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Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was the United States largest Special Operations Force deployment since the Vietnam War. Over 13,000 personnel were involved including British,Australian and Polish Special Forces operating throughout Iraq and contributing to all aspects of land, maritime and air operations. Patrick Allen reports.

As conflict in Iraq became inevitable US Special Operations Command (USSOC OM) planners concentrated on a number of key roles. They would need to stop Saddam Hussein from creating an ecological disaster by lighting the oilfields and dumping oil into the Arabian Gulf. They would be tasked to stop the Iraqi V Corps in the north from reinforcing Baghdad while also undertaking operations to locate and destroy Iraqi mobile missiles and to conduct counter-tactical ballistic missile (C-TBM) operations. They would also undertake strategic reconnaissance and unconventional warfare missions. Special Operations Forces (SOF) would need to work closely with conventional forces supporting the Combined Force Land, Maritime and Air Component Commanders (CFCC) as they advanced towards Baghdad while conducting support and stability operations including border and lines-of communication interdiction missions. Special Forces (SF) would also conduct airborne parachute assaults to seize key airfields, conduct search, kill or capture missions and locate and protect suspected storage, and manufacturing sites, containing any weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command (CFSOCC) was activated in January 2003 with a mission to command and control Army, Air Force and Naval SOF including SF provided by coalition members. It was CFSOCC planners who wrote the campaign plan and supervised its execution.

The entire spectrum of Special Operations (SO) missions was conducted during the campaign using three separate task forces: Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-North (CJSOTFN), Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-West (CJSOTF-W) and Naval Special Warfare Task Group (NSWTG) operating in the south.

These groups were supported by the Combined Joint Special Operations Aviation Component (CJSOAC) including British and Australian aviation units. US Special Operation Aviation comprised the Army's 160th SOAR and US Air Force Special Operations Command including their Special Tactics Squadron (STS) combat controllers, pararescuemen and combat weathermen along with 193rd Special Operations Wing Commando Solo EC-130s. During missions in support of SO the CJSOC flew over 2,181 missions, many behind enemy lines.

There were a number of notable 'firsts' for SO during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). USAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster III tactical transport aircraft were used to infiltrate and conduct a SO airborne assault into northern Iraq. The Aerovironment Pointer unmanned air vehicle was used as an organic asset within Army and SEAL teams. The new high speed vessel, the Joint Venture X1, became a NSW Maritime Forward Operating Base (MFOB) to re-arm and refuel Mark V SO craft, 40 foot rigid inflatables (RIBs), SO Craft-Riverine (SOCR) and to feed and rest SO personnel. It was also the first time that the new SOC-R and Mark V SO craft were deployed on combat missions and the first launching of a SEAL delivery vehicle from a Mark V SO craft.

For the first time since the Vietnam War a conventional force came under the direct tactical control of SO when the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) came under the command of CJSOTF-N and the Boeing B52 bomber being used for close air support to operational SOF units.

Naval Special Warfare Task Group
At the outset of OIF, the primary mission of the NSWTF, which included Polish, Australian and British SF, was to prevent an ecological disaster by securing Iraqi oil installations and pipelines. On 20 March, six SEAL platoons were deployed simultaneously to secure five targets ahead of the launch of air and ground operations.

These five targets on the Al Faw Peninsular included two offshore oil terminals, three key oil metering and manifold stations and two pipeline support valves at Mina Al Bakar oil terminal and Khawr Al Amaya oil terminals. SEAL Platoons were deployed by USAF SOF MH-53J Pave Lows and by NSW boat units manned by Combatant-Craft crewmen (SWCC) operating the Mk V Special Operations Craft and RIBs. Much of the success for this mission was the result of detailed mission planning by the NSW Group Command and the support provided by Air Force SO, coalition SF and conventional land and maritime forces providing back-up and fire support.

Having successfully secured these main objectives, NSWTG turned to supporting the land and maritime commanders during the initial assault into Iraq. US Navy SEALs flown by USAF SOF MH- 53J Pavelows supported the UK’s 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines by securing the landing sites for their heliassault into the Al Faw peninsular. USNSWG units deployed ahead of the Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) as they moved towards Baghdad and into the east to support 3 Commando Brigade, as they secured the Al Faw Peninsular and the waterways leading to Umm Qasr and Basrah. NSW boat units worked alongside UK Royal Marines providing forward reconnaissance and fire support, as well as patrolling the waterways for enemy.

