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Operation Red Dawn
Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, was captured by the United States military in the town of Ad-Dawr, Iraq on 13 December 2003. The military operation to capture him was codenamed Operation Red Dawn, named after the 1984 American film '' Red Dawn''. The mission was executed by joint operations Task Force 121—an elite and covert joint special operations team, supported by the 1st Brigade Combat Team (led by Colonel James Hickey) of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Raymond Odierno. They searched two sites, "Wolverine 1" and "Wolverine 2", outside the town of ad-Dawr, but did not find Saddam. A continued search between the two sites found Saddam hiding in a " spider hole" at 20:30 hrs local Iraqi time. Saddam did not resist capture. Background Saddam disappeared from public view shortly after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq began. The U.S. military labelled him " High Value Target Number One" (HVT1) and began one of the largest manhunts in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist Iraq, Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict persisted Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), as an insurgency arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011), were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present), Islamic State insurgency. The Iraq invasion was part of the Presidency of George W. Bush, Bush administration's broader war on terror, launched in response to the September 11 attacks. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spider Hole
Illustration of a spider hole In military slang, a spider hole is a type of camouflaged one-man foxhole, similar to a surveillance/hidesite used for observation. Etymology The term is usually understood to be an allusion to the camouflaged hole constructed by the trapdoor spider. According to United States Marine Corps historian Major Chuck Melson, the term originated in the American Civil War, when it meant a hastily dug foxhole. Following the capture of Saddam Hussein, the American columnist William Safire claimed in the December 15, 2003, issue of the ''New York Times'' that the term originated in the Vietnam War. According to Safire, one of the characteristics of these holes was that they held a "clay pot large enough to hold a crouching man." If the pot broke, the soldier was exposed to attack from snakes or spiders, hence the name "spider hole". Design A spider hole is typically a shoulder-deep, protective, round hole, often covered by a camouflaged lid, in which a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MD Helicopters MH-6 Little Bird
The Boeing MH-6M Little Bird (nicknamed the Killer Egg) and its attack variant, the AH-6, are light helicopters used for special operations in the United States Army. Originally based on a modified OH-6A, it was later based on the MD 500E, with a single five-bladed main rotor. The newest version, the MH-6M, is based on the MD 530F and has a single, six-bladed main rotor and four-bladed tail rotor. Development The OH-6 was started in 1960, when the US Army issued Technical Specification 153 for a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) that could perform personnel transport, escort and attack missions, casualty evacuation, and observation. Twelve companies took part in the competition and Hughes Tool Company's Aircraft Division submitted the Model 369. Two designs, those submitted by Fairchild-Hiller and Bell, were selected as finalists by the Army-Navy design competition board, but the Army later included the helicopter from Hughes as well. The first Model 369 prototype fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glock
Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service in 1982 after becoming the top performer in reliability and safety tests. Glock pistols have become the company's most profitable line of products, and have been supplied to national armed forces, security agencies, and police forces in at least 48 countries. Glocks are also popular among civilians for recreational shooting, competition shooting, and self-defense. History The company's founder and head engineer, Gaston Glock (1929–2023), had no experience with firearms design or manufacture at the time his first pistol, the Glock17, was being prototyped. Glock had extensive experience in advanced synthetic polymers, which was instrumental in the company's design of the first commercially successful line of pistols ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M4 Carbine
The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively used by the US military, with decisions to largely replace the M16 rifle in US Army (starting 2010) and US Marine Corps (starting 2016) combat units as the primary infantry weapon and service rifle. The M4 has been adopted by over 60 countries worldwide, and has been described as "one of the defining firearms of the 21st century." Since its adoption in 1994, the M4 has undergone over 90 modifications to improve the weapon's adaptability, ergonomics and modularity, including: the M4A1, which possesses a thicker barrel and a replacement of the burst-fire control group with a fully automatic one; the SOPMOD, an accessory kit containing optical attachments; and the underbarrel weapons such as M203 and M320 grenade launchers to the Masterkey and M26-M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ("filler"), a detonator mechanism, an internal Firing pin, striker to trigger the detonator, an arming safety secured by a transport safety. The user removes the transport safety before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the arming safety gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a Percussion cap, primer that ignites a fuze (sometimes called the delay element), which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge. Grenades work by dispersing fragments (fragmentation grenades), shockwaves (High explosive, high-explosive, Anti-tank grenade, anti-tank and stun grenades), chemical aerosols (Smoke grenade, smoke, Grenade#Chemical and gas, gas and Grenade#Chemi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osprey Publishing
Osprey Publishing is a British publishing company specializing in military history formerly based in Oxford. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces over a dozen ongoing series, each focusing on a specific aspect of the history of warfare. Their publications include the ''Men-at-Arms'' series, running to over 500 titles, with each book dedicated to a specific historical army or military unit. Osprey is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. History In the 1960s, the Brooke Bond Tea Company began including a series of military aircraft cards with packages of their tea. The cards proved popular, and the artist Dick Ward proposed the idea of publishing illustrated books about military aircraft. The idea was approved and a small subsidiary company called Osprey was formed in 1968. The company’s first book, ''North American P-51D Mustang in USAAF-USAF Service'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tikrit
Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a fort during the Assyrian empire, Tikrit became the birthplace of Muslim military leader Saladin. Saddam Hussein's birthplace was in a modest village (13 km) south of Tikrit, which is called " Al-Awja"; for that, Saddam bore the surname ''al-Tikriti''. The inhabitants of this village were farmers. Many individuals from Saladin Governorate, especially from Tikrit, were government officials during the Ba'athist period until the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Following the invasion, the city has been a site of insurgency by Sunni militants, including the Islamic State who captured the city in June 2014. During the Second Battle of Tikrit from March to April 2015, which resulted in the displacement of 28,000 civilians, Iraqi government forc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region ( ''Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-'Arabī al-Ishtirākī fī al-'Irāq''), officially the Iraqi Regional Branch, was an Iraqi Ba'athism, Ba'athist organisation founded in 1951 by Fuad al-Rikabi. It was the former Ba'athist Iraq, ruling party of Iraq from the 17 July Revolution, 1968 coup until its overthrow by the United States in 2003 during its 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of Iraq. This party was the Iraqi regional branch of the Ba'ath Party, original Ba'ath Party, before changing its allegiance to the Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction), Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath movement following the 1966 Syrian coup d'état#Intra-Ba'athist split, 1966 split within the original party. The party was officially De-Ba'athification, banned following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, but despite this it still continues to function underground. History Early years and 14 July Revolution: 1951–1958 The Iraqi Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the Arab world, most populous cities in the Middle East and Arab world and forms 22% of the Demographics of Iraq, country's population. Spanning an area of approximately , Baghdad is the capital of its Baghdad Governorate, governorate and serves as Iraq's political, economic, and cultural hub. Founded in 762 AD by Al-Mansur, Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and became its most notable development project. The city evolved into a cultural and intellectual center of the Muslim world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". For much of the Abbasid era, duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joint Special Operations Command
The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, to plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, to develop joint special operations tactics, and to execute special operations missions worldwide. It was established in 1980 on recommendation of Colonel Charlie Beckwith, in the aftermath of the failure of Operation Eagle Claw. It is headquartered at Pope Field (Fort Bragg, North Carolina). Overview The JSOC is the "joint headquarters designed to study special operations requirements and techniques; ensure interoperability and equipment standardization; plan and conduct joint special operations exercises and training; develop joint special operations tactics." For this task, the Joint Communications Unit is tasked to ensure compatibility of communic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
