Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq War
Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq War was a joint American and British
Etymology of Task Force designations
Since the invasion of Iraq, the unit went through a number of changes of designation. Task Force 20 was amalgamated with Task Force 5 (formerly Task Force 11/Task Force Sword) in Afghanistan in July 2003, and became Task Force 21. It was then redesignated
Post-invasion organization
- Task Force 77 (formerly Task Force 145) – LSA Anaconda, Balad
- TF Black/Knight – Elements, UK's SAS, SBS, SRR, 18 SR and the SFSG until 2006 – Based in headquarters known as MSS Fernandez a.k.a. 'the Station', in Baghdad[8][9]
- TF North/Red rotating battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and a small element of Delta Force operators – Tikrit[10][9]
- TF West/Blue rotating squadron, DEVGRU, supported by units from the 75th Rangers – Al Asad Airbase[10](company sized sub-unit)
- TF Center/Green rotating squadron, Delta Force, supported by an element of the 75th Rangers –
- TF Orange – detachments of various intelligence agencies including the U.S. Intelligence Support Activity (ISA)[11]
Organization as of October 2006
TF 145, or TF 88 as it may now be known, was commanded by a
The headquarters element, which included the majority of the task force's many aviation and intelligence assets, was based at Balad Air Base between Samarra and Baghdad; the four elements that it controlled, each commanded by a lieutenant colonel or equivalent, were spread across the country.
Task Force Center is probably[
Task Force West is structured similarly to TF Center in that it has a company-sized force protection element from the 75th Rangers and is based around a battalion-sized direct action unit that can at any given time be a Delta Force squadron or SEAL Team Six. It seems that these units rotate every three to four months. TF West is responsible for operations in
Task Force North is organized differently: it is based around a full battalion of the 75th Rangers (the position rotates among the three battalions), with a company-sized element from Delta Force acting in support. TF North was based at FOB Marez in Mosul.
History as Task Force 20
Invasion of Iraq
In preparation for the
TF 20 was covertly based at
In the evening of 19 March 2003, Task Force 20, led by B squadron, Delta Force (accompanied by several Air Force Special Tactics teams, a Delta intelligence and targeting cell, several military working dog teams and two Iraqi—American interpreters), was the first US SOF unit to enter western Iraq as part of the initial infiltration before the main invasion. They later assisted coalition SOF in the capture H-3 Air Base, Rangers were later flown in to garrison the base; unofficially, Task Force 20 had been in Iraq, along with British SOF Task Force 7 and 14, and the Australian SOF Task Force 64. Delta Force then proceeded to the Haditha Dam complex; it also conducted numerous deception operations to confuse the Iraqis as to the disposition of Coalition forces in the west.[14]
On 24 March 2003, Delta Force recce operators drove through Iraqi lines around the Haditha Dam, marking targets for Coalition airstrikes, the subsequent bombings resulted in the destruction of a large number of Iraqi armoured vehicles and antiaircraft systems. Also that day,
On 26 March 2003, the DEVGRU component in TF 20 supported by B company
On 1 April 2003, DEVGRU along with Para Rescue Jumpers and Combat Controllers from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron and Rangers from
Delta units headed north from Haditha to conduct ambushes along the highway above Tikrit, tying up Iraqi forces in the region and attempting to capture fleeing high-value targets trying to escape to Syria, Team Tank convinced Iraqi Generals that the coalition main effort might be coming from the west. On 2 April 2003, they were engaged by half a dozen armed technicals from the same anti-special forces Fedayeen that had previously fought Task Force 7. Two Delta operators were wounded and the squadron requested aero medical evacuation and close-air support as a company of truck-borne Iraqi reinforcements arrived to bolster the Fedayeen assault. Two MH-60K Blackhawks carrying a para jumper medical team and two MH-60L Black Hawk DAPs of the 160 SOAR responded and engaged the Iraqis, which allowed the Delta operators to move their casualties to an emergency HLZ, after which they were medevaced to H-1 Air Base, escorted by a pair of A-10As. However, Master sergeant George Fernandez died of his wounds. The DAPs stayed on station and continued to engage the Iraqis, destroying a truck carrying a mortar and several infantry squads, whilst Delta snipers killed Iraqi infantryman firing on the DAPs. A pair of A-10As arrived and dropped 500 lb airburst bombs within 20m of Delta positions and killed a large number of Iraqi infantry who had been gathering in a wadi. The DAPs spotted several Iraqi units and engaged them until they were dangerously low on fuel.[17]
