Task Force Viking

• a Headquarters element
• 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 10th Special Forces Group
• 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group
• 123rd Special Tactics Squadron
• 404th Civil Affairs Battalion of the 96th Civil Affairs Brigade

TF Viking were supported by infantry units from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 10th Mountain Division and Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU).

TF Viking was augmented by troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

U.S. DoD photo by Sgt. Brandon Aird

In a classic Special Forces Unconventional Warfare opeations Task Force Viking joined up with some 70,000 Kurdish Pershmerga forces and took on 13 Iraqi Divisions. The initial plan was for Task Force Viking to support a planned push by the 1st Infantry Divison south from Turkey into Northern Iraq. When Turkey eventually withdrew its support for such an action, TF Viking was given the task of tying up a large number of Iraqi forces stationed North of Baghdad, preventing them from reinforcing the capital against US forces coming up from the South. Instead of the planned regular US forces, they would instead use a surrogate army of Kurdish troops.

Unable to flyover Turkish airspace, TF Viking instead had to fly a cicuitous route from TF Viking's staging area in Romania to reach Bashur airfield in Northern Iraq. which it would use its base of operations and jumping off point. Bashur had been secured by AFSOC CCTs and reinforced by an air drop of troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Bashur Airfield, Iraq (google earth kmz file)

MC-130s flew in men and supplies to Bashur, dodging Iraqi anti-aircraft fire. One MC-130 was shot up while attempting to deliver a SF company and had to divert to a Turkish airbase for an emergency landing. Turkey would allow overflights the next day.

TF Viking was organzied into three groups, with a Special Forces battalion assigned to each

• 2nd Battalion, 10th SFG was assigned to a Special Operations Area (SOA) corresponding to territory belonging to the KDP, a Kurdishs political group
• 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG was assigned to a SOA corresponding to the area of influence of another Kuridish politcal party, the PUK
• 3rd Battalion, 3rd SFG battalion carried out general special operations

In addition to GMVs, the Special Forces soldiers of Task Force Viking travelled in Non-standard Tactical Vehicles (NTVs) such as Land Rover Defenders (pictured above) and other 4x4s.

Operation Viking Hammer

The first order of business for TF Viking was to take on the 700-strong Ansar al-Islam terrorist group which operated from North East Iraq. Aside from attacking Kurdish forces, Ansar al-Islam was also believed to have ties with Al Qaeda. The task of engaging Ansar al-Islam fell to the 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG, along with some 7000 PUK forces. Between the 28th and 30th of March, Operation Viking Hammer brought down a withering array of airstrikes from cruise missiles, fighters, bombers and AC-130 gunships. In the wake of such strikes, Special Forces and PUK units moved in and secured the ground, an echo of similar SF and Northern Alliance operations in Afghanistan in 2001. The inevitable result of such a combination of arms was the complete routing of Ansar al-Islam forces.

Warplanes such as USAF B-52 bombers pounded Ansar al-Islam ground targets, followed up by Special Forces and PUK forces ground assaults.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brian Ferguson

Operation Mountain Thunder

With the Ansar al-Islam players removed from the board, TF Viking and its Kurdish allies were now free to pursue their main objective - the Iraqi forces along the so-called 'Green Line', a 350-kilometer boundary seperating the Kurdish automonous zone from Iraq proper.

ODAs with the 2nd Battalion, 10th SFG moved towards the city of Mosul with their Peshmerga irregulars in tow.

Mosul, Iraq (google earth kmz file)

The 3rd Battalion of the 10th Special Forces Group, with a force of PUK Peshmerga militia, took the town of Chamchamal, forcing the Iraqis to withdraw to the outskirts of Kirkuk.

Kirkuk, Iraq (google earth kmz file)

ODAs with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd SFG supported by 2nd Battalion/14th Infantry from the 10th
Mountain Division, secured oil fields around Kirkuk. The 3rd SFG forces also assisted the 2nd Btn, 10th SFG attack Iraqi forces.

As the TF Viking units advanced, Iraqi positions along the green line were softened up by air strikes from coalition aircraft. On the 6th of April TF Viking suffered a 'blue on blue' incident when US Navy F-14s mistakenly bombed their convoy resulting in many PUK casualties.
watch video of TF Viking friendly fire incident
(youtube)

Turkish concerns about the Kurds holding Kirkuk and Mosul meant that TF Viking had to operate south of the green line with only a few hundred Kurdish militia by their side. As Iraqi forces withdrew from Kirkuk, troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade took over, allowing the SF ODAs and PUK militia to move back above the green line. The 173rd Airborne Brigade also took over responsibility for securing the oil fields from 3rd Battalion, 3rd SFG.

At Mosul, TF Viking fought a number of battles with Iraqi forces as they closed in on the city. They eventually called in support from the 26th MEU, who continued the oepration while TF Viking moved back above the green line.

sources:
Surrogate Warfare: The Role of U.S. Army Special Forces - MAJ Isaac J. Peltier, U.S. Army
Special Operations Forces in Iraq (Elite) - Leigh Neville

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