James Hickey

James B. Hickey (born October 1, 1960) is a retired U.S. Army colonel. In December 2003, he led Operation Red Dawn, the U.S. military effort that captured Saddam Hussein near Tikrit, Iraq. Military career Hickey attended St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Illinois, and is a 1982 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. On December 13, 2003, Colonel Hickey led the raid entitled "Operation Red Dawn" that captured Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, Iraq. After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, Hickey was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1982.