Interview with Sfc Brandon Knicely

Sergeant First Class Brandon Knicely served as company master gunner for Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry during the battle for Fallujah in November 2004. In this capacity, Knicely also functioned as the company commander's gunner. Recalling his company commander, Captain Sean Sims, he says, "Captain Sims was a very confident and great leader. If he was discouraged about anything, he never showed it to any of us. He was always a happy-go-lucky guy no matter what we were doing....We were under a lot of enemy fire and he would just smile and let his platoon leaders do their jobs. He didn't micromanage but when he had to put pressure on them, he would." He says there was a problem with a line charge when an initial breach into Fallujah was made, and that just as their company's attack began, his Bradley started having power problems and the company commander was forced to switch vehicles in mid-stride. Aside from his frustration, Knicely states, "Thank God for the maintenance guys. They kept analyzing and troubleshooting all night. They wouldn't stop working on it until they got it fixed and we rolled out as soon as they were done." In the course of fighting through Fallujah, he notes one insurgent fighter he dubbed the "Iraqi Rambo" who seemingly would not die despite the company's best efforts. He also describes a female combat camera operator trying to capture these efforts on film, saying, "I don't who it was but she was crazier than hell." He explains that, with one exception, they did not use TOW missiles and their 25 millimeter ammunition was mostly high explosive. He describes the wrenching experience of losing the company executive officer and the company commander on successive days of the battle. "Our company was hit pretty hard but soldiers are soldiers and each and every one of us knows that if we die, we do so knowing that we believe in what we do" says Knicely. "It was definitely hard but our company grew a lot stronger. It was the best company I've ever seen in the Army." He closes his interview by stating that everyone in a company needs to know the basics of everyone else's specialty to be well prepared for a fight.