Chapter 15: Invasion

1 On an April night … going to lead it. A Delta source.… Panther … The Mission, the Men, and Me, p. 1.

2 The JSOC staff … previously. A retired special operations officer; a Delta source.

3 December … invasion. A retired special operations officer.

4 Not only … Task Force 20. All Roads Lead to Baghdad: Army Special Operations Forces in Iraq, by Charles H. Briscoe, Kenneth Finlayson, Robert W. Jones Jr., Cherilyn A. Walley, A. Dwayne Aaron, Michael R. Mullins, and James A. Schroder (Fort Bragg: U.S. Army Special Operations Command History Office, 2006), p. 77.

5 Delta was … late 2002. A JSOC staff officer.

6 The unit’s … also there. A senior special mission unit officer; a Delta source; a Team 6 source.

7 If Delta … “swarm,” Blaber said. Two Delta sources; Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor (New York: Pantheon, 2006), pp. 328–30.

8 On the moonless … ineffective. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 169–74; Little Bird pilots.

9 As the DAPs … in the fight. Cobra II, p. 331; a Delta source.

10 The flights … airstrike, he said. A senior JSOC staff officer; three Delta operators; a Delta staff officer; a special mission unit member; a senior special mission unit officer; a former Pentagon special operations official; a special operations source; an intelligence officer; a senior Pentagon official.

11 As per Dailey’s … around Baghdad. A Delta source; Cobra II, pp. 329–30.

12 For several … suspicious. Cobra II, p. 331.

13 In the meantime … to Task Force Green. A Delta source.… March 23 … “A Heart Laid Bare,” by Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News, April 3, 2004.

14 The Rangers … assault. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, p. 225; “The Haditha Dam Seizure—Part 1,” by John D. Gresham, Defense Media Network, May 1, 2010, accessed at: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/hold-until-relieved-the-haditha-dam-seizure/.

15 The Rangers secured … ground forces. TF Brown sources.

16 Task Force Green conducted … via Coyote. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 219–25; a JSOC staff officer.

17 Task Force Brown … refuel at Roadrunner. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 211–19

18 The next night … rocky ground. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 225–28.

19 The acting … Kearney agreed. A Delta source; Cobra II, p. 331.

20 But before … “for them.” All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 313–19; a TF 20 planner; a Team 6 source; a retired special operations officer; No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy SEAL, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer (New York: Dutton, 2012), p. 18.

21 The tactical … two operators. Cobra II, p. 332.

22 Defending … twenty miles away. “The Haditha Dam Seizure—Part 1.”

23 But the assault … as well. Cobra II, p. 332; a Delta source.

24 The request was … armored forces. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 323–24.

25 Kearney … assembling. Two Delta sources; All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 324–26; Cobra II, p. 332.

26 As Celeen … to function. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 292–308; “The Haditha Dam Seizure—Part 1,” “The Haditha Dam Seizure—Part 2,” and “The Haditha Dam Seizure—Part 3,” accessed at: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/hold-until-relieved-the-haditha-dam-seizure/; a Ranger source.… more than 350 heavy artillery rounds … Gresham gives the incoming artillery caliber as 155mm, while All Roads Lead to Baghdad says it was 152mm.… 140-man … is as per All Roads Lead to Baghdad; Gresham gives the size of the Ranger force at Haditha as 154 personnel.

27 No Rangers … of the Iraq War. “A Heart Laid Bare”; http://www.leadthewayfund.org/2010/08/captain-russell-brian-rippetoe/; http://www.leadthewayfund.org/2010/08/staff-sergeant-nino-d-livaudais/; http://www.leadthewayfund.org/2010/08/specialist-ryan-p-long/.

28 Meanwhile … never used. A Delta source; Cobra II, pp. 442–43; All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 319–23.

29 A collection … Task Force Wolverine. A Delta source; The Mission, the Men, and Me, p. 5.

30 During the assault … die in the Iraq War. A Delta source; Cobra II, p. 445; “Scott Sather—Strived for Excellence, Influenced Many,” by Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Judy, accessed at: http://www.aetc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123205410. The military never publicly acknowledged that Sather died in a friendly fire incident. Judy, writing more than seven years later, said he was “killed by enemy fire in southwestern Iraq.” … the night of April 8/9 … All Roads Lead to Baghdad gives the date of the rollover as April 9, while the Defense Department’s official announcement of Sather’s death listed the date as April 8. A Delta source said both events happened on the same night. I was unable to reconcile these conflicting accounts.

31 Shortly … total loss. All Roads Lead to Baghdad, pp. 326–28; Cobra II, p. 443; a Delta source.

32 A week of … no casualties. The Mission, the Men, and Me, pp. 1–12; Cobra II, pp. 443–44; Delta sources.

33 The Wolverines spent … from the west. Cobra II, p. 444; a Delta source.

34 Dailey’s preoccupation … “came from.” A Delta source.