During the 2003 invasion of Iraq,
at the start of the Iraq War,
a squadron from DEVGRU operated as part of Task Force 20.
Their role was to conduct heliborne direct action raids,
particularly against High Value Targets.
During the occupation,
they were stationed at Al Asad Airbase as part of Task Force West/Blue.
One of the mission conducted by Devgru during operation Iraqi Freedom
was on the evening of March 26, 2003,
a DEVGRU assault element supported by B Company,
2nd Battalion and 75th Ranger Regiment at a complex known as al Qadisiyah Research Centre,
codenamed Objective Beaver.
The intelligence indicated that chemical and biological weapons stocks
may have been located along the shore of the al Qadisiyah reservoir
among government and residential buildings,
assaulted the complex.
Whilst the first of four MH-60Ks helicopter
inserted the Rangers into their blocking positions,
it was engaged by small arms fire from a nearby building.
An AH-6M helicopter spotted the muzzle flashes and fired a 2.75 inch rocket
into the location silencing the small arms fire,
the second MH-60K was also struck by small arms fire but its door gunner suppressed it.
USAF A-10A Thunderbolt II "Warthogs" engaged
nearby electricity transformers successfully blacking out the area,
but it resulted in a series of explosions and a resulting
fire at the stations that dramatically lit the sky,
pinpointing the orbiting helicopters from enemy gunmen.
Small arms fire increased as the final two MH-60s inserted their blocking teams.
The two pairs of AH-6M Little Birds and MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator Blackhawks
supporting the mission continued to suppress targets,
as the four MH-47E Chinooks carrying the DEVGRU main assault
force inserted under heavy enemy small arms fire,
whilst DEVGRU sniper teams aboard a pair of MH-6M Little Birds
engaged numerous gunmen and vehicles.
The Devgru conducted a hasty Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE)
while the Ranger blocking positions received and returned fire,
the AH-6Ms and the aerial snipers continued to engage enemy gunmen,
whilst the MH-60L pushed further out to ensure no reinforcements approached,
engaging and destroying numerous Fedayeen armed technicals.
The SSE took longer than expected owing to the size
and maze-like structure of the building, the mission completed after 45 minutes.
Later tests of the material recovered by DEVGRU showed
no evidence of chemical or biological weapons at the Objective Beaver.
One Nightstalker crew from an MH-47E and one Ranger was wounded.
In 2005,
DEVGRU along with Delta Force and other regular Army and Marine forces
took part in Operation Snake Eyes,
an operation aimed at taking down local militant networks,
especially against Al-Qaeda in Iraq,
eliminating the groups from top to bottom with particular focus on the "middle men".
The operation took place all across Iraq,
raids were synchronized with ground-holding regular Army and Marine forces;
when Delta Force took a number of casualties during that year,
at least 3 DEVGRU Operators who were deployed to Afghanistan
were seconded to Delta after they requested additional assaulters.
During the Second Battle of Ramadi,
DEVGRU operators from Task Force Blue and Delta Force operators from Task Force Green
mounted take down operations against al-Qaeda targets based on high-level intelligence.
In December 2006,
DEVGRU operators were carrying out missions in Western Iraq,
working along the border with Syria and in Ar'Ramadi,
targeting high-level couriers that brought in foreign fighters and Iranian weapons
and also assisting US Marines in clearing and securing
series of houses near the Syrian border.