Lieutenant General Richard F. Natonski, United States Marine Corps, commanded the 1st Marine Division and the ground combat element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), including substantial US Army forces, during Operation Al Fajr to retake Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004. Natonski begins this interview by noting that a lesson learned from the earlier attempt at Fallujah - April 2004's Operation Vigilant Resolve - resulted in the building of an "iron mountain" consisting of 15 days worth of ammunition, fuel, food and spare parts at a camp four miles outside the city so that supply lines were not a worry once the battle began. He states that Multinational Force-Iraq was concerned that the battle would result in a humanitarian crisis, but most of the civilian population had left the city before the battle and the use of proportionate force limited the collateral damage inflicted. Natonski was able to limit civilian casualties but not property damage as much as hoped because, as he said, "You can always rebuild a house; you can't rebuild a life. It was important to safeguard the Marines and soldiers." The MEF had previously operated with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry and 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in Najaf, and specifically requested that those Army units be assigned to the MEF for this operation. Natonski explains how the plan emphasized the strengths of each of the types of units involved, with the Army's mechanized battalions penetrating rapidly into the city in order to disrupt the enemy's command and control and the Marine infantry battalions clearing the city behind them. He states that Al Fajr was a truly joint operation, which also included Air Force dog teams and joint tactical air controllers and Navy Seabees and SEAL sniper teams. Natonski has lengthy praise for the principal Army commanders involved, saying, "All three of those officers were great and I'd take them in the Marine Corps in a heartbeat. They were can-do type individuals, which was really reflective of the attitude on both the Marine and Army sides." He describes operations as emblematic of the "three-block war," which "means you could be at full combat operations on one block, doing patrolling on the next block and doing humanitarian operations on the third block." Regarding his reputation for leading from the front, Natonski says, "You don't need to be a squad leader clearing buildings but you need to be present so you can talk to company commanders, battalion commanders and the troops to know what's going through their minds. That's just what you do as a leader."

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