High Tech Hunt For Saddam

CBS' Dan Rather Reports On U.S. Military Digital Mapping System

(CBS)  Tikrit is the center of the hunt for Saddam Hussein and 15 other "most-wanted" Iraqis, all that remain of the original deck of 55.

That hunt is the mission of the most technologically advanced military unit in the world — the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, reports CBS News Anchor Dan Rather.

It's the job of Colonel Don Campbell, chief of staff of the 4th Infantry Division, to survey the battlefield.

From his command and control center, Campbell can see every tank and humvee in his command on digital maps so accurate, CBS News had to blur the images before airing them on television, so as not to reveal the military's location.

"That's the First Battalion, 22nd Infantry. If you just click on that that's Charlie Company right there," Campbell says, pointing at the maps.

From these images beamed back from an unmanned aerial vehicle, Campbell can also see the enemy.

"Those are combat vehicles right there, those are people. That's the rooftop of a house so if I could identify five bad guys on top of the house I could shoot 'em," he says.

By "bad guys," Campbell means remaining Saddam henchmen like Chemical Ali, who was captured by the 4th Infantry Division last month with the help of the coordinated digital technology.

Literally billions of pieces of raw information are beamed into the command center—via aerial antennae —analyzed and then beamed back out to provide a precise picture of tactical operations to soldiers in the field.

The technology allows soldiers traveling in fighting vehicles to link to the command center using an array of aeriel antennae.

Using the same sort of antennae, a black hawk helicopter becomes a mobile command unit, or a Medivac chopper that can zoom right in on a wounded soldier.

On night patrol in Tikrit, soldiers in humvees can pinpoint exactly where troops are positioned.

Back at the command center, Colonel Campbell is confident that sooner or later they'll capture all the bad guys, including Saddam, the "Ace of Spades."

"He's moving every two hours and he's not staying set," says Campbell. "He has to. We're onto him. We're gonna get him."