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HomeMy WebLinkAbout22_Mil-GWOT"We have gone forth om our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we've done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in.” Gen. Colin Powell AFGHANISTAN: Islamic radi- cals, led by the terrorist group Al Qaeda and its founder Osama bin Laden, conducted sev- eral isolated aacks against the United States in the years following the Cold War. ese in- cluded the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City (1993), and the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia (1996). Al Qaeda sent a small boat carrying explosives to hit the USS Cole while it was in port in Aden, Yemen (2000). Al Qaeda’s terrorism campaign against America culminated with the surprise aacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 11 September 2001, prompting American Pres. George W. Bush to declare a war against global terrorism. With Al Qaeda utilizing the Taliban controlled-nation of Afghanistan as a base of operations, the United States military launched a campaign against their government, Operation “Enduring Freedom,” on 7 October 2001 with an extensive bombing campaign against insurgent strongholds. is paved the way for U.S. Special Operations units, working with anti-Taliban forces (the Northern Alliance) and eventually, conventional Coali- tion forces which deployed shortly thereaf- ter. Climaxing with Operation “Anaconda” in March 2002, U.S. troops and the North- ern Alliance crippled Taliban resistance and ended the Taliban’s ve-year rule of Afghani - stan. As the Coalition engaged remaining Taliban forces, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as the prime minister of the Afghan interim government on 22 December 2001. e Inter- national Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established to assist with security in the capi- tal city, Kabul. ISAF included troops from Ger- many, Canada, and Spain. By 3 January 2002, ISAF consisted of 4,500 international troops. However, a renewed Taliban in- surgency emerged during 2003-2005 as ter- rorist ghters regrouped and opened a campaign against the Coalition. In 2006, Coalition forces concentrated their aention CAMPAIGNS The medals above depict the Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Global War on Terrorism service medals. e campaign streamer represents the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Campaign. ÛOPETION ENDURING FREEDOM 2001 ÛOPETION IQI FREEDOM 2003 ÛFIRST BALE OF FALLUJAH 2004 ÛSECOND BALE OF FALLUJAH 2004 and others. BELLIGERENTS ÛUNITED STATES ÛUNITED KINGDOM ÛNORTHERN ALLIANCE VERSUS ÛTALIBAN ÛAL-QAEDA STATISTICS (As of 9 February 2010) ÛTotal U.S. Service members (world wide) 1,421,731 ÛDeaths 5,351 ÛKilled in Action 4,180 ÛNon-hostile Deaths 1,171 ÛWounded in Action 34,504 nally capturing the former dictator on 13 December. Following a trial in an Iraqi court, Saddam Hussein was executed three years later on 30 December 2006. Meanwhile, the United States established a Coalition Provi- sional Authority (CPA) to provide for do- mestic stability and a transition for the Iraqi nation toward a new democratic government. But by the spring of 2004, the insurgency crystallized with the assassina- tion of four American civilian contractors in Fallujah on 31 March 2004. U.S. forces as- saulted the city in April for the First Bale of Fallujah and again in November for the Second Bale of Fallujah in order to clear the city of all in- surgent forces. During the campaign, Coalition and newly trained Iraqi troops cleared the entire city in nine days of heavy urban ghting, killing and capturing several thousand enemy combatants. In 2005, the violence from in- surgent aacks increased throughout the country, particularly with the rise of an organi- zation calling itself Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army. e U.S. military and the CPA meanwhile worked throughout the year to es- tablish security in order to carry out Iraq’s elections for the national assembly. e vio- lence in Iraq took on a more sectarian nature in early 2006. Sunni insurgents bombing the sacred al-Askari Shiite mosque in the city of Samarra on 22 February. Violence between rival Sunni and Shiite factions and against Coalition forces increased throughout 2006. In reaction to the rise in insurgent activity, President Bush authorized a controver- sial “surge” in U.S. troop deployments to Iraq with an increase of 21,000 additional service personnel and promoted General David Petra- eus to commander of Multi-National Force Iraq (MNF-I) in February 2007. Petraeus’ management of the surge gained the coopera- on insurgent activity in Afghanistan’s southern provinces, using both combat troops and provincial reconstruction teams. ISAF oensives in 2007 