The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division initiated Operation Boothill on November 10, 2003 in Ar Ramadi. Operation Boothill was designed to clear and secure the roads outside the city and to seize any contraband weapons. Members of the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division utilized heavy equipment to clear the roads of rubble and objects that could conceal IEDs. Soldiers also seized a small weapons cache in a nearby cemetary as well.