Over the course of each day, several roadside bombs are found inside the city and destroyed. Al-Qaeda uses cash to pay unemployed Fallujans to plant the IEDs. A large majority of the IEDs are found by Marines, the Iraqi Army or the Iraqi Police, who then call the location in to the Joint Command Center. At the JCC, the planning begins to disable the weapons. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team is called in, and the Iraqi Army and Marines provide the cordon around the bomb site to ensure civilians are not harmed.

On Tuesday, an Army National Guard patrol had the misfortune of getting hit by a roadside bomb. But they were lucky none the less. The unit was moving down Fran, one of the two major streets running through Fallujah, when an IED struck their vehicle, just across from the Tawaheed and Shuhada Police Patrol Station.

The Humvee limped into the Government center, and the soldiers come up to the Joint Command Center. Doc J and Scuba Steve, the medics for the Police Transition Team, checked out the soldiers. An Army specialist was visibly shaken but none the worse for wear. There were no injuries. The Marines and soldiers traded shop talk on IEDs, hot spots in Fallujah, weapons, equipment and expressed skepticism about the Fallujah Police as the attack occurred right in front of a police guard post. Corporal Sazfranski, the Police Transition Team's motor pool NCO among other tasks, was able to round up some new tires and help the soldiers on their way.

Because of the ever evolving threat in Fallujah, Iraqi and Coalition forces remain on the offensive.
Cell commanders, financiers, facilitators, bomb makers and snipers are key targets in the city, as these are the primary killers of Iraqi and Coalition forces. Charlie Company and the Iraqi Army are actively seeking to dismantle the insurgent network in Fallujah.

I linked up with Company,1st Battalion, 24th Marines on Sunday night. Charlie Company is the only Marine line infantry inside Fallujah. The 1/24 is a reserve infantry unit from Michigan, and is augmented with Marines from Indian and across the country. Charlie's 300 Marines have fought some of the toughest battles in here in Fallujah over the past few months.

The mission was a raid to detain multiple insurgent suspects. I linked up with the 1st Squad., 2nd Platoon, led by Corporal Stephen Webber. The raid began after midnight, and the targets were two suspected insurgents. “It takes about 20 patrols to gather the intelligence for one such raid,” said Captain Mike Maynes, Charlie's company commander.

1st Squad took the point, and moved towards the target house. For the raid, the squad is tasked with providing overwatch for the assault element. The night was moonless, quiet and cold. The platoon darted across Fran, regrouped and pushed towards the target house.

The platoon hit a snag just as we approached the target house. A new construction site, which wasn't on the map, blocked the route to the home, and we were forced to detour. Once we hit the target site, 1st Squad entered the home across the street to provide cover for the assault team. We watched as other covering units took their position, then the assault element made its entry.

The home was briefly searched and the family was gathered into one room. Four military aged males (or MAMs) were in the home. Gunnery Sergeant Chris Mohr checked their IDs and questioned the men about the insurgency, Baathists, Saddam, and Takfiris. “Sometimes these guys will say I don't like Ali Baba (a term used for the insurgents) but support Saddam. Sometimes they'll give us useful information.” This raid failed to net any insurgents or produce any follow on intelligence, however.

I linked up with Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines on Sunday night. Charlie Company is the only Marine line infantry inside Fallujah. The 1/24 is a reserve infantry unit from Michigan, and is augmented with Marines from Indiana and across the country. Charlie's 300 Marines have fought some of the toughest battles in here in Fallujah over the past few months.

The mission was a raid to detain multiple insurgent suspects. I linked up with the squad led by Corporal S. Webber. The raid began after midnight, and the targets were two suspected insurgents. “It takes about 20 patrols to gather the intelligence for one such raid,” said Captain M. Mayne, Charlie's company commander.

1st Squad took the point, and moved towards the target house. For the raid, the squad is tasked with providing overwatch for the assault element. The night was moonless, quiet and cold. The platoon darted across Fran, regrouped and pushed towards the target house.

The platoon hit a snag just as we approached the target house. A new construction site had blocked the route to the home, and we were forced to detour. Once we hit the target site, 1st Squad moved to provide cover for the assault team. We watched as other covering units took their position, then the assault element made its entry.

The home was briefly searched and the family was gathered into one room. Four military aged males (or MAMs) were in the home. Gunnery Sergeant C. Mohr checked their IDs and questioned the men about the insurgency, Baathists and Saddam. “Sometimes these guys will say I don't like Ali Baba (a term used for the insurgents) but support Saddam. Sometimes they'll give us useful information.” This raid failed to net any insurgents, however.

As we wound our way back from the raid site, bursts of machine gun fire was heard in the distance. The Iraqi Army had a patrol out. “The Iraqi Army will open fire whenever they feel threatened,” said Cpl Webber. The Iraqi Army had much more luck that day than Charlie, however, and captured four members of insurgent cells.