... The [Special Forces (SF)] liaison team's assignment was to enter Iraq with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division [ID], but then move out ahead of the invading American division and link up with American SF teams that were already operating secretly deep inside Iraq.

Their mission was to ensure that the advancing Army troops did not end up in firefights with the U.S. SF teams already there, ... said [Maj. Andrew] Franz [commander of the team from the Washington National Guard's 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group.]

The first operation was to retrieve an SF team that had been conducting reconnaissance at a bridge near Nasiriya about 100 miles inside Iraq.

"They had been there for two days," Franz said. 'The idea was to conduct a linkup at the bridge and then pass the 3rd ID through them." But before the liaison element could reach the reconnaissance team, "they ended up getting compromised on the bridge," Franz said. The recon team had to beat a hasty retreat. ...

Now, instead of meeting at the bridge, the liaison team had to find the recon team hiding somewhere on the vast dusty plain.

At that point, things weren't going smoothly for the 3rd ID either. The advancing Army forces began to receive reports of enemy armor that wasn't supposed to be in the region. ...

As he prepared to retrieve the reconnaissance team, Franz asked the 3rd ID for [armor] support.

But now the liaison team was heading off into the desert instead of toward the bridge, where the 3rd ID was going.

"We weren't moving in their desired direction," Franz said. And with reports of Iraqi armor in the area, "the situation was looking pretty tenuous." So the request for armor was denied. "The guy said, 'You're crazy. We're not sending any of our guys out there to get killed.'"

Franz waited until nightfall and his team set out across the sand in its Humvees.

"Operating out ahead of everyone else was pretty scary," Franz said. But the linkup went smoothly. "We were in contact through satellite radios. We got them in the dark."

Did You Know?

Guard soldiers and airmen have served in Iraq continuously since Operation Iraqi Freedom began five years ago this month.

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