Combat· Iraq War (Op IRAQI FREEDOM)
Battle of Ramadi
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, was one of the most violent and bitterly contested cities of the Iraq War, an insurgent stronghold that al-Qaeda in Iraq sought to make the seat of its self-proclaimed caliphate.
The Marines, alongside Army units and Iraqi forces, fought a long and costly campaign to wrest the city from the insurgency, combining hard urban combat to clear neighborhoods with the establishment of combat outposts to hold them and protect the population. The turning point came as Marine and Army commanders forged an alliance with the Sunni tribes of Anbar, who turned against al-Qaeda's brutality in the movement that became the Anbar Awakening. The combination of relentless pressure and tribal partnership broke the insurgent hold on the city. Ramadi became one of the signature successes of the war's later years, a place where the tide in Anbar decisively turned.
Record no. 35