Operation Viking Hammer: A Green Beret's Firsthand Account of Unconventional Warfare in Northern Iraq, 2003

by Mark Giaconia

Before the Iraq war in 2003, Green Beret teams infiltrated Northern Iraq, linked up with the CIA, and embedded deeply with the Kurdish Peshmerga to prepare for war. These special missions were called “Advanced Force Operations.” Subsequently, these special teams brought in the rest of the Green Berets during an operation called "the Ugly Baby," and then one of the most significant battles in Special Forces history "Operation Viking Hammer," where six Green Beret teams and a handful of CIA personnel, combined with approximately 8000 Peshmerga took back hundreds of square kilometers from almost 1000 Ansar Al Islam extremists, and secured a poison production facility of national level significance. This book is the only firsthand account of these historic Unconventional Warfare operations, written by an operator. This book is a subset of "One Green Beret" by Mark Giaconia

137 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 10, 2018

About the author

Mark Giaconia served 20 years in the US Army Special Forces and Retired in 2011. He was born and raised in eastern Connecticut. He holds a B.A. in English Lit, and an M.S. in Software Engineering. Mark served in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, and Iraq, and after his postwar intellectual evolution he spent his last 8 years in the Army as what might be the world’s first Active Duty Green Beret Computer Scientist. Mark holds two awards for valor from combat actions in Iraq and Kosovo (Bronze Star with “V” and an ARCOM with “V” respectively). He successfully completed some of the toughest military training in the world, such as the Special Forces Qualification Course, Ranger School, Airborne and Jumpmaster School, Mountaineering schools, three different Sniper Schools, ASOT, and many more. Mark is also an accomplished Flamenco Guitarist, impressionist oil painter, woodworker, computer programmer, data scientist, and loves studying philosophy.

Reviews

[Chaplain Stanley Chapin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A part of the Iraq war we never heard

As is often, the things we hear about a military action are often over glorified, if it ever passed the censors.

[Steven Northover]

I am reluctant to give this book a rating. Mark is the right author. His is a good story. Mark showed me his war, seen through his eyes. I would have liked more. What was the plan? How did it fit into the military strategy to defeat Husein?

When a warrior tells a war story it is filled with things we non-warriors do not understand. Each weapon has a voice and its role to play in the battle. We non-warriors need someone to guide our understanding. Each participant has a voice and a role. We who read of a battle tend to lose sight of its point if we are not kept on track.

If I could rewrite this I would write it from a point of view one level higher so I could make sense of it.

I thank Mark for his courage in battle and as an author.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only thing missing is the pictures of the actual Operation. I guess he could not find any. But I really got a sense of the excitement, brutality, fear, and horror of battle. There where several details he describes what it is like to witness bodies in every state of brutal disfigurement. One such instance she says it literally smelled like shit because so many bodies had their colons exposed and so much shit was out in one area. A lesser know Advanced Force Operation, it really is interesting the way he fought with the Kurds living up to their reputation of "those who face death." This books has all the details yo would want about Viking Hammer.

[Norman P. Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

You are there

This story by a green beret provides first hand insight into battle conditions and the bravery of the men involved. A good read.

[Random Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like a "first person shooter" perspective of a Green Beret in intense combat alongside the Kurds in Iraq; very unique perspective because it is deliberately focused on an individual viewpoint. The same material is in the author's other book Quest for War, but I guess this is nice and focused for those not interested in the breadth of his memoir.