UNCLASSIFIED A project of the Combat Studies Institute, the Operational Leadership Experiences interview collection archives firsthand, multi-service accounts from military personnel who planned, participated in and supported operations in the Global War on Terrorism. Interview with SSG David Bellavia Combat Studies Institute Fort Leavenworth, Kansas UNCLASSIFIED Abstract The leader of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force 2-2 Infantry in Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury (Al Fajr), Staff Sergeant David Bellavia was recommended for the Medal of Honor, nominated for the Distinguished Service Cross and received the Silver Star for his actions on 10 November 2004 in which he “single handedly saved three squads of his platoon that night, risking his own life by allowing them to break contact and reorganize. He then entered and cleared an insurgent strongpoint, killing four insurgents and mortally wounding another.” In this interview, focusing on the entirety of his Phantom Fury experiences and on the intense room-to-room, at times hand-to-hand, combat that characterized that one night in particular, Bellavia offers the ultimate on-the-ground insider’s story of this seminal urban operation, which culminated, he said, in Task Force 2-2 combining to put “a lot of pure evil permanently out of business.” As perceptive and introspective as it is raw and action- packed, Bellavia’s account touches on everything from doctrinal, training and technology recommendations to his warm recollections of his 2-2 comrades: from the battalion commander who, “if you beat in the face with a shovel his expression wouldn’t change,” and the company commander who was “the most honorable man I have ever met in my life,” to the countless soldiers and NCOs who helped make his service “the greatest experience in my life.” “War is horrific and ghastly,” Bellavia readily admitted. “There are ghoulish images that we all endure and it’s impossible to not be changed forever. But only in the midst of the worst mankind can produce can you truly see the beauty of human nature: self sacrifice, true honor, unprecedented loyalty – all the Army values displayed in person. When you have the chance to serve your nation with men and women you trust and love; when leaders two tax brackets above your pay grade carry rifles on the field next to you; and when you see your peers take bullets for you – that environment,” he concluded, “would motivate the most ardent anti-victory opponent of this conflict.” UNCLASSIFIED Interview with SSG David Bellavia 27 July 2006 MM: My name is Matt Matthews (MM) and I’m an historian for the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Today is 27 July 2006 and I’m interviewing Staff Sergeant David Bellavia (DB) on his experiences in Operation Phantom Fury. This is an unclassified interview. If I start to get into anything that might be classified just say, “Hey, I can’t answer that,” and I’ll understand what you’re talking about. I want to start off with some background information on you – where were you born, where you grew up and went to school, the circumstances under which you decided to join the Army. DB: I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. I attended Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire, and the University of Buffalo. I joined the Army in the spring of 1999 and served in the infantry for six years, deploying to Iraq with the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade stationed out of Vilseck, Germany. MM: You had served, I believe, in Kosovo and in various other places before you ever got to Iraq in 2004, is that correct? DB: That’s right. Our unit in Kosovo was almost identical to what we brought to Iraq, with the exception that we deployed for KFOR 4B without our mechanized or armored assets. We did nine months instead of the six-month rotation. I have to tell you, with all sincerity, those were some of the most difficult and enduring days of my life. I could take two years in Iraq living out of a MRE bag over that. In Iraq we believed in our mission. We knew it was important and that we were needed to save lives. Human lives were in the balance in Iraq daily. In Kosovo, though, it was very difficult to maintain a presence in an area where absolutely nothing would ever happen. We were on patrols with soft cover hats and no vests, and you pretty much needed a written letter of consent to chamber a round. If it wasn’t for the constant training it would have been very difficult to endure. The war was going on elsewhere and the talk around the campfire was that we were missing our fight. You can’t be part of the Big Red One and not buy completely into the amazing history of this unit; but how could my generation face this great noble adventure if the Big Red One is guarding Mr. Mehmeti’s chicken farm? It was criminal to miss the fight – and to be in Kosovo felt like a sham while other brave men and women were getting hurt. Morale was probably the lowest at that time, at least for me personally. Our leadership at our task force and company levels truly developed an ingenious plan. It would have been all too easy to lose focus on the next trip downrange, and we most certainly did not. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Newell, Captain Doug Walter, First Sergeant Peter Smith and Command Sergeant Majors Darrin Bohn and Steven Faulkenburg – these guys really made our nine months of pointless nothingness into a giant field problem with Iraq the dangling carrot to bait us. They would invent opportunities to air assault us into sectors, land navigate patrols, set up communications networks and drill casualty evacuations. The whole thing was training for the real world while in the “sort of but not really” world of Kosovo. The terrain got us in great shape and our enlisted men had mastered skill levels one and two by the end of the rotation. The leadership challenge for the small unit leaders had been met head on. Our success in Operational Leadership Experiences Project, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 3 UNCLASSIFIED Fallujah and during our whole year in Iraq was not bought and paid for by unit readiness training lanes in Germany or divine dumb luck. Rather, it was due to the nine months in Kosovo and the continued battalion-level focus when we came home. Our success was born from the fruits of outcome-based, goal-focused and purpose-driven leadership that started in Kosovo. This ethos, developed over time, emboldened the understanding that we are all accountable for each other coming home. That team building was essential to enduring the hardships of close quarters contact. Without that, we’re just another unit in combat. I believe we shot more rounds than any other task force infantry battalion in the United States military, without a doubt. We stole ammunition. There’d be people who said, “Yeah, we don’t want to go to the range today,” so we just took it: 8,000 rounds here, 4,000 rounds there. And we literally would go on a 12-hour patrol and then we’d turn around and do bunker drills all night long. MM: Can you talk me through when you first found out that you guys were going to have to go to Iraq in 2004? And also, who were some of the leaders in place at that time in 2-2 Infantry? DB: Command was clearly picking up the training tempo and it was obvious that we were next to go when Kosovo ended. Family time was split between ranges and preparation. To be honest, I truly applaud our commanders and their ability to take the unpopular but professional approach towards family readiness groups (FRGs) and say basically, “If we don’t train, we don’t come home. Shut up and stop complaining. We’ll be home when we’re done.” I don’t believe that came out in actual memorandum form, but the point was clear. 2-2 didn’t cut any corners before Iraq. We had a chip on our shoulder too. Everyone was talking about stabilization and sustainment operations. President Bush had landed on the carrier. No one even knew Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s name, let alone talked about it on Fox News. The UN headquarters was still up and running in Baghdad. The popular lay opinion was that we were going to open hospitals and clean water supplies. We wanted to be the Big Red One of our dad’s war but we were widely considered a peacekeeping division. Then we started to read the names of the towns we were going to on the front pages of newspapers. When we started to hear on the news that the cities in our sector were getting hot, we got pumped up and the motivation while training matched the intensity of the training tempo and we knew we had something real special. War is horrific and ghastly. There are ghoulish images that we all endure and it’s impossible to not be changed forever; but only in the midst of the worst mankind can produce can you truly see the beauty of human nature: self sacrifice, true honor, unprecedented loyalty – all the Army values displayed in person. When you have the chance to serve your nation with men and women you trust and love; when leaders two tax brackets above your pay grade carry rifles on the field next to you; and when you see your peers take bullets for you – that environment would motivate the most ardent anti-victory opponent of this conflict.