Special operators recount Iraq missions Published Feb. 6, 2004 By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Multiservice special operations troops have led the way to victory in overseas campaigns during the war against terrorism, a senior U.S. military officer said.Special operators' expertise was a factor in driving the Taliban out of Afghanistan as well as in the ouster of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, said Lt. Gen. Paul V. Hester, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command.General Hester told attendees at the 15th annual National Defense Industrial Association Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict symposium that a small group of special operations troops went into Afghanistan early in the conflict.The U.S. special operators worked with Northern Alliance forces, the general said, allowing "the airpower of America to be brought quickly to the battlefield of Afghanistan."U.S. special operations troops also contributed to victory in Iraq, General Hester said. He introduced three special operators, Capt. John Traxler, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jamie Cartwright and Army Sgt. 1st Class Frank Antenori, and asked them to relate their experiences during Operation Iraqi Freedom.Air Force special operations officer Captain Traxler said his participation in "the largest Navy SEAL operation in history" involved the protection of Iraqi oil-producing infrastructure in southern Iraq. The operation also included U.S. Marines, Polish troops and British commandos, he said.U.S.-coalition special operations forces took control of the oil facilities with no friendly losses, Captain Traxler said. The mission also secured the Faw peninsula and "was a resounding success," he said.Captain Traxler said his job during the operation was to route naval gunfire and artillery, mortars, close-air support and unmanned aerial vehicle traffic "in an extremely congested and complicated battle space" involving air, land and sea forces.Photo-taking reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles played an important role in identifying enemy vessels that plied along area waterways, Captain Traxler said."This was an immensely difficult operation," Captain Traxler said. The mission also involved "a lot of coordination from a great staff."Commander Cartwright, a Navy SEAL special operations officer, said one of his unit's missions throughout Iraq from April to October included protecting a key dam. They also found and captured remnant regime members and foreign terrorists, seized enemy ordnance and searched for weapons of mass destruction.People of his unit conducted more than 300 combat missions while in Iraq, Commander Cartwright said. During missions they all subscribed to the cardinal rule of "Don't get shot," he said.Commander Cartwright said one of his most memorable experiences in Iraq was the discovery of a mass gravesite in central Iraq that contained the remains of 3,000 Kuwaitis who had been reported as missing after the 1990 to ‘91 Persian Gulf War."Almost all of them had received a bullet in the back of the head," he said.Sergeant Antenori, from the 3rd Army Special Forces, recalled that a major part of his unit's mission in northern Iraq "was to keep 12 Iraqi divisions busy" so they would not deploy to engage U.S. and coalition forces approaching Baghdad from the south.During the April 6 Battle of Debecka Pass fought between Mosul and Kirkuk, the Americans' prior training in Kuwait with the shoulder-fired Javelin surface-to-surface missile system turned out "to be worth its weight in gold," Sergeant Antenori said.During that fight, 31 Americans and 80 Iraqi Peshmerga troops, aided by Navy fighter bombing runs guided by Air Force combat controllers, successfully dealt with an Iraqi infantry brigade that was equipped with T-55 tanks and armored personnel carriers, Sergeant Antenori said.The fighting went back and forth, but ultimately the Navy jets and Javelins destroyed myriad enemy armored personnel carriers and tanks, taking "the wind out of the Iraqi's sails" and helping to seal the victory, Sergeant Antenori said.After two more hours of fighting, the Iraqis left the battlefield, abandoning eight of their tanks and 16 APCs during the withdrawal, Sergeant Antenori said.