30mm depleted uranium rounds and Maverick missiles. The A-10 pilots were not prosecuted. During this time the original task force grew with the additions of the 15th and

24th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with a strength of about ...

s. The Marines of TFT were the first U.S. unit to come in contact with the remnants of the 507th Maintenance Company after they were ambushed and later on were on standby to assist with the rescue of

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

PFC Jessica Lynch. After leaving An Nasiriyah, the Task Force was tasked with securing the highways to the rear of the 1st Marine Division and on April 3, 2003 they secured the town of Ad Diwaniyah. They continued to move and on April 7, pushed into Al Amarah, securing the 10th Armoured Division HQ and the nearby Al Amarah airfield and finally ended the invasion outside of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

after conducting security and stabilization operations in

Al Kut Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It ...

on April 11. On May 14, 2003 Task Force Tarawa turned its Area of Operations over to the

and returned to the United States via naval ship. While en route back to the United States on June 12, 2003,

3rd Battalion 2nd Marines 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines (3/2) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Comprising approximately 1000 marines and sailors and nicknamed the "Betio Bastards", they f ...

(3/2) while aboard was deployed in support of Operation Shining Express to support the rescue of U.S. embassy personnel and American citizens during the Second Liberian Civil War.

Order of battle

* 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade - BGen R.F. Natonski :Company A, 8th Communication Battalion :Detachment, 2nd Intelligence Battalion - Maj J.P. Christopher :Detachment, 2nd Radio Battalion - Maj T. Naughton :

2nd Marine Regiment The 2nd Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and fall under the command of the 2nd Marine Division (United States), 2nd Marine Division and th ...

1st Battalion, 2nd Marines 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines (1/2) (pronounced "one-two") is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, consisting of approximately 900 Marines and sailors. The battalion ...

(1/2) :: 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (2/8) ::

2nd Battalion, 6th Marines 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines (2/6) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Also known as "The Ready Battalion" or "2/6 Spartans", it consists of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors and ...

(2/6) ::

3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines (3/2) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Comprising approximately 1000 marines and sailors and nicknamed the "Betio Bastards", they f ...

(3/2) ::

1st Battalion, 10th Marines 1st Battalion, 10th Marines (1/10) is an artillery battalion composed of four firing batteries and a headquarters battery. The battalion is stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and falls under the command of 10th Marine Regiment, part of 2d ...

(1/10) :: Company C,

2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is a fast and mobilized armored terrestrial reconnaissance battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Their primary weapon system is the 8-wheeled LAV-25 and they fall under the command of the 2nd ...

:: Company A,

2nd Reconnaissance Battalion The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Recon) is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. Located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the battalion falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II ...

:: Company A,

2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion is a mechanized battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Their primary weapon system is the Amphibious Assault Vehicle. The battalion is a separate battalion within the 2nd Marine Division and the II Marine E ...

(Attached to 1/2) :: Company A, 8th Tank Battalion (Attached to 1/2) (deactivated currently Company E, 4th Tank Battalion) :: Company A, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion :: Company A, 6th Combat Engineer Battalion Battle Creek, MI :

Marine Air Control Group 28 Marine Air Control Group 28 (MACG-28) is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point that is currently composed of four command and control squadrons and a low altitude air defense ...

2d Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion 2d Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion (2d LAAD) is an air defense unit of the United States Marine Corps. They are part of Marine Air Control Group 28 (MACG-28) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW) and are currently based at Marine Corps A ...

:: Marine Air Support Squadron 1 :

Marine Aircraft Group 29 Marine Aircraft Group 29 (MAG-29) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina. The group is currently composed of four CH-53E Super Stallion squadrons including the Fleet Replacement ...

, MCAS New River, North Carolina ::

Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 29 Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 29 (MALS-29) is an aviation logistics support unit of the United States Marine Corps. Known as the "Wolverines", they fall under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 29 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and are ...

HMH-464 Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 (HMH-464) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopters. The squadron is known as the "Condors" and is based at Marine Corps Air Station New Rive ...

HMLA-269 Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269 (HMLA-269) was a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters. Also known as "The Gunrunners", the squadron was based a ...

:: HMM-162 - Helicopter Marine Medium : Combat Service Support Battalion 22

Notes

References

* ''This article incorporates text in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

from the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

.''
2nd MEB website
Retrieved on 2006-08-06. * * *

External links