Finally, some details began to emerge.īetween July and December 2003, JSOC’s Task Force 121 carried out twelve unsuccessful raids to find Saddam Hussein, together with 600 other operations against targets, including 300 interrogations. Teams of intelligence assets began trying to locate Hussein’s location by interrogating every person of interest they came across. The American military labeled him “High-Value Target Number One” (HVT1) and began one of the largest manhunts in history. Locating Hussein Using HUMINT : Hussein disappeared from public view soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Army 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment provided armor support. Air Force Combat Controllers, Pararescuemen, Tactical Air Control Party operators, and Special Operations Weather Technicians, the Aviation Tactics Evaluation Group (AvTEG), and the Joint Communications Unit. Navy’s SEAL Team Six ,the CIA’s Special Activities Division, U.S. Army’s Delta Force, 75th Ranger Regiment, and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the U.S. TF121 was a multi-service force from Joint Special Operations Command, made up of operators from the U.S.
Task Force 121 was a United States Department of Defense special operations task force.
Not so coincidentally, the targets where the task force searched for Hussein were codenamed “Wolverine 1″ and “Wolverine 2”. The operation was named after the 1984 film “Red Dawn” starring Patrick Swayze. Hussein hid in a spider hole and was found by a Delta Force operator. On the evening of December 13, 2003, in the small Iraqi town of ad-Dawr outside of Tikrit, elements of Task Force 121, and the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.