engaged an in- creasing number of foreign ghters from outside Afghanistan who reinforced native in- surgent forces. By 2008, the U.S. military in- creased its force strength and focused its op- erations on Taliban strongholds in Herat and Helmand provinces. Enemy aacks escalated in 2009, and the nations contributing to ISAF all in- creased their manpower and resource contributions. e Coalition conducted several of- fensives in hopes of providing sta- bility for the newly formed Afghan government. IQ : In 2002, suspicious that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was secretly storing weapons of mass destruction and support- ing terrorist networks, the United States urged the United Nations to pass UN Resolution 1441 calling for Iraq to allow com- prehensive UN inspections and eliminate its weapons-making programs. When Saddam Hussein failed to comply with the resolution, a U.S.-led Coalition force invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003. e Coalition included troops from Britain, Australia, Spain, and Poland. Operation “Iraqi Freedom” sought to secure the suspected weapons and oust Saddam’s regime. Aer a short but intense ground campaign, the coalition routed the Iraqi Army and captured Baghdad on 9 April. In a controversial step, on 1 May President Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq. However, during the summer of 2003, an increasingly violent insurgency of former Baathist supporters and anti-Coalition forces arose in Iraq’s major cities, particularly in the Sunni populated regions. In spite of the growing resistance movement, U.S. forces succeeded in killing Saddam Hussein’s two sons and successors, Uday and Qusay, during missile strikes on 22 July 2003, and © 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc..Le-Write InkÛ ÛÛ A CAMPAIGNS The medals above depict the Afghanistan, Iraq, Pres. Barack H. Obama 2009 - Photo by Pete Souza United States 50-star ag 2001ÛGLOBAL W A R O N T E R R O R Û Pres 2009 - Pho 222222222222222222222222 Pres. George W. Bush 2001 - 2009 Artist Mark Carder heavy CAMPAIGNS ÛÛÛÛÛ Û d ' Nurgaram District Center. 4 - Robert Gates, Sec. of Defense Bradford, A. Wineman, PHD, U.S. Marine Corps, Command and General Sta College tion of formerly hostile Sunni leaders during the “Sunni Awakening.” Insurgent aacks against Coalition forces gradually declined aacks against Coalition forces gradually declined during 2007 and 2008. U.S. troops reduced the actions of insurgent militias, developed civilian services within Iraqi communities, and successfully trained and equipped Iraq’s new security forces. In January 2009, the U.S. supervised Iraq’s rst provincial elections and transferred authority of the “Green Zone”—the government center in Baghdad—to Iraqi ocials. Shortly aer entering oce in 2009, President Barack Obama announced his plan to have most U.S. troops leave Iraq within two years. OPETIONS ELSEWHERE: e U. S. military also executed other operations outside of the Middle East in the Global War on Terror. In 2002-2003 U.S. forces established “Task Force Horn of Africa” in Djibouti to provide a Coalition presence against radical Islamic inuence in the region. e United States also stationed a task force in the Philippines to train forces against Islamic insurgents. Since 11 September 2001, U.S. troops also have been deployed to other locations such as the former Soviet Republics and the Sahara Desert for missions supporting the Global War on Terrorism. In order to execute all of these contingency operations, the U.S. military has relied heavily on its reserve forces from all of its services. America mobilized over 700,000 reservist troops for the conict. Reservists comprised nearly 40 percent of the total U.S. forces sent to Iraq. e U.S. military continues to be commie d to its eorts to defeat global terrorism . ÛWoWoWunded in Action © 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc..© 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc.. Û National Guard SGT Mike Neu, College Station, receives a promotion at Talil, Iraq. 1stLT Sarah Braddy Araujo, College Station, served two years with the USMC in Iraq. SGT Mark Michel, center, College Station, serves with the 3/509th INF (ARN) in Iraq. 4th Infantry on patrol, Naray, 4 January 2010, DOD. CH-47 Chinook drops o supplies in Kandahar Province. DOD. U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets on patrol over Afghanistan. 15 December 2008. DOD. SSG Phillip Steen, TAMU ‘05, U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, 2009. EO1 (SCW) James Michael Guidry, College Station, NMcb-28, U.S. Navy Seabees in Camp Fallujah, Iraq, 2007. Texas 36th Infantry Division National Guard patch. U.S. Army Specialist uses M-14 rie to scan hills surrounding Nurgaram District Center, 4 August 2009. DOD.