text: Chapter 6
  platoon, an attack aviation troop from 4-3 ACR (Longknife Squadron), a tank platoon from
  1-3 ACR (Tiger Squadron), and Iraqi Army advisors from Tiger Squadron to remain in
  Southern Baghdad in order to support the 3rd Infantry Division. The remainder of the
  regiment moved to the Western Ninewa Province to begin operations against the highly
  organized enemy network that controlled the area.
  From May to July 2005, Sabre Squadron developed an accurate intelligence picture of the
  situation inside the city of Tall Afar through effective reconnaissance operations that, on
  many occasions, required them to fight for information. The squadron, reinforced by a tank
  company from Tiger Squadron, took the fight to the enemies, resulting in some of the
  toughest urban combat seen by American troops up to that point. In the month of June
  alone, over 210 unconventional enemy attacks occurred within the city, which accounted
  for over ten percent of all attacks in the Iraqi theater of operations at the time. These attacks
  targeted the civilian population, with the intents to increase the sectarian divide and create
  a chaotic situation. Sabre Squadron refused to back down and began building positive
  relationships with the locals. This initiative led to the collection of accurate intelligence
  that, in turn, enabled 3rd ACR to understand the composition and disposition of the enemy
  occupying the city. Ahead of 3rd ACR’s arrival to the Ninewa Province, Sabre Squadron
  had already begun reestablishing the local government and reconstituting local police to
  set conditions for the large-scale, combined offensive with the ISF that 3rd ACR leadership
  understood as necessary to eliminate the enemy threat within Tall Afar.
  As Sabre Squadron began to set conditions within Tall Afar, 3rd ACR leadership
  understood the need to set conditions across the surrounding region by establishing security
  outside the city. Tiger Squadron established itself in the area west of Tall Afar, where they
  liberated smaller cities and towns, effectively denying the use of these areas to the enemy
  threat and securing critical supply routes from the Syrian border to Tall Afar. Moving from
  location to location, Tiger Squadron reestablished security along the border, within the
  urban centers, and reconstituted ISF in those areas. Meanwhile, Longknife Squadron, the
  aviation squadron, conducted continuous reconnaissance and security operations across
  the surrounding desert region. With security in the surrounding region established, 3rd
  ACR had engineers construct an eight-foot-high berm around the city of Tall Afar, with the
  intents of isolating the enemy threat within the city and of funneling traffic through
  established security checkpoints. Conditions were set for 3rd ACR to execute Operation
  Restoring Rights.
  Operation Restoring Rights was the combined offensive between 3rd ACR and the ISF to
  take back Tall Afar. Third ACR integrated over 5,500 Iraqi soldiers and police officers into
  this operation with the augmentation of 1 battalion from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division,
  5 battalions from the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, an Iraqi Special Forces battalion, a
  commando brigade, and the Mosul Emergency Police Battalion. Tiger Squadron conducted
  reconnaissance from the western portion of the area of operations into Tall Afar, where
  they conducted a relief in place with Sabre Squadron. Tiger Squadron assumed
  responsibility of operations on the western side of Tall Afar, while Sabre Squadron
  conducted operations on the eastern side of the city. Augmented by the 2-325 Infantry
  Battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division, 3rd ACR’s ground forces began clearing out
  enemy threat. They actioned on areas and targets throughout the city, using intelligence
  gathered from the local population and detainees. Precision artillery and close air support
  enabled ground forces to clear out areas in which they encountered heavy resistance,
  allowing them to continue to conduct house-to-house searches for enemy threat. From
  24 August to 23 September 2005, 3rd ACR and their ISF partners killed over 150 enemy
  fighters and captured another 800, while the enemy was attempting to flee the city.
  The success achieved by the cooperation between 3rd ACR and the ISF emboldened
  Tall Afar’s population to retake control of the city, thereby denying the enemy the ability to
  establish another base from which to operate. Following the defeat of the enemy threat,
  Sabre Squadron and the 2-325 Infantry Battalion maintained security in Tall Afar and
  simultaneously recruited and trained a legitimate Iraqi police force. Tiger Squadron