Captain Travis Patriquin was the U.S. Army’s tribal affairs officer in Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s strategic Anbar Province, when Sunni sheiks launched the Awakening, a tribal revolt against Al Qaeda that became a turning point in the war. Patriquin was a former Special Forces support soldier, an Afghanistan combat veteran and Arabic linguist who became the U.S. military’s driving force in supporting the Awakening and its leader, Sheik Sattar abu Risha. Patriquin died in an IED attack on December 6, 2006 and was mourned by Iraqis as a martyr. Author William Doyle considers Patriquin “America’s T.E. Lawrence,” and the Washington Post wrote that "once you’ve read the astonishing story of Capt. Patriquin’s service, you’ll be grasping for superlatives."
About the Author(s)
Octavian Manea was a Fulbright Junior Scholar at Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Syracuse University) where he received an MA in International Relations and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Security Studies.