Counterinsurgency Success
In Al Anbar
Story and photos by LtCol Kurt Wheeler, USMCR
One of the factors
in the turnaround
promoted by the
Marine Corps and its
U.S. Army partners
is a rekindling of
relations with sheiks
and tribal leaders.
LtCol Harold C. VanOpdorp, commander of
1/24 (above left), listens intently to a
Fallujah-area sheik during a meeting of
local leaders, and a schoolboy (above right)
waves the Iraqi flag during a medical assistance effort near Ramadi. The Marines
must strike a balance when reinforcing the
democratically elected leaders and ensuring the traditional role of the sheiks so
that a sense of country is cultivated among
the Iraqis.
18 LEATHERNECK OCTOBER 2007
After four years of going toe to toe
with a relentless enemy who
seemed to re-emerge in one area
after defeat in another, Marines across
Iraq’s Al Anbar province are facing an
unfamiliar scenario—sustained success.
For more than a year, U.S. Marine and
Army units in Multi-National Force-West
(MNF-W) have been building on a string
of positive developments that are adding
up to enhanced security and stability in one
of the most challenging regions of Iraq.
While Congress and the American public have shifted their attention to the Baghdad area, anxiously measuring the impact
of the “surge,” U.S. Marines have achieved
steady progress in western Iraq. The Marines’ area of operations (AO), Al Anbar
province, has been one of the most violent and deadly parts of the country during much of the war. One of Iraq’s 18
provinces, its 53,000 square miles (about
the size of North Carolina) contain less
than 10 percent of Iraq’s population, but it
has accounted for nearly one-third of the
U.S. fatalities during the war. This trend
has reversed over the past six months, as
attacks and casualties have declined. Suc-
cess is being forged by young Marines
and noncommissioned officers.
Sergeant William J. Chesak may be typical of the “devil dogs” currently at the tip
of the spear for the Marine Corps. During
his 2006-07 tour in Iraq with Company A,
1st Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment (his
third combat tour since enlisting in 2003),
this young squad leader from Centreville,
Va., witnessed a transformation in his
company’s area of operations in central
Ramadi. His sector, which had been one
of the most violent in the provincial capital, a city of 400,000 along the Euphrates
River, has seen steady improvement.
The sergeant described his mission as
securing areas in the city to allow the Iraqi
police (IP) and soldiers to take control.
While this task was complicated by the
challenge of winning the trust of local
citizens subjected to instability and intense violence, he nevertheless saw dramatic progress. Chesak said, “It’s a completely new life for them; they’re very
appreciative of it.”
During the early stages of Operation
Iraqi Freedom, former regime elements
and al-Qaida-led foreign fighters, both
