On 19 March 2003 at 21:00, the first strike of the operation was carried out by members of the 160th SOAR: a flight of MH-60L DAPs (Direct Action Penetrators) and four 'Black Swarm' flights – each consisting of a pair of AH-6M Little Birds and a FLIR equipped MH-6M to identify targets for the AH-6s (each Black swarm flight was assigned a pair of A-10As) engaged Iraqi visual observation posts along the southern and western borders of Iraq.
Within seven hours, more than 70 sites were destroyed, effectively depriving the Iraqi military of any early warning of the coming invasion.
As the sites were eliminated, the first heliborne SOF teams launched from H-5 air base in Jordan, including vehicle-mounted patrols from the British and Australian components transported by the MH-47Ds of the 160th SOAR.
Ground elements of Task Force Dagger, Task Force 20, Task force 14, and Task Force 64 breached the sand berms along the Iraqi border with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait in the early morning hours and drove into Iraq.
Unofficially, the British, Australians, and Task Force 20 had been in Iraq weeks prior.

On 20 March 2003 at approximately 02:30 UTC or about 90 minutes after the lapse of the 48-hour deadline, at 05:33 local time, explosions were heard in Baghdad.
Special operations commandos from the CIA's Special Activities Division from the Northern Iraq Liaison Element infiltrated throughout Iraq and called in the early air strikes.
At 03:15 UTC, or 10:15 pm EST, George W. Bush announced that he had ordered an attack against "selected targets of military importance" in Iraq.
When this word was given, the troops on standby crossed the border into Iraq.

Before the invasion, many observers had expected a longer campaign of aerial bombing before any ground action, taking as examples the 1991 Persian Gulf War or the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
In practice, U.S. plans envisioned simultaneous air and ground assaults to incapacitate the Iraqi forces quickly which resulted in the Shock and awe military campaign attempting to bypass Iraqi military units and cities in most cases.
The assumption was that superior mobility and coordination of Coalition forces would allow them to attack the heart of the Iraqi command structure and destroy it in a short time, and that this would minimize civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure.
It was expected that the elimination of the leadership would lead to the collapse of the Iraqi Forces and the government, and that much of the population would support the invaders once the government had been weakened.
Occupation of cities and attacks on peripheral military units were viewed as undesirable distractions.

Following Turkey's decision to deny any official use of its territory, the Coalition was forced to modify the planned simultaneous attack from north and south.
Special Operations forces from the CIA and U.S. Army managed to build and lead the Kurdish Peshmerga into an effective force and assault for the North.
The primary bases for the invasion were in Kuwait and other Persian Gulf nations.
One result of this was that one of the divisions intended for the invasion was forced to relocate and was unable to take part in the invasion until well into the war.
Many observers felt that the Coalition devoted sufficient numbers of troops to the invasion, but too many were withdrawn after it ended, and that the failure to occupy cities put them at a major disadvantage in achieving security and order throughout the country when local support failed to meet expectations.

The invasion was swift, leading to the collapse of the Iraqi government and the military of Iraq in about three weeks.
The oil infrastructure of Iraq was rapidly seized and secured with limited damage in that time.
Securing the oil infrastructure was considered of great importance.
In the first Gulf War, while retreating from Kuwait, the Iraqi army had set many oil wells on fire and had dumped oil into the Gulf waters; this was to disguise troop movements and to distract Coalition forces.
Before the 2003 invasion, Iraqi forces had mined some
On 19 March 2003 at 21:00, the first strike of the operation was carried out by members of the 160th SOAR: a flight of MH-60L DAPs (Direct Action Penetrators) and four 'Black Swarm' flights – each consisting of a pair of AH-6M Little Birds and a FLIR equipped MH-6M to identify targets for the AH-6s (each Black swarm flight was assigned a pair of A-10As) engaged Iraqi visual observation posts along the southern and western borders of Iraq. Within seven hours, more than 70 sites were destroyed, effectively depriving the Iraqi military of any early warning of the coming invasion. As the sites were eliminated, the first heliborne SOF teams launched from H-5 air base in Jordan, including vehicle-mounted patrols from the British and Australian components transported by the MH-47Ds of the 160th SOAR. Ground elements of Task Force Dagger, Task Force 20, Task force 14, and Task Force 64 breached the sand berms along the Iraqi border with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait in the early morning hours and drove into Iraq. Unofficially, the British, Australians, and Task Force 20 had been in Iraq weeks prior.
On 20 March 2003 at approximately 02:30 UTC or about 90 minutes after the lapse of the 48-hour deadline, at 05:33 local time, explosions were heard in Baghdad. Special operations commandos from the CIA's Special Activities Division from the Northern Iraq Liaison Element infiltrated throughout Iraq and called in the early air strikes. At 03:15 UTC, or 10:15 pm EST, George W. Bush announced that he had ordered an attack against "selected targets of military importance" in Iraq. When this word was given, the troops on standby crossed the border into Iraq.
Before the invasion, many observers had expected a longer campaign of aerial bombing before any ground action, taking as examples the 1991 Persian Gulf War or the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. In practice, U.S. plans envisioned simultaneous air and ground assaults to incapacitate the Iraqi forces quickly which resulted in the Shock and awe military campaign attempting to bypass Iraqi military units and cities in most cases. The assumption was that superior mobility and coordination of Coalition forces would allow them to attack the heart of the Iraqi command structure and destroy it in a short time, and that this would minimize civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure. It was expected that the elimination of the leadership would lead to the collapse of the Iraqi Forces and the government, and that much of the population would support the invaders once the government had been weakened. Occupation of cities and attacks on peripheral military units were viewed as undesirable distractions.
Following Turkey's decision to deny any official use of its territory, the Coalition was forced to modify the planned simultaneous attack from north and south. Special Operations forces from the CIA and U.S. Army managed to build and lead the Kurdish Peshmerga into an effective force and assault for the North. The primary bases for the invasion were in Kuwait and other Persian Gulf nations. One result of this was that one of the divisions intended for the invasion was forced to relocate and was unable to take part in the invasion until well into the war. Many observers felt that the Coalition devoted sufficient numbers of troops to the invasion, but too many were withdrawn after it ended, and that the failure to occupy cities put them at a major disadvantage in achieving security and order throughout the country when local support failed to meet expectations.
The invasion was swift, leading to the collapse of the Iraqi government and the military of Iraq in about three weeks. The oil infrastructure of Iraq was rapidly seized and secured with limited damage in that time. Securing the oil infrastructure was considered of great importance. In the first Gulf War, while retreating from Kuwait, the Iraqi army had set many oil wells on fire and had dumped oil into the Gulf waters; this was to disguise troop movements and to distract Coalition forces. Before the 2003 invasion, Iraqi forces had mined some 
2003 invasion of Iraq