On 9 April 2003, the combined team seized an airfield near Tikrit during a night attack, one tank drove into a 40 ft deep hole and flipped, injuring one of the crew and disabling the tank, which was later destroyed by another tank to deny it to the enemy. By mid-April, Delta had advanced into Baghdad and 'Team Tank' returned to its parent unit.[18]
Throughout April, TF 20 continued to raid suspected WMD sites, sometimes only hours ahead of the official Army WMD
Post invasion
In May 2003, 80% of SOF assets were rotated out of the theatre at the conclusion of major combat operations, elements of Task Force 20 remained and continued to hunting HVT former Ba'athists under direct JSOC command and had several successes in its early operations.[20]
On 16 June 2003, operators from G Squadron, SAS (part of Task force 14) and B squadron, Delta Force, captured Lieutenant-General Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, who had been Saddam Husseins' personal secretary and had been ranked the fourth most important HVT. He was captured in a joint helicopter and ground assault on a safehouse in Tikrit without resistance or casualties, in what was considered a highly successful operation.[21][22]
On 18 June 2003, near the Syrian border, AC-130 Spectre gunships guided in by TF 20 operators destroyed a convoy of Ba'ath Party members escaping to Syria, intelligence indicated that the convoy may included Saddam Hussein and/or his sons, other reports claim the convoy was composed of oil smugglers. Once the convoy was destroyed by the AC-130s, TF 20 conducted a heliborne assault into a nearby compound that proved to be a Ba'athist safehouse for ferrying FREs (Former Regime Elements) across the border, the operators then came under fire from Syrian border guards leading to a firefight that left several of the border guards dead with 17 more captured who were immediately released.[23]
On 22 July 2003, a former Ba'athist regime member used an informer to pass intelligence onto the 101st Airborne Division that Uday and Qusay Hussein (whom had $15 million bounty), along with Qusays' son and a bodyguard, were hiding in the informers home in Mosul; the 101st passed this information to their divisional special forces liaison, whom passed it onto TF 20. Platoons from the 101st Airborne set up an outer cordon around the target house, a Delta assault team prepared to breach and clear the building from the entrance, whilst a Delta interpreter called upon the occupants to surrender. The informer and his two sons left the building as previously agreed. Delta operators breached and entered, upon which they were immediately engaged by small arms fire, which wounded one Delta operator. As they withdrew from the house, the occupants threw grenades from the second floor on them, and several Delta operators were lightly wounded by the grenade fragments; the stairs had also been blocked to impede any rapid assault. Another group of assaulters fast roped from a MH-6 Little Bird onto the roof of the building to examine the possibility of entering the building through the roof, but this wasn't possible. The decision was taken to soften up the target with heavy weapons before another entry. After soldiers of the 101st Airborne engaged the building with .50cal HMGs and M136 anti tank rockets, a third entry attempt was made, but was again driven back by intense gunfire. The 101st fired 10 TOW missiles from HMMWV-mounted TOW II antitank guided missiles into the house, followed by repeated gun runs from OH-58 Kiowas firing 2.75 rockets and .50cal machine guns. Delta subsequently made a successful entry and moved up onto the second floor, finding Qusay and the bodyguard dead. Qusay's son was hiding under a bed and opened fired on the operators, leaving them no choice but to kill him. Uday was discovered wounded and armed, a Delta operator shot and killed him.[24]
History as Task Force 121
In July 2003, Task Force 5 (formerly Task Force 11) in Afghanistan and Task Force 20 were amalgamated to form Task Force 21, which was later renamed as Task Force 121—the command was set up in such a way that TF 121's Delta Force and other elements of JSOC could be switched between Afghanistan and Iraq as required. The task force continued to successfully target former regime members.[25][26]
Between July and December 2003, TF 121 carried out twelve unsuccessful raids to find Saddam Hussein, together with 600 other operations against targets, including 300 interrogations. On 12 December 2003, a raid on a house in Baghdad, that was being used as an insurgent headquarters, captured Muhammed Ibrahim Omar al-Musslit, who was Saddam's right-hand man, known to TF 121 as "the source" or "the fatman". Early the next morning he revealed where Saddam may be found.
