Commander is `relentless in pursuit'

Chicago Tribune ^ | 12/29/03 | Evan Osnos

[TexKat]

TIKRIT, Iraq -- Col. James Hickey is in his element: M-16 in hand, doors off his Humvee, roaring out of his base in a cold rain onto the hazardous highways of "Saddam country."

Middle-aged commanders in charge of 4,000 soldiers don't need to roam the roads like this, least of all the Army colonel who just netted the biggest quarry in Iraq. But Hickey's bare-knuckles approach may be precisely what made him the man behind the capture of Saddam Hussein

The 43-year-old Chicago native who found Hussein is not an Ivy League Arabist with an intimate knowledge of his secretive foe. He's the son of working-class Irish immigrants, with a 45-caliber pistol strapped to his thigh, who figured that catching the world's most elusive dictator and the insurgents he inspires should be no fancier than chasing small-time thugs down Chicago alleys.

The only tricky part is that the insurgents "are hard to shoot when they are running so damn quickly to get away," he says.

His aggressive approach carried him from toy battles in suburban Hickory Hills to the Virginia Military Institute, where he was known above all for instilling fear into freshmen. It kept him up night after night while he was an Army Fellow at Georgetown University watching the war in Iraq unfold on television, convinced he would miss it altogether. And it eventually helped him cut through the myth of a leader who ruled by name and fear alone, until Hussein was just a fugitive in a hole in the ground.

For all the talk in Washington and Baghdad about the importance of winning Iraqi hearts and minds, Hickey's performance in managing one of Iraq's most restive patches illustrates the central role that old-fashioned military might still holds in day-to-day war.

"Both of these efforts are going on simultaneously--our combat role and our civil military operations work," he said. "As a commander, I place emphasis on the former: the combat role. And I have chosen to do it with an offensive bias."

Lifelong pursuit

James Bernard Hickey never imagined doing much else. As a 4-year-old leading G.I. Joe battles on the living-room floor of his southwest suburban home, he would announce to brother Ken that someday he would lead real troops into war. When he was 10, he dragged his father, James, to the theater four times to watch George C. Scott swagger onscreen as Gen. George Patton, Ken Hickey recalled.

He arrived at VMI as a serious 17-year-old and rapidly earned a reputation for toughness, said his roommate of four years, Joe Yodzis. In his junior year, he earned a coveted spot on the "Rat Disciplinary Committee," doling out push-ups to so-called freshmen "rats."

Over the next two decades, he built a career as a cavalry officer and Russian linguist, with stints in Germany and Bosnia. In 1991 he was earning a master's degree at Johns Hopkins University when the the Persian Gulf war began.

As the nation edged toward war in Iraq last spring, Hickey found himself in school again, this time at Georgetown.

"He was in front of the television 24 hours a day, saying I should be there, helping," said his wife, Maureen, who lives at Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas. "It was like, `I can't believe I'm going to miss this.'"

By April, however, he had worked out an early end to his classes and was on his way to Iraq. By June, he was in command of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade, out of Ft. Hood. His responsibility: a cluster of defiant towns in Salahuddin province.

He made a splashy entrance, joining his troops every day on patrols and raids, striking hard on the lawless streets where roadside bombs and snipers were killing U.S. soldiers.

Back at the command post, anxious aides watched a plasma screen overhead with a bright blue circle that tracked the colonel's Humvee as it offered a tempting target to guerrillas on a street dubbed "RPG Alley" because of rebel attacks with rocket-propelled grenades.

Some troops chafed under his regime of discipline.

Others joked that he was their Lt. Col. Kilgore, the fearless and flamboyant commander from the film "Apocalypse Now," who, as portrayed by Robert Duvall, strode across Vietnam battlefields in a black cowboy hat.

Whatever it was, it worked. Iraqis began surrendering weapons.

"All of a sudden, people started showing up with RPGs and grenades, just dropping them off at the gate, with notes that said, `Colonel Hickey' on the top, and then all in Arabic," said Staff. Sgt. Brad Carpenter, 26, who guards the entrance to the 1st Brigade's base. "They figured it out quick."

`We mean business'

Tall and ramrod straight, with short, gray-streaked hair, Hickey knows his tactics are fierce.

"The reason why things are relatively calm around here is because people know we mean business. If you carry a weapon in the open, you're going to get some. We're going to go after you," he said one recent morning at his command post. "You just don't put [bombs] in the side of the road. . . . You're going to die trying."

But off the street, in the warrens of his headquarters, another critical process was taking shape to capture officials from the former regime.

Inside the marble walls of Hussein's one-time guesthouse, where Hickey houses his brigade, his 16-member military intelligence team made a critical decision: to focus on five major families that dominate tribal and village life in Hussein's homeland and filled the ranks of his security services.

It was a change from early efforts at nabbing Hussein.

Instead of concentrating on the 55 most wanted members of the former regime, they turned their attention to the midlevel operatives who might lead them up the chain. Hickey launched a daily series of raids, capturing suspected rebel leaders one by one.

"Then, we made adjustments, and said, `If this guy is doing that [in the insurgency], then this guy must be doing this,'" Hickey said.

Guided by tips from the public, and documents and photos discovered in raids, they whittled an initial pool of 9,000 names down to a core group of 250 people most likely to know about the mechanics of financing and operating the insurgency--and the whereabouts of fugitive officials.

They sketched a world of Mafia-like criminal links, with top lieutenants who doled out money and insulated themselves from danger, low-level flunkies who traded gunfire with American troops, and Hussein himself lodged far out sight, bouncing between 20 to 30 safe houses and communicating only by word-of-mouth. He was believed to be offering general guidance, while playing little role in day-to-day rebel activities.

