Task Force units included: After the fall of Baghdad on April 10, US political leaders still wanted to locate Saddam Hussein who they believed had fled to his hometown.

[9][10] One of the trickiest parts of the movement north was having to get the entire column of vehicles across the Tigris River over a single decrepit bridge in the town of Al Swash.

[11] On April 13, Marines from 3d LAR were tipped off by Iraqi Police about the presence of American prisoners of war (POW) in the area.

A lieutenant from the unit handed a commercial GPS receiver to an Iraqi Policeman who used it to acquire an accurate location of the prisoners.

[12] The POWs were immediately flown south by CH-46 Sea Knights from HMM-165 to An Numaniyah where they were transferred to a waiting KC-130 Hercules from VMGR-452 which then flew them to Kuwait International Airport.

[16] Upon entering Tikrit, Task Force Tripoli headquarters was established at Saddam's palace compound overlooking the Tigris River.

[22] From April 19–21 the task force conducted a relief in place with the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division led by Major General Raymond T.