The Manhunt for Saddam Hussein | Lt. Col. Steve Russell (Ret.)

Steve Russell (0:02)

We had a tiger by the tail, and I thought, okay, if this is going to be a centers of the insurgency, we're going to get ahead of it.

Who are these people? Who targeted us, surveilled us, put together a combined arms, small arms fight with RPGs, automatic weapons, and rifle fire?

There's somebody intelligent behind that, and who's resourcing it? So I said, okay, guys, just three things I want to know. I don't care about all the charts and darts and the other stuff. You got to answer these three questions. What does the enemy look like? How can he hurt us? And how can we hurt him? If you can answer those three questions, we got a lot of options. Otherwise, we're going to be his morale booster, not the other way around.

AJ Pasciuti (0:44)

Welcome to Combat Story. I'm AJ Pasciuti, a retired Marine, Force recon, scout sniper, and Marine gunner with 21 years of service, multiple combat tours, and a lifetime of lessons learned in the arena itself. On this show, I sit down with warriors from every frontline to uncover what combat truly feels like and how it shapes the way we see life, each other, and ourselves.

This is Combat Story.

Today on Combat Story, we sit down with retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell. Steve served 21 years as an infantry officer, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In 2003, he commanded 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry into crit. For 6 months, his regulars worked Saddam Hussein's inner circle, one name at a time, until the trail ended in a hole in the ground. He wrote about it in his memoir, We Got Him! Then he came home to Oklahoma, served in the state senate, and then the United States Congress. Today he runs JARS, Jungle Aviation and Relay Service, a faith-based nonprofit flying into places with no roads to reach people nobody else can.

Soldier, legislator, astor, and pilot. One life spent in service of something larger than himself. This is Combat Story. Welcome back to Combat Story, everyone. As always, I'm AJ Pasciuti, and I am joined with my new friend, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, who has written the book, We Got Him! Retired from the Army in what year, Steve?

Steve Russell (2:11)

2006

AJ Pasciuti (2:12)

I was like, Ouch. Well, thank you so much, and thanks for sitting with us and having a conversation.

Steve Russell (2:18)

No, it's great to be out here.

AJ Pasciuti (2:20)

I appreciate that. I appreciate that. So I have to know, so we focus a lot on service inside of, you know, Combat Story.

Tell me a little bit about where you come from and what drew you to service initially.

Steve Russell (2:33)

Born and raised in Oklahoma.

My dad served in the infantry. He was colorblind. He wanted to fly, but that wasn't going to happen. He was in the 45th Division right at the tail end of the Korean War, but it ended, or sort of. So he did not deploy. The unit came back. So he missed it. But he served four years. Made Staff Sergeant a couple of times, I think. And you know, he was...

We loved him. I just lost him this year.

You know, he lived to be almost 91 Wow. Yeah. So big jock. Loved sports. He didn't do a military career. But we always had that kind of in our family.

Generations back, all the way back. Back to the Revolution even. What was your father's name?

He went by Russ or Gene. His actual name was Clyde Eugene. So it was popular in the 30s, I guess. And then he named my brother Clyde, which he hated his name, but he names his firstborn son after him. So, but my brother served in the Navy. I served in the Army. I had uncles that flew bombers in World War II. Wow. They were had some fascinating stories. One of the biggest influences on my life just as a man was my great grandfather. He was a World War I veteran.

And he was the youngest of four brothers that served in World War I. And he lost his next older brother in France. He's buried in the top of the France. Was killed in October 1918, just a few weeks before the war ended. And Frank Chamberlain, he was a big influence on me because he had all this history. He lived to be in his 90s. The year he retired, I think, was the year I was born. And my mom, she went right back to work after I was born. He watched me a lot those formative years of my life, the first five years. And he was just a lot of fun. He never treated me really like a little kid. I mean, he spoke to me to my understanding. But he created these scenarios and stuff all of the time. Every Friday, we'd go to Walls Bargain Center and he'd give me a dollar. And he'd let me buy whatever I wanted. No matter what I buy, he would say, Oh, I can't believe you're spending a dollar on that. And then after I would put it in there, then he would get other things associated with that and would put them in the cart. And then we would go to his house and he would set up these scenarios of whatever it was that my interest was. So he'd become the banker, the gas station attendant. He'd buy little stoplights and we'd make the little town. And he would roleplay all of these different things. He was just a cool man. And he was a big influence on my life. And so he, last time I saw him, I was a captain, a newly promoted captain in 89 And I'm showing him my first born child, his great-great-granddaughter, one of his great-great-granddaughters, but my first child. And I was just proud of that. And before I left, it was August 89 And he says, hey, before you go, I want to give you something. And I'm like, okay, grandpa, you know what? And he says, here, I want you to have these. He has me this cigar box. And I knew what was in it. And it was some special stuff. It had his brother's pipe that he was carrying on his body when he was killed. Still had the tobacco in it, a mere shound pipe. It had his collar insignia. And just some really special things.