Military Snapshot - Navy SEAL Sniper Surveying the Landscape of Najaf

A Navy SEAL sniper in his “hide” amidst the chaos and rubble of Najaf in 2004. He is looking through his spotter scope. His rifle, an MK-11 7.62mm M-16 with suppressor is resting on its bipods at his feet. Photo courtesy of 1st Lt. William Birdzell, USMC, from Battle for the City of the Dead: In the Shadow of the Golden Dome, Najaf, August 2001 by Dick Camp.

From the Pages - Battle for the City of the Dead

The following excerpt is pulled from Chapter 10 ("Tomb Job") of Battle for the City of the Dead: In the Shadow of the Golden Dome, Najaf, August 2004 by Col. Dick Camp.

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“It was like New Orleans meets Baghdad.”
 

—U.S. Army officer describing the Wadi al-Salaam cemetery

Alpha Company jumped off early in the morning of August 8. “We cleared the little carnival area with negative contact,” Alpha Company’s commander, Capt. Kevin Badger, said. “We didn’t find anything.” The company held up until about 2 p.m., when, Badger said, “Colonel Miyamasu called and told me to initiate operations in AO Mad Dog [Alpha Company’s area of operations].”

First Lieutenant Steven D. Stauch added, “We were basically on station as a kind of reserve for about two hours at that point. We waited for Bravo and Charlie to clear down to Phase Line Bronx, and once they got to that point, then we were brought in to start clearing our sector.” Each company was given about a one-thousand-meter frontage.