The Stars and Stripes has a dramatic account of the attack by approximately 200 Taliban on an American combat outpost in Kunar province. An initial map recon of the battlefield was featured in an earlier post, On the Pakistani Border. For those who didn’t read that post the Google terrain map showed the village of Wanat, the approximate location of the engagement, to be in the middle of a deep valley about with higher ground looming on every side. Keep that picture in mind when reading the Stars and Stripes account.
The first RPG and machine gun fire came at dawn, strategically striking the forward operating base’s mortar pit. The insurgents next sighted their RPGs on the tow truck inside the combat outpost, taking it out. That was around 4:30 a.m. …
The next target was the FOB’s observation post, where nine soldiers were positioned on a tiny hill about 50 to 75 meters from the base. Of those nine, five died, and at least three others — Stafford among them — were wounded.
The attacking Taliban force was far larger than the entire American force in the forward operating base, manned by a platoon-sized element, but it especially outnumbered the even smaller complement manning the observation post. It was upon this small unit that the brunt of the enemy assault fell.
Immediately, a grenade exploded by Stafford, blowing him down to a lower terrace at the observation post and knocking his helmet off. Stafford put his helmet back on and noticed how badly he was bleeding.
Cpl. Matthew Phillips was close by, so Stafford called to him for help. Phillips was preparing to throw a grenade and shot a look at Stafford that said, “Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first.” …
The firefight intensified. Bullets cut down tree limbs that fell on the soldiers. RPGs constantly exploded.
Back at Stafford’s position, so many bullets were coming in that the soldiers could not poke their heads over their sandbag wall. Bogar stuck an M-249 machine gun above the wall and squeezed off rounds to keep fire on the insurgents. In about five minutes, Bogar fired about 600 rounds, causing the M-249 to seize up from heat.
At another spot on the observation post, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers laid down continuous fire from an M-240 machine gun, despite drawing small-arms and RPG fire from the enemy. Ayers kept firing until he was shot and killed. Cpl. Pruitt Rainey radioed the FOB with a casualty report, calling for help. Of the nine soldiers at the observation post, Ayers and Phillips were dead, Zwilling was unaccounted for, and three were wounded. Additionally, several of the soldiers’ machine guns couldn’t fire because of damage. And they needed more ammo.
The observation post was within an ace of being overrun; in fact the Taliban had entered part of the tiny unit’s perimeter. Then reinforcements came — in the shape of a few men from the platoon less than 100 meters away. Thus augmented, they counterattacked and attempted to get all the survivors into the main position. Small groups of men went back and forth looking for survivors. One man who was given up for dead, Sgt Ryan Pitts, was actually holding out in an isolated part of the position and surprised everyone by calling in alive. Driven by this news, the platoon mounted a 3 man rescue mission to bring back Pitts, which bogged down in the face of Taliban machine gun and RPG fire. Then “air support arrived in the form of Apache helicopters, A-10s and F-15s” and suddenly the tables had been switched on the Taliban.
The rest of the account should be read in its entirety. Not everything is explained and some readers might fill in the blanks with their imagination; guess the Taliban achieved tactical surprise; intended to knock out the platoon mortar, pin down the main position and then take and massacre the outpost. They might deduce from the large number of RPGs that the attack was orchestrated by the enemy higher command and wonder at why, with surprise and numbers on their side, the large enemy force failed to annihilate the 9-man observation post. But until the history of the assault is written, what happened a Kunar will simply be a story based on a Stars and Stripes account written by a correspondent from interviews given by men who had survived the fight.
But in the strange world of the War on Terror stories are important; this was a tale whose ending the Taliban had hoped to write themselves. The entire purpose of the operation — what the Taliban hoped to achieve by their extraordinary exertion was probably not simply the death of 9 infidels — but press headlines saying ‘American unit massacred in Afghanistan’ or ‘Airborne outpost annihilated on the Pakistani border’. Had they succeeded in provoking those headlines the fight in Kunar would have become the focus of talking points in Congress, the subject of talk shows on the networks and speeches on the Presidential campaign trail. It was a story that many Taliban were undoubtedly prepared to give their lives to project. But they failed.
They failed because a new ending to the story was written at the last minute by the men of the 173rd Airborne. In the nature of the media coverage it will not necessarily be portrayed as a victory for US forces, but at least it won’t be trumpeted as a victory for the Taliban. What happened in Kunar was not only a saga of arms under desperate conditions but a defensive victory in the war of information. In many mosques and madrassas around the world people will notice that on an early morning in Afghanistan, the magic of 173rd Airborne was more puissant than that of Osama bin Laden.
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1. Grimmy:http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56252
Commander: Media reports on Afghanistan outpost battle were exaggerated
173rd’s fight not symbol of more violent Afghanistan, says Preysler
By Mark St.Clair, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, July 20, 2008
“The sky is not falling,” Col. Charles “Chip” Preysler, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, said Saturday from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Preysler spoke via telephone less than a week after his paratroops and their Afghan allies were involved in a fierce attack at a small post near the village of Wanat. In the July 13 battle, nine of his men were killed and 15 others wounded.
But the attack is not a sign of conditions worsening in the country, he said.