NSW units were also responsible for eliminating the threat of Iraqi suicide boats operating in the northern Arabian Gulf, destroying two mine laying vessels and boarding and searching over 113 vessels in the Umm Qasr area. As operations moved towards Baghdad, Naval SO turned its attention to securing the MEF logistics and lines of communications as they moved further into the country.

Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-West (CJSOTF-W)
Based around the U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), CJSOTF-W was re-enforced by coalition SF from the British and Australian Special Air Service including the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) which operated as Task Force 64.This brought their numbers from 1,400 soldiers to more than 3,500, including US Air Force and NSW personnel along with Army reservists and National Guardsmen. CJSOTF-W area of operations comprised the western desert and the landmass from Baghdad to Kuwait.

Their primary mission was to deny Iraqi military freedom of movement, restrict the ability to launch ballistic missiles into coalition formations or neighbouring countries, and undertake strategic reconnaissance and unconventional warfare. UK and Australian SF along with US Army SF 'A' Teams including USAF Special Tactics Squadron members, deployed throughout the AOR, undertaking C-TBM operations and forward reconnaissance of Iraqi positions. During the early phase of the war these SF teams behind enemy lines directed bombing missions onto Iraqi positions and provided real-time forward reconnaissance to Army and Marine Corps ground commanders as they advanced towards Baghdad. All these SF units were managed by the Combined SO Aviation Component.

Other CJSOFT-W units were responsible for facilitating the arrival of conventional forces into Baghdad, while more teams worked with Iraqi nationals sympathetic to the coalition cause. Task Force 20, working alongside various intelligence agencies (CIA/NSA etc) was responsible for hunting down Fedayeen and Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party members, regime death squads and other Iraqi terror units while the 75th Ranger Regiment (Airborne) was one of those tasked with locating and securing suspected WMD sites, as well as protecting Iraqi natural resources such as oil fields and electrical and gas power plants etc.

The 75th Ranger Regiment conducted several night airborne parachute assaults seizing airfields in western Iraq, which were used as staging areas for follow-on forces and to launch interdiction missions against Iraqi lines of communications. Special Forces and Rangers also took part in the rescue force that freed Pfc Jessica D. Lynch.

Task Force Viking
With Turkey denying the coalition access to its territory to launch a third front using conventional forces, it was the SOC who provided the assets to launch an attack into the north-east of Iraq. The Iraqis had assembled a large conventional force of over 13 divisions spread out along a shifting demarcation line between the Iraqi and Kurdish regions. Their mission was to engage and destroy these Iraqi forces and deny them the ability to reinforce Baghdad.

Know as Task Force Viking, the first SF teams from the 3rd Special Forces Group along with USAF combat controllers were flown into the region on 22 March. Within a few days there were over 50 individual operational detachment alpha teams deployed into the AOR and linked-up with over 10,000 Kurdish guerrilla and Peshmerga forces. Their primary missions were to conduct unconventional warfare, reconnaissance, direct action and call-forfire missions against Iraqi forces in the region and to disrupt and destroy their combat power.

The first direct-action mission took place on 28 March when SF and their Kurdish allies attacked Ansar Al Islam, near the Iranian border destroying an enclave of over 700 heavily armed fighters linked to Osama bin Laden. The battle lasted over 30 hours before the terrorist force was crushed. SOF forces then used reconnaissance and surveillance skills to engage Iraqi positions using SO and conventional close air support including B-52 bombers to pound Iraqi positions as SOF and Kurdish forces advanced towards Kirkuk and Mosul.

On 26 March, the 173rd Airborne Brigade made a combat airborne assault into the Kurdish autonomous zone.The first mission for this brigade (under the tactical control of JSOTF) was to conduct area defence operations around Irbil and to deny the enemy movement and communications between Osul and Kirkuk. A second conventional force, the 26th Marine Expedionary Unit (MEU) also came under the tactical control of JSOTF.

SOF and Kurdish forces attacked Kirkuk on 10 April from three sides and it fell the same day. This was soon followed by Mosul. CJTF, including the 173 Airborne Brigade and 26th MEU, then turned to conducting peacekeeping and stabilisation operations in Mosul and Kirkuk as well as securing nearby oil fields, and undertaking joint patrols with Kurdish/Peshmerga allies.

USSOC OM Commander General Charles R Holland commented: "The synergy from joint, combined and interagency efforts produced dynamic results on the battlefield. The wisdom of the United States Congress to create the US Special Operations Command in 1987 was validated on the fields of strife during OIF. They not only successfully conducted a miriad of 'special operations' but also proved to be a force enabler to conventional air, ground and maritime forces".
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