Colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 James Hickey was the US Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 leader of Operation Red Dawn

Operation Red Dawn

Operation Red Dawn was the U.S. military operation conducted on 13 December 2003 in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit, that captured Iraq President Saddam Hussein, ending rumours of his death. The operation was named after the 1984 film Red Dawn. The mission was assigned to the 1st Brigade...

 which captured Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

 near Tikrit

Tikrit

Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...

, Iraq.

Early life & Military Career

He comes from a first generation Irish American family of six children. His grandfather served in Europe during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 before returning to Ireland, and his father was sent to Korea after emigrating to America. He is a 1982 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

. Earlier Command contribution included Camp McGovern, Brčko (city)

Brcko (city)

Brčko is a city in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, administrative seat of the Brčko District. It lies on the country's border along the Sava river across from Gunja, Croatia...

, Bosnia. He was also interviewed and shown on the Military Channel show "Ace in the Hole" and he featured in TV documentaries such as Zero Hour,
2003 BBC World News and 2009 The Surge: The Whole Story.

Then Lieutenant Hickey's first Army assignment was as 3rd Platoon Leader in A Troop 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry Division. This unit Patrolled the East/West German border in the region between 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the North and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in the South. The unit was stationed in Schweinfurt with a border station at Coburg. The Commander at the time was LTC Eric Shinseki, later Army Chief of Staff. Lt. Hickey also served as the Squadron's Boeselager Cup Team Leader.

At his retirement ceremony on December 15, 2010, Col Jim Hickey was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star for his service in Iraq.. He is currently Xe Services

Blackwater Worldwide

Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...

 Military Liaison for Global Training and Security.

External links

• http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pressroom/publications/sais-reports/2004_feb_march/SAIS_Reports04.pdf
• http://www4.army.mil/ARMYIMAGES/armyimage.php?photo=2096

Reference