The battle occurred just after dawn at a temporary vehicle patrol base near Wanat. A platoon-sized element of Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne) soldiers and a smaller Afghan National Army force were occupying a hastily built area as they had done many times over the 15 months they’d been in country, Preysler said. The soldiers were there on a reconnaissance mission to establish a presence and find a good location to connect with the local government, populace and Afghan National Police, he said.
The small outpost had been built just days before the attack and consisted of protective wire and observation posts surrounding strategically placed vehicles. “That’s all it was, a series of vehicles that went out there,” Preysler said.
“People are saying that this was a full-up [forward operating base]/combat outpost, and that is absolutely false and not true. There were no walls,” Preysler said, latter adding, “FOB denotes that there are walls and perimeters and all that. It’s a vehicle patrol base, temporary in nature.”
But that doesn’t mean the soldiers were not prepared to take on the enemy, he said.
“Now, obviously when you halt, you start prepping your defenses, and in this case we had [observation posts] and protective wire, we had the vehicles deployed properly to take advantage of their fields of fire, and we set up like that all over the place, and we do it routinely,” he said.
The Army did not “abandon” the base after the attack, as many media reporters have suggested, Preysler said.
He said the decision to move from the location following the attack was to reposition, which his men have done countless times throughout their tour, and to move closer to the local seat of government.
“If there’s no combat outpost to abandon, there’s no position to abandon,” he said. “It’s a bunch of vehicles like we do on patrol anywhere and we hold up for a night and pick up any tactical positions that we have with vehicle patrol bases.
“We do that routinely…. We’re always doing that when go out and stay in an area for longer then a few hours, and that’s what it is. So there is nothing to abandon. There was no structures, there was no COP or FOB or anything like that to even abandon. So, from the get-go, that is just [expletive], and it’s not right.”
He also didn’t like the media’s characterization that his men were “overrun.”
“As far as I know, and I know a lot, it was not overrun in any shape, manner or form,” an emotional Preysler said. “It was close combat to be sure — hand grenade range. The enemy never got into the main position. As a matter of fact, it was, I think, the bravery of our soldiers reinforcing the hard-pressed observation post, or OP, that turned the tide to defeat the enemy attack.”
Though Preysler and his staff have seen several reports on the fight and numbers of enemy, he said true specifics still remain unclear.
“I do not know the exact numbers. But I know they had much greater strength than one U.S. platoon,” he said. “I believe the enemy to number over 100 in that area when he attacked. I don’t know the casualties that he took, but I know that it’s got to be substantial based on the different reports I’m getting. We may not know the true damage we inflicted on the enemy, but we certainly defeated his attack and repulsed his attack and he never got into our position.”
Preysler and his staff also object to media reports that because of the size of the attack, it could be a harbinger of change in the way militants fight in eastern Afghanistan.
“I think people are taking license and just misusing statistics, and I refuse to do that,” he said. “We’re in the middle of the fighting season. When we first got here last summer and started fighting here in June, we were only seeing the enemy and engaging him first about 5 percent of the time. Now we’re between 25 and 40 percent. We see the enemy, and we’re engaging him first.”
When the 173rd arrived last summer, it marked the first time that a brigade-sized element operated in the upper provinces near of the Pakistan border, allowing for a much larger presence.
“By sheer numbers and sheer volume of patrols — I mean this [battalion] has had 9,000 patrols in 15 months — we’re out there taking the fight to the enemy,” We’re out there taking the ground that he used to own exclusively, and we have separated him from the people in many locations,” Preysler said. “This is one area that is still contested, and we’re going to have to go back in there and fight hard to separate the insurgents from the population, and that is exactly what we’re going to do.
“Now, the problem is we are in the middle of a transition, [but] I would not characterize this as anything more than the standard fighting that happens in this area in good weather that the summer provides. The harvest is in, and it’s the fighting season. I don’t see massive enemy pushes into our area. The sky is not falling, and this is what we’ve been facing all along in the summer.”
Preysler ended the interview by lauding his soldiers.
“I get emotional about this, you’ll have to forgive me,” he said. “These guys have fought for 15 months, and they have fought harder, and I mean this literally, they have fought harder and (had) more engagements, more direct-fire engagements, than any brigade in the United States Army in probably the toughest terrain. These guys are absolutely veterans and they know what they’re doing and they have that airborne spirit and they fought a very, very tough battle and held the ground and did everything they were supposed to do.
“I would like to also say I wish my guys who were wounded a speedy recovery and obviously condolences to the families, and that’s very close and personal to us. It’s tough to take casualties toward the end of any combat tour for any unit, but it signals that we’re in a fight, and we’re going to continue to fight.”
Jul 20, 2008 - 5:50 am 2. Grimmy:Sounds more like they stumbled into a taliscum force that was gathering up for something else but diverted to this mobile unit when it showed up.
Kinda like what a recon is often supposed to do. Find the enemy and kick the rageboomer out of it. Sometimes, wars involve shooting and such unpleasant things. Even COIN wars.
Jul 20, 2008 - 5:54 am 3. Vicki:These men of the 173rd Airborne have fought a heroic battle for the past 15 months. This incident, will be remembered in history for the horrific losses they encountered, as well as the major success they achieved. They represent the very best, bravest, that America has to offer.
Thank you for your service, and your sacrifice so that all of us, can watch teh battle against extremeism, and terror on our living room TV, and not through our living room windows.
Vickie….