In the final weeks of 2003, Colonel
By early 2004 many of the leading
History of Task Force 6-26
The Guardian reported that a few days after the US media published a series of photographs showing abuse of detainees at Abu Gharib prison Task Force 121 was renamed Task Force 6-26.[32]
TF 6-26 conducted missions in Fallujah before and during the First Battle of Fallujah.[33]
On 19 August 2004, TF 6-26 operators and an Iraqi special forces unit, supported by
History as Task Force 145
It was a combined U.S. and British military special forces provisional grouping specifically charged with hunting down high-value al-Qaeda and Iraqi leadership including Osama bin Laden and, prior to his death on 7 June 2006, Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It is believed that the Task Force played a role in the medium-altitude strike mission that killed al-Zarqawi just outside Baqubah.[35] The Task Force was charged with disrupting al-Qaeda operations in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan.
The action arm of the task force was made up of operators from Delta Force, DEVGRU, SAS, SBS and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Members of the CIA's elite (SAD/SOG) paramilitary unit were also believed to be an important part of the group.
The unit was operating up until at least January 2007; it is not clear whether it is still operational with the U.S. drawdown from Iraq. In January 2007 Task Force 88 established a subsidiary task force, Task Force 17 (US Army ODA/Special Forces), in addition to an existing task force for which it supported, Task Force 16 (US/UK Tier 1 SOF). Task Force 17 was established to 'counter Iranian influence.' Task Force 17 was to be made Initially Operationally Capable as of 'NLT 15 January 2007 and Full Operational Capability (FOC) will be in place NLT 15 February 2007.'[37]
Operations
The task force is known to operate very autonomously. In their only publicly known operation they reportedly conducted several raids without requiring approval from nearby conventional command structures and only requiring it from USSOCOM.[citation needed] The task force was also responsible for the tracking and eventual elimination (by F-16 launched ordnance) of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Over 18 months beginning in early 2007, the task force reportedly arrested 3,500 terrorists in Baghdad and killed several hundred others. Thus, al Qaeda bomb attacks went down from an average of 150 per month (killing monthly 3,000 people) to about two. During the campaign, six SAS troops were killed and 30 injured. Delta Force suffered an overall 20 percent casualty rate (killed, injured, sick). Overall, by the cessation of operations, TF 145 suffered 18 killed in action.[38]
During operations in Al-Anbar province, TF88 operatives entered the insurgent-controlled city of
Originally, it was not clear what the reduced U.S. military role following the
Task Force Black/Knight
Based in the Baghdad area at MSS Fernandez,[39] TF Black (which was supported by Parachute Regiment members of the SFSG)[40] is based around a squadron of the SAS, with integrated units from the SBS, SRR, 18 SR and Delta Force and DEVGRU.. In the early months of 2004, the SAS used their capabilities in reconnaissance and surveillance to watch suspects and develop/gather intelligence for the coalition intelligence services. The SAS operational process in Baghdad was known as find-fix-finish. Working backwards with the 'finish' part being a raid to take down a suspect, 'fix' involved pinpointing a time and place which a target can be taken; 'find' would be finding the insurgent/terrorist. In this period, they almost captured/killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi when they assaulted a house in Baghdad. After forcing entry, they withdrew when they discovered a booby trap. They still managed to overwhelm the occupants of the building; captured intelligence revealed Zarqawi had left a short time before.[41]
