Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq

by Dick Camp

Overview

The Second Battle for Fallujah, dubbed Operation Phantom Fury, took place over an almost two-month period, from November 7 to December 23, 2004. The Marine Corps’ biggest battle in Iraq to date, it was so prolonged and fierce that it has entered the pantheon of USMC battles alongside Iwo Jima, Inchon, and Hue City. This book offers an in-depth, intimate look into Operation Phantom Fury, the single most significant battle undertaken during the occupation of Iraq. The author, a retired Marine Corps colonel with combat service in Vietnam, conducted personal interviews with combatants, from the division commander in charge of the operation down to Marine infantrymen who did the fighting. The result--illustrated with a hundred action photographs--is a rare firsthand account of the brutal reality of the war in Iraq, how this battle for a key city was fought, and how such a crucial battle looks from positions of command and from the thick of the fight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616732530
Publisher:	Zenith Press
Publication date:	12/15/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	116,728
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Dick Camp is a retired Marine Corps colonel and the author of Lima-6, his memoir as a Marine infantry company commander at Khe Sanh. He has written several combat histories of the U.S. Marines, including The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood, Battleship Arizona’s Marines at War, Iwo Jima Recon, and Last Man Standing: The 1st Marine Regiment on Peleliu. He is also the author of Leatherneck Legends: Conversations with the Marine Corps’ Old Breed and has published over sixty articles in various military-oriented magazines, including Vietnam, World War II, Marine Corps Gazette, and Leatherneck. Camp is currently the vice president for museum operations at the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, overseeing the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Contents

 

Prologue

Part I: Evil Town

Chapter 1: Mean Streets

Chapter 2: Bloody Encounters

Part II: No Happy Endings

Chapter 3: No Better Friend

Chapter 4: Back to the Brawl

Chapter 5: The Vortex of Violence

Chapter 6: Drumbeat for Action

Chapter 7: Operation Vigilant Resolve

Chapter 8: Political Expediency

Chapter 9: Aggressive Defense

Chapter 10: A Long, Hot, Dangerous Summer

Chapter 11: New Warriors

Chapter 12: End of the Experiment

Part III: Enough is Enough

Chapter 13: Plan of Attack

Chapter 14: Shaping the Battlefield

Chapter 15: Rules of Engagement

Part IV: Storming Fallujah

Chapter 16: D-day (November 7)

Chapter 17: D+1 (November 8)

Chapter 18: D+2 (November 9)

Chapter 19: D+3 (November 10)

Chapter 20: D+4 (November 11)

Chapter 21: D+5 (November 12)

Part V: Into the Belly of the Beast

Chapter 22: D+6 (November 13)

Chapter 23: D+7 to D+24 (November 14–December 8)

Part VI: Mop Up

Chapter 24: Parting Shots

Appendix A: U.S. Commanders in Operation Phantom Fury

Appendix B: Second Battle of Fallujah Battle Casualties

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“When Dick Camp writes about Marines, he does so from the heart. Operation Phantom Fury is in the top tier of books about Marines at war.” —Eric Hammel, author of Marines in Hue City andThe Root: The Marines in Beruit

Military Officer

“The Second Battle for Fallujah, dubbed Operation Phantom Fury, took place over an almost two-month period, from Nov. 7 to Dec. 23, 2004. The Marine Corps’ biggest battle in Iraq to date, it was so prolonged and fierce that it has entered the pantheon of USMC battles alongside Iwo Jima, Inchon, and Hue City. This book offers an in-depth, intimate look into Operation Phantom Fury, the single most significant battle undertaken during the occupation of Iraq. It is a rare firsthand account of the brutal reality of the war in Iraq, how this battle for a key city was fought, and how such a crucial battle looks from positions of command and from the thick of the fight.”

Book News Inc.

“Camp, a retired Marine Corps colonel, offers a highly detailed account of the Marine Corps' biggest battle in Iraq, the Second Battle for Fallujah, which began with the 2004 murder of four Blackwater contractors. The account draws on personal interviews with those involved, including division commanders and infantrymen, and is illustrated with about 150 on-the-scene color photos, plus several maps. Camp is currently vice president for museum operations with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.”

Midwest Book Review

“Retired Marine Corps full colonel and Vietnam combat veteran Dick Camp presents Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq, an in-depth portrait of the second battle for Fallujah, which was the Marine Corps' biggest battle in Iraq, and arguably the most important battle during the entire occupation. Though Fallujah did not receive severe damage during the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, strife between civilians, insurgents, and coalition forces erupted into violence with the murder and desecration of four Blackwater contractors. The U.S. Marine and Army forces, along with a number of Iraqi Army battalions, had to confront the lethal task of retaking Fallujah from insurgents. An expertly researched, harrowingly presented account of the pivotal battle, highly recommended especially for military history collections with a focus on the Iraq Wars.”

“Marine master historian and author Dick Camp has written the definitive account of the two major battles for the city of Fallujah and a “spot-on” historical account of one of our Marines’ hardest fights since the Vietnam-era ended. The book is exquisite to hold in your hands; beautifully bound, it contains more than 150 color photos set on high-quality manuscript paper.” - Leatherneck Magazine

This is a heavy book. Because of the high-quality paper suitable for printing more than 150 color photographs plus mps, Operation Phantom Fury weighs about 2 pounds. And the information is worth the weight.