Jul 20, 2008 - 6:09 am 4. Teresita:Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war. — Plutarch, Pyrrhus
Jul 20, 2008 - 6:28 am 5. Cannoneer No. 4:The Truth Comes Out About the Battle of Patrol Base Bella
So this “military installation” was nothing like a Combat Out Post or Joint Security Station or Foward Operating Base as those term are understood in Iraq. It sounds more like what an old tanker would call a laager, maybe an assembly area. And it wasn’t “abandoned” after the battle. The mobile unit that occupied the position got up and left. Mobile units do that.
First reports are always wrong. Remember that.
Jul 20, 2008 - 7:10 am 6. programmer:Teresita,
To whom do you give the Pyrric victory? The 173rd or the Taliban?
The enemy always strives to hide their dead and wounded, in order to appear invincible. But they always know, and it gets harder and harder to recruit.
There have existed in this world, few if any soldiers that were as motivated and dedicated as the confederate army of Robert E. Lee. But in time, even he had desertions and found it harder to find replacements. The Taliban are no different. Their bravest and best (they may be the enemy, but give them credit where due) are usually the first to die. What is left is not the best or the bravest. And they have learned an important truth. We are good at killing. We do it well. And we are the Romans here, “not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.”
Jul 20, 2008 - 7:20 am 7. Garth Farkley:Would you please include a link to the Stars & Stripes story you reference?
Jul 20, 2008 - 7:51 am 8. John Samford:No truth yet, just a different account. Now we have two versions, I suspect there is a version for everone involved. The facts are that an American unit ( self described as a ‘mobile force’) was isolated, surprised and almost wiped out or at least took heavy ( >50%) casualties.
I stick by my failure of command analysis.
BTW, when did the TO&E of a PIR expand to include enough vehicles to form a lager?
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:35 am 9. hdgreene:Back in the day, a PIR had two jeeps, one for the Sgt Major and one for the Col. AFAIK, they never actually went anywhere, but were kept back at the fort to help slow soldiers learn to concentrate. If a run of the mill trooper wanted a vehicle, he had to ‘borrow’ it. Normally from an armored unit, if one was handy.
Teresita, are you referencing the Taliban Pyrrhic Victory in your quote, or the American one?
Remember, once Sen. Obama is elected fresh legions of newly idealized youth will pour out of American “Blue State” cities (a great day for recruiters at UC Berkley). They will hurl themselves into the tribal areas of Pakistan and will be welcomed there as helpmates. They will drill for water by day (they better not find oil!) and by night they will (?) the enemy. Then they will (??) him! And finally (???) him! Point is, the enemy will become de-persuaded by all this attention, and piece will occur.
For President Obama is the man that can end a war simply by signing a piece of paper, one that orders the abandonment of allies (yesterday’s “new found friends” and tomorrow’s “why do they hate us?” dependent clause). The Obama piece is the all to common “piece of signed paper” equals “peace in our time” confusion. So: muck about in the mountains for a while, put on a good show. Order all and sundry to leave.
So you might think it were the Taliban’s victory that weren’t really a victory they could afford. Only, of course, they can afford it. For it is their enemy (US) with President Obama’s fresh faced legions pouring “in theater” who will then give up, and pour back out. For it is all part of the slosh and froth. The media slosh and froth, done for show and having nothing to do with showing up, and staying and doing.
Perhaps the Pyrrhic victory came in the media wars. The MSM may have brought down George Bush (at least in the esteem of the nation), but can they afford one more such victory? For they have brought him down, and yet still must look up to see him.
They deploy what force remains to buoy-up Barrack Obama. For the media is not in the tank for Sen. Obama. They are the tank, and The Obama Campaign bobs about amongst the surface froth, pushed hither and yon by the media slosh. Unfortunately, the tank leaks. And as goes the media muck (the source of their power), so shall go the Media’s President.
Where will that leave President Obama when “words, just words” are not enough to impress our enemies? Words — often unjust words or delivered in jest words — are all the media has. And they don’t bother to remember, let alone keep, their “word.”
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:39 am 10. Teresita:Programmer: To whom do you give the Pyrric victory? The 173rd or the Taliban?
That’s conditioned on whether we continue to devote 12 billion dollars a month and 140,000 troops to the Iraq sideshow for a hundred years, or shift back to the actual War on Terror in Afghanistan, not at all abating in courage for the loss we sustained, but even from our very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war. And that, in turn, depends on the outcome of the November election.
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:41 am 11. Charles:From the stars & stripes article
The whole FOB was covered in dust and smoke, looking like something out of an old Western movie.
“I’ve never seen the enemy do anything like that,” said Walker, who was medically evacuated off the FOB in one of the first helicopters to arrive. “It’s usually three RPGs, some sporadic fire and then they’re gone … I don’t where they got all those RPGs. That was crazy.”
Two hours after the first shots were fired, Stafford made his way — with help — to the medevac helicopter that arrived.
“It was some of the bravest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys,” Stafford said, then paused. “Normal humans wouldn’t do that. You’re not supposed to do that — getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head … It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ’ em off.”
Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard.
“Just hardcoreness I guess,” he said. “Just guys kicking ass, basically. Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don’t want to come in and try to get us.”
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:57 am 12. programmer:Charles,
Thanks for the clip and link. In VietNam, the 173rd frequently provided security for some of the work I had to do. They were good. Words are not enough. From the gist of this article, they have not changed. The “regimental tradition” still survives.
