Some 250 U.S. Navy SEALs participated in the Iraq campaign, plus another 250 SEAL support personnel (special boat operators, intelligence and other support specialists.) There hasn't been this large a deployment of SEAL commandos since the Vietnam war three decades ago. The SEALs in Iraq were used for commando raids on key targets (dams and oil facilities that it was feared might be destroyed or sabotaged) as well as sniper and combat teams fighting in Baghdad and other cities. The SEALs also did a lot of reconnaissance, being well trained to go deep into hostile territory and remain undetected. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq provided plenty of amphibious actions on Iraq's small coast, and large river networks.
