Explaining Operation Phantom Thunder
Posted by: McQ
Ralph Peters talks about Operation Phantom Thunder of which Operation Arrowhead Ripper is a single part:
HALLELUJAH! For the first time since Baghdad fell, our military in Iraq has a comprehensive, integrated plan to defeat our enemies.
Until now, our efforts have always been piecemeal, stop-start affairs. Even our success in the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004 went unexploited.
Things have changed. And terrorists, not just Iraqi civilians, are dying.
The 10,000-man operation reported in the Baquba area is only one part of a broader effort. In the words of a well-placed officer in Baghdad, "Operations like that are going on around Fallujah, Salman Pak, in Eastern Anbar, the belts around Baghdad, in Arab Jabour, outside of Taji and throughout the Diyala River Valley."
This widespread offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorists is part of a carefully developed, phased plan. The first step as the troop surge proceeded was to establish livable conditions in key neighborhoods of the capital.
So OK, he's excited, but what does it all mean?
LTG Ray Odierno briefed reporters at the Pentagon today via teleconference from Iraq. He described the operation like this:
Operation Phantom Thunder is a corps-level offensive operation that began on 15 June to defeat al Qaeda insurgents and extremists, deny enemy safe havens, interdict movement, logistics and communications. It is an open-ended operation that will extend through the summer and will be done in conjunction with civil-military operations to support political and economic efforts.
It consists of carefully synchronized simultaneous operations at division and brigade level to clear al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shi'a extremists in, near and around Baghdad. It also includes aggressive shaping operations by our Special Operations Forces focused on al Qaeda in Iraq and other special groups.
These operations are intended to eliminate accelerants to Baghdad violence from enemy support zones in the belts that ring the city.
Some important points about the operation that make it different from others conducted there to date. First, Operation Phantom Thunder is the umbrella name for a number of 'carefully synchronized simultaneous operations". That's important to understand. Instead of piecemeal or isolated operations which may secure a particular area but simply displace the terrorists, the purpose of these operations is to secure the area and kill the displaced terrorists before they can find another area to infest.
So Operation Phantom Thunder (OPT) is made up of simultaneous division and brigade operations, such as Operation Arrowhead Ripper being conducted in Baqubah with the 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (2ID) where Michael Yon is. There are also operations going on with the 3ID called Operation Marne Torch (3ID is known as the "Rock of the Marne" from WWI).
It is also necessary to understand that OPT is not only focused in Baghdad, but also in the belts around Baghdad.
The disposition of forces can be found here:
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Deployed are 20 Brigade size combat teams, a Marine Expeditionary Unit, 4 Combat Aviation Bdes and a Marine Air Wing. Lots of firepower. And don't forget the artillery.
As you can see, within Baghdad are five Bde Combat Teams (BCT): 2nd and 4th BCTs of the 1st ID in the west and south, 2nd BCT of the 1st Cav in the center of the city, 2nd BCT of the 2ID in the east and the 2nd BCT (my old unit) of the 82nd in the north.
These are the units taking it to AQ in Baghdad. They are trying to either kill them there or make them flee the city to be killed by those ringing the city. In the NE, in Diyala, you have three BCTs, 3rd and 4th BCTs of the 2ID and 3rd BCT of the 1st Cav. In the south, in you have 2nd and 3rd BCTs of the 3ID and 4th BCT of the 25th ID. To the east 2nd BCT of the 10th ID and in the NW, in Anbar, the 13th MEU and 6th Marine RCT.
In this case instead of whack-a-mole, all holes are hopfully covered.
And note who they're targeting. Yes, al Qaeda is a target, and the primary target, but they aren't playing favorites. They're going after "al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shi'a extremists in, near and around Baghdad." That pretty much includes all the bad guys. So when Michael Yon entitles his series of reports "Surrender or Die", those are pretty much the only options being offered at the moment.
Note too that Odierno calls this an "open-ended" operation. It's going to go until the military feels the terrorists and insurgents are degraded to the point of ineffectiveness. One of the ways that will be done, obviously, is clear, hold, stay and build. But the other thing which has to be done is to minimize as much as possible AQs ability to disrupt this process. And that gets to another part of Odierno's description:
It also includes aggressive shaping operations by our Special Operations Forces focused on al Qaeda in Iraq and other special groups.
These operations are intended to eliminate accelerants to Baghdad violence from enemy support zones in the belts that ring the city.
So special operators are going to be terrorist hunting and they're going to trying to eliminate "accelerants to Baghdad violence". That's milspeak for they're going to be looking for the bomb factories that make truck and car bombs and the chlorine bombs. It has been in the belt areas around Baghdad that most of those have been made.
Last but not least, keep in mind the goals Odeirno has outlined for the operation:
"[D]efeat al Qaeda insurgents and extremists, deny enemy safe havens, interdict movement, logistics and communications", all of which will be "done in conjunction with civil-military operations to support political and economic efforts."
That is why it is an "open ended" operation. Parts of it are going to wind up sooner than other parts depending on what they find as they take, clear, hold, stay and build in these areas. Some areas are going to take longer than others, some are going to need more work than others, and some are going to take longer because the Iraqi Security Forces in the area aren't ready.
I'm not intimating through this explanation of the operation that all is peaches and cream and this is going to go off like clock work and everything is going to be fine. But having been an operations officer for 18 years up to and including Corps level, I can tell you that this is a plan with a chance.
However, here's something you can count on now. We will see increased US casualties. This is tough, dirty, nasty fighting and it is close quarter fighting. Offensive operations are costly. But they are the only way, really, to gain any sort of military victory. And yes, I know that the civilian side - the economic and political side - are equally important.
That's the wild card here, folks. That's the unknown.
The center of gravity in OPT is Baghdad. This operation, if successful, should provide the time and room necessary for the reconciliation process. Whether or not the Iraqis will take advantage of that, or instead act like the Palestinians, is yet to be determined.
Anyway, that's the layout. I'm going to try and keep up with this and explain as much as I can based on the info I can dig up. Feel free to ask questions.
AI