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:27 am 13. NahnCee:“Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first.”
I love this. If you carefully re-read the piece, it’s not an actual quote but it’s what I took away from the whole thing. Artful journalism done good.
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:27 am 14. NahnCee:So then, basically a Comanche war party stumbled upon 9 troops gathered around their camp fire having a little bean dinner with the main fort being miles and miles away. And decided to take advantage.
The war party attacked with all the whooping and hollering and black magic at their disposal, and the troops held off, scrabbling in the dirt behind their dead horses and shooting back with bravery, valor and desperation, until John Wayne arrived in the form of a helicopter.
And then the carrion birds back in DC swooped in to make a meal off the story, featuring dead and inept American soldiers, and criminally incompetent American commanders.
Too bad Spielberg will never make a movie of it.
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:38 am 15. Cannoneer No. 4:Samford, I’ll stick to my analysis about you, pogue. With every post on this topic you demonstrate your ignorance.
Pray, tell us about your military career that qualifies you to be taken seriously when you claim that COL Preysler is a liar and that 1LT Brostrom was incompetent.
And don’t embellish. You’re already posing as somebody worth listening to.
Jul 20, 2008 - 11:35 am 16. Panday:That’s conditioned on whether we continue to devote 12 billion dollars a month and 140,000 troops to the Iraq sideshow for a hundred years, or shift back to the actual War on Terror in Afghanistan, not at all abating in courage for the loss we sustained, but even from our very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war. And that, in turn, depends on the outcome of the November election.
You call Iraq a sideshow, yet both al-Qaeda and Iran have been trying to grab as much power as they can there.
Your next move, likely, is to point out that Iraq didn’t have to happen at all. My reply is that it did happen. Therefore it’s not a sideshow. It is what it is and any other debate on that point is really nothing but sophistry.
Jul 20, 2008 - 12:21 pm 17. voyeur:One speculates whether the attackers were plain-flavour Taliban or something other - given the firepower. Pakistani? AQ? Protecting an asset nearby or something?
Jul 20, 2008 - 12:26 pm 18. Eggplant:Off topic:
Supposably the moonbats are growing unhappy with B. Hussein, refer to:
http://origin.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_9939610
This might(?) be an attempt at subterfuge to make Hussein more palatable to the mainstream. It would be excellent news if the moonbats were actually abandoning their messiah but I remain skeptical
Jul 20, 2008 - 12:35 pm 19. Charles:Obama calls Afghanistan Precarious and Urgent
Jul 20, 2008 - 12:51 pm 20. buddy larsen:Over-ride any bad taste from the trivializers, the cynics, and the blurbs-from-classicists pretentious, here, at the wiki:
The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team is an airborne infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army, based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command’s conventional airborne strategic response force for Europe.[1]
Activated in 1915, the 173rd Airborne Brigade saw service in both World War I and World War II, and is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. The brigade was the first major United States ground formation deployed in Vietnam, serving there for six years and losing almost 1,800 soldiers. Noted for its roles in Operation Hump and Operation Junction City, the soldiers of the 173rd received over 7,700 decorations, including more than 6,000 Purple Hearts. The brigade returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in 1972.
Since its reactivation in 2000, the brigade has served three tours of the Middle East. The 173rd participated in the initial invasion of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and two tours in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom; one from 2005 to 2006, and a current deployment that began in 2007. The brigade recently returned from duty in eastern Afghanistan.
A decorated unit, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team has received 20 campaign streamers and several unit awards, including the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the Battle of Dak To during the Vietnam War.
Jul 20, 2008 - 12:57 pm 21. RWE:“The insurgents next sighted their RPGs on the tow truck inside the combat outpost, taking it out.”
I think this must mean a vehicle equipped with a TOW missile launcher, as I have seen Hummers so equipped.
I got to handle a TOW once. Not very man-portable, despite the claims to that effect, but a nice, steady, easy to point weapon. Although I doubt the antiaircraft capability the troops showing it to me claimed.
Jul 20, 2008 - 1:01 pm 22. programmer:Voyeur,
Interesting comment, moving on from the battle itself. Given our electronic intelligence capabilities AND the ability to deliver effective fire against massed troops, this seems like a pretty big “war party”, as Nahncee characterizes them to be wandering around in the boonies for the fun of it. I have never conducted operations in other than jungle terrain, but it seems likely to my unsophisticated view that a large group like that would give off a pretty big heat signature to infrared surveillance and surely we have that capability by now. Probably more here than will ever be reported. Any thoughts, or too far off track?
Jul 20, 2008 - 1:07 pm 23. programmer:Buddy,
Interesting link. It doesn’t mention, but I believe, and I’m sure I will be corrected if wrong, that the 173rd is the only unit to conduct a combat jump in VietNam. I think it occurred around the 1967-1968 time frame for Operation Junction City(?)
Jul 20, 2008 - 1:14 pm 24. JR Garner:As usual, it looks like Teresita is doing her/his/its best to conceal the truth, but victory is about complete in Iraq and we will now see an intensified program in Afghanistan. Since Iraq was an Al Queda centerpiece, this victory has already chewed up a lot of the men, material, and morale of Al Queda already. We can now finish the job in the next year or two on Al Queda by winning in Afghanistan and conducting various operations going into Pakistan.
