Task Force Viking

Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - North (C/JSOTF-N), also known as Task Force Viking was the command responsible for the northern front during Operation Iraqi Freedom Rotation I (2003-2004).

Task Force Viking conducted unconventional warfare (UW), special reconnaissance (SR), direct action (DA), and call-for-fire missions against Iraqi forces arrayed along the "Green Line" in order to disrupt Iraqi combat power.

CJSOTF-N was made up of US Army Special Forces, elements of the 10th Mountain Division, the 173d Airborne Brigade, the Marine Corps' 26 MEU, and elements of U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (USACAPOC), and indigenous Kurdish Peshmerga. All U.S. units were initially prepositioned in Constanţa, Romania beginning in February, 2003 with the exception of the 173d based out of Vicenza, Italy. The mix of conventional and unconventional personnel for the task force numbered approximately 5,200 and fell under the USSOCOM Joint Operations Center (JOC). The motto of the TF was "Concede Nothing."

Facing Task Force Viking's 5200 personnel was an estimated 13 Iraqi Divisions consisting of Republican Guard divisions and Sadaam Fedian. TF Viking also had to contend with Ansar Al Islam, Ansar Al Sunna, and Kadeek/PKK irregulars and also with the dueling future political aspirations of the various Kurdish factions (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan & Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq), Turkomen (Iraqi Turkmen Front), Yazidis, and the Sunni Arab tribes.

Originally the task force had planned to infiltrate Northern Iraq via Turkey. However, Turkey's refusal to allow overflights or the prepositioning of troops forced Coalition commanders to undertake a complicated and roundabout infiltration via Jordanian airspace beginning on March 22, 2003. This operation was known as "Ugly Baby".

After much diplomatic maneuvering, Turkey finally allowed US overflights on March 23. This allowed Task Force Viking to expand to 50 individual Special Forces A-teams (ODA). Reinforcing the ODAs on March 26, the 173rd made a combat jump onto Bashur airfield convert|40|mi|km north of the "Green Line". This was the largest airborne assault since the Second World War. Once the 173d had fully secured Bashur, this allowed the airborne insertion of 1st ID armor on April 7, followed by the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

On Sunday, April 6, 2003, 18 members of Task Force Viking were killed and 45 injured in a friendly fire incident near Pir Daoud, Iraq. A F-15 mistakenly dropped a bomb on the position of US Specials Forces and Peshmerga troops instead of on the Iraqi tank one mile (1.6 km) away. One of the injured was Wajih Barzani, the brother of Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Shortly after the April 10, 2003 liberation of Kirkuk from Iraq forces, the Turkish government began to covertly dispatch their own special forces troops to that city. Disguised as aid workers, the Turkish Special Forces mission was to train and equip members members of the ITF in order to destabilize Northern Iraq and allow the Turks a pretext for sending in a large Turkish "Peace Keeping" force. Elements of the 173d under the command of Colonel William Mayville were able to identify and intercept the Turkish Special Forces and escorted that back across the border with no shots being fired.

TF Viking Milestones:

Kirkuk Liberation - 10 April, 2003

Mosul Liberation - 11 April, 2003

ources

*http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2004solic/cleve.pdf
*http://stinet.dtic.mil/dticrev/PDFs/ADA425938.pdf
*http://www.cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/tunnell.pdf
* http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/oqmg/Professional_Bulletin/2004/Winter04/Joint_and_Expeditionary_Fuel_Logistics_in_Northern_Iraq.htm
*http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,446392,00.html
*http://armedservices.house.gov/comdocs/openingstatementsandpressreleases/108thcongress/04-03-11brown.html
*http://www.173abnbde.setaf.army.mil/history.htm
*http://www.1id.army.mil/1ID/History/Operation%20Iraqi%20Freedom.htm