EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN: Task Force Phantom in the Iraq War

(At division level, an LRS detachment of six teams had a similar mission on a narrower, less distant strip of enemy terrain.) To accomplish this demanding mission-almost the stuff of Hollywood thrillers-the Army had richly endowed its corps LRS companies with NCO and officer leaders trained at the Ranger, Pathfinder, and Military Free Fall courses; long-range, high-speed communications equipment and a platoon of signal troops to operate them; dozens of light vehicles and trucks; and state-of-the-art optics, individual weapons, and laser target designators. It required Army aviators or Air Force pilots willing to fly into a hornet's nest of enemy air defenses to drop paratroopers over denied territory; logisticians of the corps support command to figure out how to resupply the teams under the same unpromising conditions; personnel recovery experts to draw up a plan to rescue LRS troops in the event of compromise; and corps frequency managers to dedicate channels for that one company, channels that were in short supply and tightly rationed.