Oh, and Obama’s campaign is disintegrating under to glare of exposure. There is little chance that he can take the White House and zero chance that Al Queda will continue to exist in significant form beyond two or three years.
The one remaining issue for world peace at this time is Iran. That is somewhat undefined due to the fact that the regime there seems to be able to cling to power and is moving ahead with nuclear weapons. Without doubt, they will NOT be allowed to create a realistic threat with such weapons. Whether they buckle under new pressure, as North Korea has done, are overthrown, have their weapons destroyed by Israel or the U.S., the end result will be no such weapons will be effectively in their hands. The only question after this issue is resolved is what political and/or military fall out will result from the resolution. It might be a problem, at least for a while.
Jul 20, 2008 - 2:09 pm 25. RWE:I must admit that I am growing increasingly concerned about the attempt to focus on Afghanistan. McCain may or may not be doing it for political purposes but Obama certainly is.
Afghanistan would seem to offer the perfect Bill Clinton-Style war: not really related to American vital interests, and suitable for display of the kind of pointless symbolism the Left so loves.
Afghanistan is, has always been, and will always be the prime example of nation-as-quagmire. The good news is that you can always claim that you fixed it; the bad news is that you will never be able to tell even if you do.
As long as the head man in Kabul is not telling us “No” when we send some Buffs to pulverize some place in the hinderlands, that’s good enuf’.
So, the 911 hijackers came from there. So what? In reality they did not, but even if they did it would be as meaningless as bombing Seattle because the airplanes they used were made by Boeing.
Jul 20, 2008 - 2:13 pm 26. exhelodrvr:JR Garner,
“There is little chance that he can take the White House ”
DOn’t see how you can say that, seeing as probably 40% of the voters will vote for him no matter what; all he needs is to slightly better than break even with that middle 20%. And there are enough people in that group disenchanted with the Republicans, unenthused with McCain, and/or in love with the idea of a black President to easily see that happening.
Jul 20, 2008 - 2:41 pm 27. buddy larsen:programmer — yep — it’s buried way down deep in — the article — already 41 years ago. Gotta remember those guys.
”On February 22, 1967, the 173rd conducted Operation Junction City, the only combat parachute jump of the Vietnam War.[15][16] During the summer and fall of 1967, the unit blocked North Vietnamese Army incursions at Dak To during some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, culminating in the capture of Hill 875.[17] Elements of the brigade conducted an amphibious assault against North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces as part of an operation to clear the rice-growing lowlands along the Bong Song littoral.[1] The intense fighting during the Battle of Dak To in November 1967 took a heavy human toll on the 173rd. While several of its units, including the 2/503rd and A/3/319th were ordered to Tuy Hoa to repair and refit,[17][18] the 173rd was transferred to the An Khe and Bong Son areas during 1968, seeing very little action while the combat ineffective elements of the brigade were rebuilt.”
Jul 20, 2008 - 2:42 pm 28. abu al-fin:Obama is going hysterical over Afghanistan. He is such a worthless wussy. There is not a good soldier, sailor, marine, or airman who will be able to respect that flake as CINC.
Jul 20, 2008 - 3:46 pm 29. vnjagvet:My JAG office supported the 173rd throughout my tour from May, 1967 to May, 1968. Most of my General Court Martial cases involved either the 173rd or the first brigade of the 101st. I spent a lot of time in the field with both units. The 173rd was a great unit and was constantly engaged in heavy combat for my whole tour.
The engagement in Afghanistan sounded eerily familiar to me. My experience with the 173rd tells me this was not a phyrric victory.
Jul 20, 2008 - 4:18 pm 30. G.R.Langworth:There are probably a lot of us out here that are humbly grateful for these boys’ gallantry within the inconvenient “short-timer” role their schedules commanded.
These guys turned away from bellyaching and fear, and fought their asses off.
Thank God for such Americans.
Jul 20, 2008 - 5:28 pm 31. NahnCee:a large group like that would give off a pretty big heat signature to infrared surveillance
mountains = caves = tunnels = underground travel?
He is such a worthless wussy. There is not a good soldier, sailor, marine, or airman who will be able to respect that flake as CINC.
You should go check out Mudville Gazette. He’s got a couple of video’s posted, and the enlisted people in Afghanistan are swooning at the feet of the Messiah, come to lead them out of the desert to the promised land. Or something.
Jul 20, 2008 - 5:34 pm 32. Dave:Afghanistan is a lot more like Vietnam than is Iraq. Iraq qualifies as key terrain. Our prescence in that locale combines with the existence of Israel to make a caliphate impossible.
Afghanistan is a salient. Just like Vietnam was. Then the analogy breaks down. As Afghanistan was a hideout, it became a necessary-to-occupy salient. Vietnam was an unecessary and exposed salient that weakened and endangered our positions elsewhere. It came about as a result of John F Kennedy’s chemical dependence.
That does not mean I regret my times(s) in VN. Had the generality of American youth behaved less like me and more like, say, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan would never have become President and the Evil Empire would still be in business. Thus, VN was time well spent.
As to the latest prounouncements about dire straits in Afghanistan: Did those words come from Barack McNamara or Robert Strange Obama? “Whether uttered by white or black/this equestrian excrement/will credibilty lack.”
Jul 20, 2008 - 6:32 pm 33. vnjagvet:Dave:
I can see that we share an very unfavorable opinion of a former SecDef who had a Ford in his background.
