Stryker

The Siege of Sadr City

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Stryker: The Siege of Sadr City

by Konrad R.K. Ludwig

In the spring of 2008, Coalition troops responded to an uprising that would quickly grow into one of the largest, bloodiest and most influential battles of the Iraq War. Out-numbered and spread thin, American combat troops were forced into a brutal campaign against the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi, fighting for control over the most dangerous district of Baghdad. Sergeant Ludwig’s gripping account of the final battle of Sadr City offers an unfiltered view of what really happened in the late years of Operation Iraqi Freedom through the eyes of a young, idealistic soldier – and how that conflict changed him forever.

“This is not a book for the faint of heart… Konrad brings the reader into the world of combat, where he and his brothers roared down streets teeming with men anxious to kill them… Simply amazing… Here is a true war diary that tells you what urban combat amidst a hostile populace is actually like.”

— F.J. “Bing” West, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense

“This is an exceptional book… Sergeant Ludwig captures what so few people understand about the realities of war… I was quite moved. And, as with any great book, it puts the reader in a place… Sergeant Ludwig’s book is an invaluable complement to our study for the grunt’s eye view of this crucial battle in Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

— COL David E. Johnson, Ph.D. (Ret.), Senior Political Scientist (RAND Corporation)

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The Mission

Liberate Sadr City and Defeat the Mahdi Army

By the end of 2006, nearly half of Baghdad and most of Iraq remained largely uncontested by Coalition Forces. Despite the large amount of money and resources going into the war effort, the American military lacked the manpower necessary to secure key strongholds throughout the Iraq that had fallen prey to powerful criminal organizations after years of neglect.

Of all these “militias”, none had gained so much influence and power as the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi, lead by Muqtada al-Sadr from their stronghold in the densely packed district of Sadr City. Millions of people suffered under the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi, who enforced the brutalities of sharia law without mercy while Al-Sadr’s militia served as judge, jury and executioner.

When President George W. Bush announced the “troop surge” in 2007, the American Army gained enough combat power to push across the Tigris and fight back the influence of the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi. That advance brought public works projects, micro-loans and new schools — all of which served to undermine Al-Sadr’s militia.

By the spring of 2008, American troops had pushed the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi all the way back to the border of Sadr City and starved them of supplies. Tensions were at an all-time high, and with the Iraq Army’s invasion of Basra — an attack on Al-Sadr’s black-market oil trade — the one of the largest battle’s of the war kicked off just a few kilometers from the “Green Zone” in the heart of Baghdad. Outnumbered and spread thin, American troops set out to defeat the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi once and for all.

“I have been studying the Battle of Sadr City at work and decided that my efforts would be enriched by using a first-person source rather than depending on official reports… The author’s writing style proved to be so refreshing and vibrant that I had a difficult time putting it down… Highly recommended. It will have a prominent place on my OIF reference shelf.”

— LTC Mark J. Reardon, Senior Military Historian (U.S. Army Center of Military History)

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The Men

Bull Company, 1/2 SCR

The story of “Bull” Company and the entire 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (1/2 SCR) began with their first deployment to Iraq as the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment (1-5 INF) in 2004. In the streets of Fallujah and Mosul, the future leaders of 1/2 SCR cut their teeth learning the hard lessons of block-to-block urban combat. After 12 months of fighting, they returned home to take on a new class of privates and teach them the skills necessary to survive modern kinetic warfare.

One year after returning home from Iraq, the men of 1-5 INF re-flagged into 1/2 SCR and moved to Germany, where they shared their extensive combat experience with America’s NATO allies in Europe. In mid 2007, the unit received orders to deploy once more to Iraq where they would serve a crucial role as a front-line element across the eastern districts of Baghdad.

It was in the streets of Sadr City where the men of Bull Company — along with the entire 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment — would face the true test of their skills. For fifteen months, they served as a quick reaction force element and the only unit authorized to carry out conventional kinetic-action raids against high value targets of the Ja’Ish Al-Mahdi. When the fight kicked off in the spring of 2008, they were thrust into the fray and pushed to the limits of human endurance.

Upon their return from Iraq, the men of 1/2 SCR received a Valorous Unit Citation for their critical role in Operation Stryker Denial and Operation Gold Wall during the 2008 Battle of Sadr City.

The Book

Stryker: The Siege of Sadr City

Stryker: The Siege of Sadr City was made possible thanks to 850 backers who contributed ove $37,500 to its pre-order campaign. The book has received widely positive reviews since its launch in 2013 and earned the support of veterans who served in Siege of Sadr City before, during and after the battle. Thanks to the success of the book’s pre-order campaign, Sergeant Ludwig has managed to retain ownership of the rights to the book and any auxiliary works, allowing him to protect the accuracy and fidelity of his work and protect its reputation as an authentic first-hand account.

Konrad’s account remains one of the best selling books about the Iraq War and among the most accurate first-hand accounts of the 2008 Battle of Sadr City. Woven throughout his narrative, Sergeant Ludwig offers an educated and heavy-hitting critique of American foreign policy, Army leadership, counterinsurgency doctrine and western rules of engagement as they apply to kinetic urban combat with a brutal and unforgiving enemy. Because of his honesty and insight, Stryker has been cited in a major RAND Corporation study, served proudly as a reference work for a senior historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History and course material for undergraduate and postgraduate classes on foreign policy, contemporary history and literature.

Stryker: The Siege of Sadr City provides a valuable contribution to the body of work surrounding Operation Iraqi Freedom and tells a unique story of the last major turning point in the war. Sergeant Ludwig’s work stands for itself as a classic story of men in combat, fighting to liberate an urban district housing millions of people from the oppressive and militant rule of the Mahdi Army, far away from the comfort and safety of American shores.

The Author

Konrad R.K. Ludwig

Sgt. Konrad R.K. Ludwig, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In 2005 he tested out of high school and joined the U.S. Army to serve his country as an Infantryman during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In February 2006 Ludwig was assigned to the “Deathmasters” of 1-5 INF and followed their history through their re-flag to “Bull Company”, deployment to Germany and later to Iraq for combat.

For most of his time with “Bull” Company, Ludwig served as the radio technical operator, through which he was given hands-on experience with the leadership and management of his unit. He was later promoted to serve as a machine gunner shortly before the battle began, ending his service with 1/2 SCR shortly after their returning to Germany in November of 2008. In 2009, Sergeant Ludwig was assigned to the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF) in Ft. Bliss, Texas, where he served as a squad leader, testing and evaluating future weapons technology.

Sergeant Ludwig was medically discharged from the Army in 2010 due to symptoms from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) inflicted during a roadside bomb attack and severe post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his experiences in combat. He started writing Stryker as an emotional release and therapy, and later decided to publish his work when controversy arose among veterans of the battle of how little coverage the conflict had received. When the first draft of Stryker was finally complete, Konrad decided to independently publish the book in order to maintain the work’s authenticity and narrative authority.