Due to mistreatment of detainees and the conditions at
In Spring 2005, the Director Special Forces (DSF) rebalanced British special forces deployments so that Afghanistan would be the responsibility of the SBS and Iraq would be that of the SAS.[44] Following the Basra prison incident in September 2005, in which the name of the unit 'Task force Black' was leaked to the press; the unit was renamed 'Task force Knight'[45]
After a change of DSF and improvement of the JSOCs TSF, in late 2005 Task Force Black began to integrate more closely with JSOC. In mid-January 2006, the British SAS began Operation Traction: which was its secret upgrade/integration into JSOC, they deployed TGHG (Task Group Headquarters Group): this included senior officers and other senior members of SAS - to JSOCs base at Balad. This upgrade now meant that the SAS were "joined at the hip" with JSOC and it gave the SAS a pivotal role against Sunni militant groups, particularly AQI[46]
In early 2006, Task Force Black was involved in the release of three hostages working for Christian Peacemaker Teams as part of Operation Lightwater. With the aim of finding the hostages, the operation involved raiding houses and arresting suspects almost every day and night until sufficient intelligence was gathered on the whereabouts of the hostages. The total number of building raids amounted to 50, 44 of them being by British special forces including a total detained 47 people.[47] In April 2006, B squadron SAS launched Operation Larchwood 4 the results of which gave the coalition intelligence on Zarqawi which led to his death.[48]
According to journalist Sean Rayment for the Telegraph, TF Black removed or killed 3,500 terrorists in Baghdad prior to 2008.[49] Rayment wrote that these killings "reduced bombings in Baghdad from about 150 a month to just two."[49]
In October 2004, all SAS personnel in Iraq including Task Force Black were banned from handing over suspects to the US forces if the suspects were going to be taken to a US interrogation center, because of the bad reputation of the centers.[50] Another setback for the task force was during the Second Battle of Fallujah when the SAS was banned from going into the city alongside its American counterpart because of the pressure that the government was feeling from the unpopularity of the war.
In 2007, when JSOC began conducting CII (Counter Iranian Influence) missions, the UK government ordered that Iranian nationals should not be taken by Task Force Knight and they excluded them from certain intelligence-gathering missions measures being taken to prepare for possible strikes against Iran.[51]
Following a SAS takedown operation of
The mission made a strategic impact, Task Force 17 (a unit consisting of US Army Special Forces and elite Iraqi units conducting Counter Iranian Influence missions) stepped up its raids against Iranian targets. Operators from Task Force knight responded to
During the Spring and summer of 2007, the British SAS as part of Task Force Knight suffered several men seriously wounded as it extended its operations into Sadr City; in April, Task Force Knight focused its efforts against Arab Jabour which HUMINT intelligence revealed that it was an al-Qaeda's "bastion".
Following the disbandment of Task Force Spartan in southern Iraq following the British withdrawal, Task Force Knight focused its efforts on al-Qaeda VBIED network in Iraq, mainly in Dora, Salman Pak and Arab Jabour, killing dozens in the summer months of 2007.