The more I read about him, the less I thought of him. And I didn’t think much of him in 1967.
Jul 20, 2008 - 6:43 pm 34. cedarford:Teresita-
That’s conditioned on whether we continue to devote 12 billion dollars a month and 140,000 troops to the Iraq sideshow for a hundred years, or shift back to the actual War on Terror in Afghanistan
As insipid as saying that after Japan attacked us, we should have neglected Japanese strategic points, most major battles….and only focused on “getting the people who attacked Pearl Harbor” to justice and building a huge Memorial because that is what the Victims of Pearl want. A war limited to the culpable torpedo bombers, AP bomb crews, and of course the 3 carriers.
Everything else was a foolish distraction from the Real War of finding those few Japanese criminals who did it. Guadacanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, sub warfare choking the main forces of Nippon…all “distractions” and needless expenses and waste of time from the four hundred or so militarists and pilots that were the “Real Enemy”.
Abandon one of the most important countries, geostrategically, where we almost have finished off AQ’s main battle force - so we can search for 6 AQ leaders and a few hundred Arab fighters in a strategic backwater while being slaughtered regularly by that part of the 44 million Pashtuns occupying near-perfect defensive terrain where air and artillery support is seriously hampered. Pashtuns, battle-hardened, typically armed with, at the minimum, accurate bolt action high-powered rifles, ample TNT and mines in caches, and grenades.
Not a bad thing if you want to see Obama march in his new Blue State homosexual troops and get a taste of the casualties & Lefty villification given Bush for “murdering” our troops and Iraqis as Obama’s body bags pile up, and he gets nowhere finding his “6 guys responsible for all terrorism and violent Jihad..”
And if the Pak population demands Paks overseas do terror to get the US out or engage their main military force against invaders who did NOT get UN-Approval? I can’t wait to hear his soaring, magnificent speech explaining all that as an additional sign of his Messiah-like perfection and near-divine flawless judgment on all matters. And dismissing not finding Osama, having tens of thousands of Obama Youth dead in remote wastelands, fighting Pak bombers globally while ensuring maximum terrorist civil liberties are preserved…as DISTRACTIONS from the Real Issue…which could be childhood obesity or such months into the Messiah’s stint as President.
Jul 20, 2008 - 6:55 pm 35. fred:Teresita is just being a pest. This is how the Left protests wars: they always try to find an angle to make the home team (us) look like inept rubes. The reports I’ve read elsewhere suggest that the enemy force may have been as large as 200 fighters. I’ll bet my next paycheck that we killed or wounded half of that force, by combined air and ground fire. Also, Haji can’t shoot worth shit, and most of our casualties were caused by RPG fire. It appears that the enemy had some decent observation and fire direction. No matter, they are the ones who fit the sad tale of Pyrrhus.
HaHa, Teresita. The war you Leftists say we lost in Iraq rests on fictions in your own minds. Your Baathist and al Qaeda allies got their asses handed to them there, even during the years you claim we were losing. I know, because I know a captain and a sergeant who fought there. And they did tours in Afghanistan too. Whupped Haji there too.
So, I’m going to toss one back in memory of the storied history of the 173rd, a unit that also did marvelous work in the Republic of Vietnam.
The Party of Jackasses is invested in our defeat. The defeat of our arms serves their internal political war and their chances for victory. But, we aren’t losing overseas. So, swallow your fictions and own your defeat. Our boys will never surrender. We don’t have any white flags. You people have all the white bedsheets.
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:25 pm 36. Random User:Here’s the link to the article..
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:45 pm 37. Charles:http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63479&archive=true
The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld
The Situation
Things will not be necessarily continuous.
The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous
Ought not to be characterized as a pause.
There will be some things that people will see.
There will be some things that people won’t see.
And life goes on.
—Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing
Jul 20, 2008 - 8:49 pm 38. Dave:To vnjagvet: Christians are supposed to forgive their enemies. Jane Fonda was easy. Robert S. McNamara a bit less so, to put things mildly.
To be as objective as possible: I put Strange down to a personality disorder. Whatever was dysfunctional was to be imposed, whater was functional was to be scuttled.
Pattern for him was the same at Ford, at the Pentagon and at the World Bank.
All human beings malfunction this way from time to time. Every so often you run into one that does it all of the time.
A clean and sober JFK would probably not been as heavily influenced by the artful dissembling. An LBJ not so enamored of the welfare state might have seen through the smokescreen. But the former was spaced out on dope and the latter on hearing only what he wanted to hear. Easy meat for a compulsive manipulator.
Just remember, wars do not get started without a good stiff dose of irrationality and there is no telling where the next dose will come from.
Let us both be grateful we were there and not on Bataan.
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:08 pm 39. Wadeusaf:I don’t know much when it come to this sort of operation, but just a few observations. In that area, getting over 100 men armed and attacking with that intensity and ferocity is not just a chance encounter. It is too large a force to be smugglers, and too well armed to be chance.
To me it appears this attack by the Taliban was intended to contest the presence of US and Afghan troops in their territory. That it failed to achieve its objective is a testament to the fighting spirit and skill of the US and Afghani troops. The firepower carried by our troops, is more than a match for most opposing forces, but the size and coordination of the attack tells me our guys are stepping on some serious toes in that part of Afghanistan. I doubt the mobile reconnaissance force was the actual or the only target of the Taliban that day.
