Quick Facts
Biography
Lt. Col. Salam Jassem Hussein al-Obeidi is a senior officer of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces, commanding the 1st Brigade, known as the Golden Division. Leading operations across the country against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, he has become one of Iraq's most celebrated army officers.
History
He graduated from military college in Iraq in early 2003. In spring 2003 he saw an American tank in Baghdad and later said, "I really admired the power of the American army, which I considered to be liberators."
He later began training to join the now-defunct National Guard (Iraq). While undergoing training, he was approached by an American man who asked him, “Do you want to do something special?” He trained for two and a half weeks under the Special Forces (United States Army) at a deserted palace in Baghdad. He was then flown to Jordan where he spent three months training under the Jordanians and Americans.
Due to the threats against ISOF members by Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Salam was often forced to live on a US military base.
He starred in a June 2016 Vice News documentary titled "Fighting the Islamic State with Iraq's Golden Division: The Road to Fallujah". He was severely injured in fighting in Fallujah. He recalled "The rocket go through the window and blow inside the vehicles. And I found myself bleeding".
In November 2016 he escaped death again after a car bomb hit his position in Mosul.
In February 2017, he travelled to the United States, where he is beginning a two-year officers’ training program at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
Personal life
He owns a German shepherd named Caesar. He is 38 years old and has a wife and son.