In 2004, western Iraq’s Anbar Province was becoming increasingly restive. Within the US-led coalition forces in the country, the area was the responsibility of the US Marine Corps. Tim Strabbing was a Marine lieutenant and platoon commander at the time, and he arrived in Iraq as part of a Marine unit that would take over the area. His platoon was sent to an area just outside the city of Fallujah.
On his very first patrol after arriving—part of the relief-in-place process, when Tim and his Marines joined the outgoing platoon they would replace to familiarize the newcomers with the area—the patrol was struck by an ambush. It was a baptism by fire for the platoon and set the tone for what would be a challenging deployment. During that deployment, Tim would frequently plan and lead forty-eight-hour patrols with his platoon. In this episode of The Spear, he tells the story of one of these patrols that was particularly eventful.
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Note: This episode was originally published in May 2018.
Image credit: Cpl. Brandon Roach