And while Taliban’s decision to retreat was acted on once the Hand of Allah arrived overhead, the decision was no doubt made when re-enforcing troops brought in fresh ammo and weapons. No way in hell I’d want to stick around then either. The Taliban is losing, as units like the 173rd separate the people from the fighters, and give hope to the idea of peace, the Afghanis are responding in ways that will continue to surprise and shock reporters and others who cannot believe the world works that way.
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:46 pm 40. NahnCee:I love it when Theresita posts. It makes me feel all warm and cuddly in myself, and way way way smart!
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:51 pm 41. Charles:European Union abolishes the British acre
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:53 pm 42. Ravalli County News » Blog Archive » In Appreciation of the 173rd Airborne:[...] “What happened in Kunar was not only a saga of arms under desperate conditions but a defensive… [...]
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:57 pm 43. buddy larsen:LBJ’s April 7, 1965 speech at Johns Hopkins; topic VietNam. Read it & weep, perhaps literally, and not for the latter-day usual reasons.
Jul 20, 2008 - 10:17 pm 44. Gary Rosen:“Everything else was a foolish distraction from the Real War of finding those few Japanese criminals who did it.”
Isn’t that essentially the postition taken by your idol Pat Buchanan, C-fudd? His Impotency has already made the same kind of argument in the Pacific that he made in Eurpoe, that those poor, victimized Axis powers were provoked into their genocidal aggression by the Allies. No doubt his next book will blame the Rape of Nanking on the Chinese. It might be a stretch to also blame it on the Joooos, but I’m sure Pat and Fudd will think of a way once they’re finished drooling over Kuntar.
Jul 21, 2008 - 12:35 am 45. Cannoneer No. 4:Troops Angry At Media Bias and Laziness
U.S. troops were irked that, once again, the mass media got lazy and didn’t bother to report the action accurately. For one thing, there was no “base”. What the Taliban attacked was a temporary parking area for vehicles used to conduct patrols of the area. These are set up regularly, and have been used for years. These are secure areas, but basically a parking lot surrounded by barbed wire and several sandbagged observation posts. This one was set a few days before the attack, and was due to be taken down soon, as the patrol activity moved to another area.
. . . paratroopers do not like anyone implying they were beaten at anything. Especially because, in this case, they weren’t.
Jul 21, 2008 - 2:52 am 46. 3Case:“An LBJ not so enamored of the welfare state….”
I would submit that it was the bureaucracy of the welfare state, and the patronage opportunities it brought, of which LBJ was enamored.
As to McNamara, I consider him one of the 10 most evil men of the 20th Century.
Jul 21, 2008 - 5:06 am 47. Old Blue:First of all, anyone who views Iraq and Afghanistan as two separate wars is so far off point as to be immediately discredited in any further discussion. I have an Afghanistan Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terror Service Medal. Those who serve in Iraq have an Iraq Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terror Service Medal. Two campaigns; one war.
Many who have not qualified for a campaign medal still have the GWOT medal. One war. Why do we not grasp this?
Secondly, do not be so quick to declare victory and let’s all leave Iraq. The nature of insurgents is that they don’t hang around where you are. The tactics employed in the surge were sound counterinsurgency tactics, including “be a little of everywhere.” In order to leave, the local government must be strong enough to handle what amounts to criminal activity on its own.
Galula’s primer on counterinsurgency warfare described the effect of going into an area in force as stepping into a puddle. The water (insurgents) splashes out, but when the foot is removed, it rushes back in to fill the void. The other work of establishing the governmental functions, such as the police, seems to be going well; but if we leave too soon, we will find ourselves in another surge or leaving a huge mess to destabilize the entire region. Don’t leave a void for the water to rush back into. Simple idea, complicated but not impossible in practice. So difficult, not even all generals can get it right.
Don’t be so quick to criticize; this shit is HARD to do right.
Lastly, I’ve looked back over the last discussion (including mine) on this subject. We all pontificated, based on what was reported in the media, about an engagement vastly different from the one that actually occurred. Personally, I’m embarrassed that I did not heed my own counsel and wait for the real picture to emerge. I should have known better, because I’ve been involved in both tactical situations.
I also know better than to go along with thinking that an outgoing unit would begin the establishment of a COP, Firebase, or FOB in the middle of a RIP/TOA. The incoming unit would make those kinds of decisions, because the establishment of a permanent site is not taken lightly. It’s a huge IO coup if the next unit in can’t support it and it is left to the enemy.
A year or so ago there were Taliban pictures released of them “overrunning” an abandoned FOB in the 205th Corps area.
I lived for a month out of hasty VPB’s in the Tag Ab Valley. We had two American gun trucks, a couple of ANA armored personnel carriers (side note: seeing a BMP-1 next to an M-113 in the same livery is just plain weird to an old cold warrior like me,) and a bunch of ANA and ANP LTV’s (four door Ford Ranger diesels with pintle mounts for machine guns above and behind the cab.) Being attacked en mass was our worst nightmare.
We were also there when they started to build what is now Firebase Kutschbach by Tag Ab Village. It started as a VPB and grew quickly into a full-fledged firebase.