By March 2008, the Sunni insurgency was waning rapidly, the need for aggressive special operations raids became few, B squadron SAS extended its operations into Tikrit and Anbar province, going after low-level targets that the Iraqi military could deal with.[53] UKSF left Iraq in May 2009.[54]
Task Force Black/Knight provided the United Kingdom with one clear success of the nations controversial involvement in the Iraq War. In an interview with
The SAS campaign against the Shia Special Groups was successful. Iraq's population, however, is made up of a Shia majority whose insurgents were supported covertly by Iran. The task force and JSOC, therefore, could only contain the threat rather than destroy it. Many members of the Special Groups have since been released by the Iraqi government.[56]
Currently, rumors of a "reformation of a similar Task Force going by the cover name of TF Black" have emerged. Most former Special Mission Unit members and insiders believe, however, that because the concept of a "Task Force is temporary, hence the term 'Task' Force...as in being tasked with a particular objective", this would be unlikely, regardless of the reports of mainstream media to the contrary. Most of the time, Task Forces such as the original TF Black, cannot technically "be reformed" to hunt ISIL when the creation of a more current and lesser-known joint Task Force would make more sense to those inside the Joint Special Operations Command.[50]
History as Task Force 88
The Long War Journal reported that Task Force 88 operators with Iraqi forces carried out a raid in north of Baquba, Diyala province on 22 January 2008 as part of Operation Raider Harvest-an operation focusing on
The Long War Journal reported that on 24 June 2008, a team of TF 88 operators killed ISI emir in a raid on a terrorist safe house in Mosul.[58]
References
- ^ "What's Behind the US Military Raid on Syria?". Time. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-425-19609-0.
- ^ Bill RoggioOctober 27, 2008 (27 October 2008). "US strike in Syria "decapitated" al Qaeda's facilitation network". The Long War Journal. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ Schmitt, Eric; Mazzetti, Mark (10 November 2008). "Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda". The New York Times.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84603-357-5, p. 32.
- ISBN 978-1-59184-475-4, pp. 90, 93, 96–97, 111.
- ^ ISBN 978-1250006967, pp. 15-16.
- ^ a b c "SAS - Task Force Black". Eliteukforces.info. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1250006967, p. 71.
- ^ a b Michael Smith, "Secret War of the SAS", The Sunday Times, 16 September 2007.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-0790-8, p. 93
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- ^ ISBN 978-1-4728-0790-8,p.128-129
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- ^ ISBN 978-1250006967,p.52-53,p.54-55
- ^ "Camp Nama: British personnel reveal horrors of secret US base in Baghdad". The Guardian. 1 April 2013.
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- ^ http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/06/victory_for_tas.html Archived 22 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Blotter: Brian Ross Reports, ABC News. 8 June 2006 9:12 am
- ^ Sean D. Naylor, SpecOps Unit nearly nabs Zarqawi, (from www.armytimes.com, 28 April 2006)
- ISBN 978-0-307-37722-7.
- Sunday Telegraph, 31 August 2008.
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- Daily Telegraph, 24 April 2006
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- ^ a b "SAS kills hundreds of terrorists in 'secret war' against al-Qaeda in Iraq". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ a b Haynes, D. (2010). SAS was barred from dealing with US forces. Lexisnexis. Retrieved (2010, 15 September) from http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/
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- ^ "Thirty al Qaeda in Iraq killed in Diyala". Long War Journal. 23 January 2008.
- ^ "US forces kill al Qaeda's leader in Mosul". Long War Journal. 24 June 2008.
Further reading
- Smith, Michael, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Operations Team, 2008
- Urban, Mark, Task Force Black, 2010
- Gordon, Michael R.; Trainor, Bernard E. (2012). The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 620–621. ISBN 978-0-307-37722-7.
- Shultz, Richard (2018)."U.S. Counterterrorism Operations during the Iraq War: A Case Study of Task Force 714". Intelligence and National Security 33:7, pp. 974-998.
External links
- Cuomo, C, McNiff, E, & ABC News Law and Justice Unit, . 9 June 2006. The men in the shadows—hunting al-zarqawi
- GlobalSecurity.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dod/tf-145.htm Task Force 145
- Hala Jaber, Sarah Baxter and Michael Smith, How Iraq's Ghost of Death was Cornered, The Times, 11 June 2006
- Brian Ross, Secret U.S. task force changes its name, again, The Blotter, ABC News, 12 June 2006
- Atlantic Monthly, May 2007
- Bill Roggio, Secret order to target Al-Qaeda Archived 5 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, November 2008
- Bill Roggio, The Black Guards, Long War Journal, September 2006