Haditha Dam
When U.S. Army Rangers seized the Haditha Dam and hydropower complex on the Euphrates River on April 1 to prevent its possible destruction by Iraqi forces, a potential non-traditional weapon of "mass destruction" had been eliminated from the Iraqi arsenal. The U.S. Central Command decision to employ the rangers to seize the dam was based in large measure on information and briefings from the Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) TeleEngineering Operations Center in Vicksburg, Miss. The possible destruction of this critical hydropower facility, located about 125 miles northwest of Karbala, Iraq, posed potential catastrophic effects throughout the country. In addition to its impact on the war fight, the resulting flooding as an immediate aftermath and and lack of water supply during the summer months would have added to the hardships being experienced by the Iraqi people.

As of 01 April 2003 Special operations forces remained in control of the Hadithah Dam. They had seized that to prevent its destruction and the release of certain water flow that would affect the down-river areas particularly near Karbala. The town of Hadithah is just to the south of it. There had been repeated attacks against the force holding the dam by artillery and mortars, and these were being shot by counter special operations units operating from the town of Hadithah. The coalition forces in place have been well-supported by close air support, and that has enabled them to hold the dam. The initial seizure of the dam by special operations forces did occur at night. Initial fires against known targets that were in the area. This is a very robust structure that had 16 floors inside it and underground.

By 10 April 2003 C-17 Globemasters were busy delivering key ground capability to secure the Haditha Dam on the Euphrates River. Army Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy operations officer for CENTCOM, said that by delivering ground forces to the area, the C-17s relayed a key message to the forces of Saddam Hussein's crumbling regime.

By the end of October 2003 Tiger Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment consolidated as a complete squadron for the first time since entering Iraq on April30th. Tiger Squadron covered over 20,000 square kilometers of Iraqi's western desert before the consolidation. Units were spread between three different operating bases at Al Asad Airbase, Haditha Dam, and Al Qa'im. The squadron's area of responsibility now covers just over 14,000 square kilometers along the border of Iraq and Syria.