They mapped it all in vivid color on a chart they called the "Mongo Link," with Hussein's picture at the center. Those whom they captured or killed were marked in red, said Lt. Col. Troy Smith, Hickey's executive officer. The critical break came Dec. 12, when a captured member from Hussein's trusted Special Security Organization pointed Hickey to the desolate farm on the Tigris River where Hussein could be found.

Teamed with Special Operations forces whose specific task was capturing Hussein, Hickey led 600 troops to the farm the following evening and found Hussein hiding in a covered underground refuge.

Since then, his troops have kept up the raids.

`I know my mission'

By the time he leaves in March, as planned, he hopes to have mopped up the insurgency in his area enough to focus on rehabbing schools and libraries and doing the other civil projects that have taken a backseat to realities of the war.

But for now, the fight goes on.

"I knew my mission in July, and I know my mission now: complete the destruction of remaining former regime elements," he said. "We're doing raids every night. We're relentless in pursuit."

[TexKat]

US Army commander, Colonel James Hickey, 1st Brigade combat team, 4th Infantry Division smiles as he listens to a fellow soldier during the inspection of the hut where toppled dictator Saddam Hussein (was captured.(AFP/Mauricio Lima)

U.S. army commander, Colonel James B. Hickey, 1st Brigade Combat Team, U.S. Army 4th infantry division, of Chicago, Ill., in front of the farm where Saddam Hussein was hiding before he was captured last Saturday in a farm near Tikrit, northern Iraq, Monday Dec. 15, 2003 . Colonel Hickey was the top officer in charge of the capture of Saddam Hussein. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

[TexKat]

Ping

[Grampa Dave]

Others joked that he was their Lt. Col. Kilgore, the fearless and flamboyant commander from the film "Apocalypse Now," who, as portrayed by Robert Duvall, strode across Vietnam battlefields in a black cowboy hat.


Whatever it was, it worked. Iraqis began surrendering weapons.


"All of a sudden, people started showing up with RPGs and grenades, just dropping them off at the gate, with notes that said, `Colonel Hickey' on the top, and then all in Arabic," said Staff. Sgt. Brad Carpenter, 26, who guards the entrance to the 1st Brigade's base. "They figured it out quick."


`We mean business'


Tall and ramrod straight, with short, gray-streaked hair, Hickey knows his tactics are fierce.


"The reason why things are relatively calm around here is because people know we mean business. If you carry a weapon in the open, you're going to get some. We're going to go after you," he said one recent morning at his command post. "You just don't put [bombs] in the side of the road. . . . You're going to die trying."

A couple of dozen or better yet, a hundred more Col Hickey's leading their warriors in Iraq would shorten the post war terrorism very fast.

[Publius]

The 43-year-old Chicago native who found Hussein is not an Ivy League Arabist with an intimate knowledge of his secretive foe. He's the son of working-class Irish immigrants, with a 45-caliber pistol strapped to his thigh, who figured that catching the world's most elusive dictator and the insurgents he inspires should be no fancier than chasing small-time thugs down Chicago alleys.

Yup. Chicago. The style is unmistakable.

[dts32041]

How come he can wear a .45 when the standard issue is 9 (BLANKTY BLANKTY) MM. Not that I am arguing with the choice, just wondering.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The only tricky part is that the insurgents "are hard to shoot when they are running so damn quickly to get away," he says.

Sounds like the colonel needs a bit of skeet practice to sharpen his skills;^)

[ArrogantBustard]

He can wear a .45 because he's the HMFIC, and he bloody well said so ...

[mattdono]

The reason why things are relatively calm around here is because people know we mean business. If you carry a weapon in the open, you're going to get some.

..."you're going to get some".

This has to be one of the best lines ever. I am sure that there is an Achnad somewhere that has ask "Get some what?"

Well, keep up with the terrorism act and you gonna' find out.

Col. Hickey: I salute you!

[Blood of Tyrants]

It is probably his personally owned sidearm. I have heard that many GI's of all ranks are carrying aftermarket 1911's in Iraq.

[MEG33]

Hooray for the good guys!Col. Dickey and the 4thID!Great story!

[MEG33]

Hooray for Col.Hickey! OOPS

[SLB]

BTTT

[dts32041]

Yeah and that is illegal, the only personnel allowed to carry personal firearms are general officers.

I was also wondering if the author of the article (after all he is from Daley land) knows the difference between a gang bangers 9mm and the fighting man's .45 caliber?

[blackie]

Be Well ~ Be Armed ~ Be Safe ~ Molon Labe!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Great post ~ and headline ~ Kat. (^:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TIKRIT, Iraq -- Col. James Hickey is in his element: M-16 in hand, doors off his Humvee, roaring out of his base in a cold rain onto the hazardous highways of "Saddam country."

Middle-aged commanders in charge of 4,000 soldiers don't need to roam the roads like this, least of all the Army colonel who just netted the biggest quarry in Iraq. But Hickey's bare-knuckles approach may be precisely what made him the man behind the capture of Saddam Hussein.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Col. James Hickey, keeping the bad guys off the road, and taking the fight to their caves and spider holes.

[BlueNgold]

Manuever warfare: sieze the initiative and take the fight to the enemy ...

Strategic philosophy breeds tactical success

[blackie]

Be Well ~ Be Armed ~ Be Safe ~ Molon Labe!

[xp38]

[maica]

Col Hickey is the youngest-looking 'middle-aged man' I have ever seen. I hope his exploits get some positive Hollywood attention! Children should be made aware of heroes in today's world.

[xp38]

Since my pic link seems to have died we know the title Master and Commander: The Far side of the World has been taken.