Experienced author Dick Camp, a retired Marine colonel and Vietnam veteran, is vice president at the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and its National Museum of the Marine Corps. He knows the subject. For this contemporary history, Camp conducted interviews and review oral histories—and made us of the bibliography. Operation Phantom Fury chronologically documents the on-the-ground events leading to the 2003 and 2004 military operations in Fallujah, Iraq, and makes clear that the operations relied on a team—soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Iraqi troops. He chooses exposition of eloquence, relying on participants’ voices to bring drama and description. - Army Times News Service

 

In November 2004 a joint US-Iraqi force of thousands moved against insurgents in Fallujah to eliminate some of the area's most 'hardcore' insurgents and restore peace. Code-named Operation Phantom Fury, this offensive turned out to be lethal urban combat - and its history and processes are chartered here in Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq, for any military library strong in modern combat. - Midwest Book Review

Editorial Reviews

When Dick Camp writes about Marines, he does so from the heart. Operation Phantom Fury is in the top tier of books about Marines at war.”

—Eric Hammel, author of Marines in Hue City and
The Root: The Marines in Beruit

This is a heavy book. Because of the high-quality paper suitable for printing more than 150 color photographs plus mps, Operation Phantom Fury weighs about 2 pounds. And the information is worth the weight.

Experienced author Dick Camp, a retired Marine colonel and Vietnam veteran, is vice president at the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and its National Museum of the Marine Corps. He knows the subject. For this contemporary history, Camp conducted interviews and review oral histories—and made us of the bibliography. Operation Phantom Fury chronologically documents the on-the-ground events leading to the 2003 and 2004 military operations in Fallujah, Iraq, and makes clear that the operations relied on a team—soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Iraqi troops. He chooses exposition of eloquence, relying on participants’ voices to bring drama and description. - Army Times News Service

In November 2004 a joint US-Iraqi force of thousands moved against insurgents in Fallujah to eliminate some of the area's most 'hardcore' insurgents and restore peace. Code-named Operation Phantom Fury, this offensive turned out to be lethal urban combat - and its history and processes are chartered here in Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq, for any military library strong in modern combat. - Midwest Book Review

USNI Proceedings

Camp sets the battles’ political stage very well, describing the tensions among U.S. Administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, Iraq Coalition Force Commander, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and aptly avoids commenting on the war’s domestic political controversy. This technique keeps his work close to what matters most in getting to the truth of a battle: write of the strategy and of the men who execute it….Camp writes of war’s men and methodology as only one who has been there can. I especially liked his treatment of some of the nation’s most brilliant combat leaders, including Marine General James N. Mattis and Colonel Willard A. Buhl, and his skill in telling a story that reads less like a history than a thrilling novel…

Military Heritage

“…an intriguing account of the two major campaigns to drive the terrorists out of the city.”

Military Officer
“The Second Battle for Fallujah, dubbed Operation Phantom Fury, took place over an almost two-month period, from Nov. 7 to Dec. 23, 2004. The Marine Corps’ biggest battle in Iraq to date, it was so prolonged and fierce that it has entered the pantheon of USMC battles alongside Iwo Jima, Inchon, and Hue City. This book offers an in-depth, intimate look into Operation Phantom Fury, the single most significant battle undertaken during the occupation of Iraq. It is a rare firsthand account of the brutal reality of the war in Iraq, how this battle for a key city was fought, and how such a crucial battle looks from positions of command and from the thick of the fight.”

Book News Inc.
“Camp, a retired Marine Corps colonel, offers a highly detailed account of the Marine Corps' biggest battle in Iraq, the Second Battle for Fallujah, which began with the 2004 murder of four Blackwater contractors. The account draws on personal interviews with those involved, including division commanders and infantrymen, and is illustrated with about 150 on-the-scene color photos, plus several maps. Camp is currently vice president for museum operations with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.”

Midwest Book Review
“Retired Marine Corps full colonel and Vietnam combat veteran Dick Camp presents Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq, an in-depth portrait of the second battle for Fallujah, which was the Marine Corps' biggest battle in Iraq, and arguably the most important battle during the entire occupation. Though Fallujah did not receive severe damage during the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, strife between civilians, insurgents, and coalition forces erupted into violence with the murder and desecration of four Blackwater contractors. The U.S. Marine and Army forces, along with a number of Iraqi Army battalions, had to confront the lethal task of retaking Fallujah from insurgents. An expertly researched, harrowingly presented account of the pivotal battle, highly recommended especially for military history collections with a focus on the Iraq Wars.”

Marine master historian and author Dick Camp has written the definitive account of the two major battles for the city of Fallujah and a “spot-on” historical account of one of our Marines’ hardest fights since the Vietnam-era ended. The book is exquisite to hold in your hands; beautifully bound, it contains more than 150 color photos set on high-quality manuscript paper.” - Leatherneck Magazine

From the Publisher