On this day, 20 years ago, more than 60 insurgents attacked U.S. forces at Camp Redemption, the American section of the Abu Ghraib prison. Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and civilians were stationed at this camp, and almost half of them were assigned to the 306th MP Battalion.
Now-retired Maj. Gen. John Hussey, who served as commander of 306th, vividly remembers the battle and the enduring lessons learned from it.
“CSM Michael Donohue and I had just completed our battlefield circulation of the camp and at exactly 7:38 p.m. I turned to CSM Donohue and said, “It’s been a long day, Let’s call it a day.””
Earlier that day, insurgents had begun attempting to isolate the prison by unleashing an IED attack, ambushing coalition forces, and creating roadblocks on the routes leading to Camp Redemption.
By that evening, the enemy, believing the prison was isolated, initiated their main attack on Tower 4—an outer watchtower. Here, Marines defended against heavy small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, and hand grenades. A smaller attack occurred on the other side of the base where Soldiers and Airmen held defensive positions.
Guard tower near a main road at the Abu Ghraib prison compound that sustained heavy enemy fire during an insurgent attack during the Battle of Abu Ghraib, April 2, 2005. photo courtesy of Sgt. Michael J. Carden, US Army – Defend America Photo Essay – Abu Ghraib Attack
Inside the prison, MP Soldiers of the 360th were confronted with controlling and securing 3,000 detainees who had begun to riot and arm themselves with improvised weapons, including clubs and slingshots.
“My Soldiers were faced with a huge rioting detainee population to their front and an intense insurgent attack to their rear,” recalled Hussey.
To control the riot and repel insurgents, Hussey requested additional support via a helicopter and coordinated with the 18th MP brigade tactical operations center to prepare for an air assault into the prison.
The overall attack began to lessen around 9 p.m., and by the time it ended, some 44 U.S. military personnel and 12 prisoners were wounded, while an estimated 70 insurgents had perished.
Like the Tet Offensive of 1968, and the attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan on September 15 to 15, 2012, the Battle of Abu Ghraib, while a resounding defeat for the insurgents, taught the U.S. Military enduring lessons that remain relevant to today’s war fighters.
“Without question the commonality among these three attacks is that the overwhelming U.S. Military were racing what many might categorize as a “rag tag insurgent force,”” said Hussey.
One of the most important lessons is to never underestimate insurgent enemy forces.
“It is imperative that each echelon and all members of the chain of command adequately plan for insurgents to launch attacks. These must be planned for, and U.S. military personnel must be ready for them,” advised Hussey.
Maj. Gen. (R) Hussey’s Inside the Wire: Guarding America’s Enemy Prisoners in the Global War on Terror from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay, Available now at the MPRA Gift Shop
Hussey captured these lessons and others in his recently published book, Inside the Wire: Guarding America’s Enemy Prisoners in the Global War on Terror from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay, available now at our online or in-person MPRA Gift Shop. To shop online, visit us at Shop – Military Police Regimental Association.
-Dorie Chang
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