Combat· Anti-ISIS Campaign (Op INHERENT RESOLVE)
Battle of Raqqa
The Battle of Raqqa was the campaign to capture the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, fought on the ground by the Syrian Democratic Forces with the Marines providing artillery support on an extraordinary scale.
A Marine artillery battery from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed into northern Syria with M777 howitzers, marking the first time American artillery had been committed on the ground in Syria since the fight against the Islamic State began. Over roughly five months the battery delivered round-the-clock, all-weather fire in support of the partnered assault on the city, firing some thirty-five thousand rounds, more than any Marine or Army battalion had fired since the Vietnam War. The Marines operated behind the front lines rather than assaulting the city themselves, providing the weight of fire that helped reduce the militants' fortified defenses. The fall of Raqqa stripped the Islamic State of its Syrian capital and was a milestone in the collapse of its caliphate.
Record no. 62