Those young men from the 173rd lived our nightmare scenario. Afghanistan is like a box of chocolates; you just never know. Those young men occupied a VPB in bad guy country and the nightmare happened. My heart goes out to them in complete empathy, and I am awestruck by their actions in the midst of that nightmare.
The “incompetent” Lieutenant died reinforcing his OP, leaving the larger perimeter to go to where his men were in the most peril. I believe that incompetent little bastard may just have qualified himself for a Silver Star or possibly The Medal. A week ago today he was declared an idiot, though, based on a map recon and an opinion.
This is just one clear example of how f-’ed up our press is in the coverage of this war. They don’t know what they are talking about because they have not bothered to become subject matter experts on what the hell they are talking about. They bandy about words that mean something, like COP or FOB, without using them in the proper context. It is to the point that a guy who was THERE not long ago can’t get a clear picture of what happened. How can an American citizen, whose job is not to become an expert in the lexicon of war, possibly understand the situation? How can an American citizen, OUR center of gravity, support what is nebulous and so poorly reported that he/she cannot make any reasonable sense of it?
One clear example in so many fuzzy ones that they can never be counted. When I was boots on the ground, we knew. We saw the myriad of inaccuracies. Little things. A million holes in a blanket make it a net; not good for keeping you warm, but it might keep the flies out if you cover the window with it.
Lots of little examples. Do you remember the helicopter that made an emergency landing in Parwan Province last year with two senators on board? The ground force that reached them and brought them in was reported to be the DSTB, 82nd Airborne. What was not reported was that it was Co B, 1-158 Infantry, Arizona and Hawaii National Guard who were attached to the DSTB. Small fact, but just another little hole in the blanket-become-mosquito net.
When I talk about IO, IO is not just aimed at the enemy; it is also for the benefit of the people back here upon whose support we soldiers depend. Nobody believes the Army when it says something… or when it is silent out of respect for the process of notification of loved ones. So we depend on our media to have the sense that God gave a rabbit and not do a half-assed job of reporting it.
Our IO is so poor, and OUR press such a non-help in making sense of all of this that we have mis-educated the public to the point that one our PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES doesn’t understand about the idea that it’s ONE WAR on terror. How can anyone solve a problem that they don’t see clearly? How can a public support a war that they can’t see clearly?
Whose job is it to help them understand?
I feel like an idiot for having bought into this one. The AP sucks, the NYT is practically criminal, and while people have somehow found it in themselves to “support the troops but not support the war,” a lot of us troops are fed up with not having what we sacrifice to do truly understood.
You want to see a pissed-off soldier? Go ahead and let everything that we have worked for, sweated for, and bled for go for naught because it has become “fashionable” to “support the troops” by bringing them home before the job is done. Hey; it sucks to be there. You know what would suck worse? Having it be for nothing. You asked us to do a job. After 9/11 everyone had veins in their teeth and a taste for blood. Now that taste has turned to shit because the American public cannot make any sense of the crap that they are fed every day, but they are still asked to form an opinion.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Pyhrric victory, my ass; and COL Preysler is right; they won.
Those guys don’t need to be compared to John Wayne. They have built their own legend. John Wayne would have happily taken a check to play one of those guys in a movie.
We all need to take a look at ourselves. Myself included.
Jul 21, 2008 - 7:39 am 48. nichevo:gary, credit where credit is due. in THAT post at least, c4 said nothing with which I disagree. consistency is another matter.
Jul 21, 2008 - 8:19 am 49. Bubba Thudd:Sounds like the Afghan version of Rourke’s Drift. Kudos to our brave troops for keeping it from being an Isandlwana.
Jul 21, 2008 - 9:54 am 50. Joe Buzz:OB, thanks for your service and the gut check. I stopped taking bites of the sh*t sandwich that the MSM was serving up after I spit out the first nasty bite. My first thought after reading the 9US KIA headline was ” I bet the tango’s lost at least 3 or 4x that….
Jul 21, 2008 - 10:09 am 51. NahnCee:Those guys don’t need to be compared to John Wayne. They have built their own legend. John Wayne would have happily taken a check to play one of those guys in a movie.
Agree. Now all we need to do is find a studio, a producer, a director, a writer, and a star to make the damned movie.
(Am I not remembering that John Wayne financed “Green Berets” himself because he couldn’t find Hollywood financing for it?)
Jul 21, 2008 - 10:11 am 52. vnjagvet:OB;
God bless you and thank you for your service. It is good to read your perspective. Please keep posting. I just wish we had blogs 40 years ago.
Dave:
You are right. I can’t imagine Bataan. Or Okinawa, Iwo, Normandy, the Bulge, Saipan, Tarawa, etc., etc., etc.
Some people forget that FUBAR and SNAFU did not originate in the 21st century.
Jul 21, 2008 - 10:23 am 53. Roderick Reilly:While the media may not have portrayed this event as Custer’s Last Stand, if they paid attention to it at all, there is still that dreary negativity to MSM reporting on such events.
From Mogadishu on, “ugly” American victories are portrayed as setbacks or outright defeats. Even the events of “Black Hawk Down” were no defeat. Part of the mission was accomplished, and 20-25 enemy were killed for every American. The infantile need for modern observers and many Americans to have nothing but clear-cut victories with no casualties is the West’s (and particularly America’s) most glaring weakness.
While there are many Americans who both appreciate our military’s efforts and understand the realities, I do have to wonder if America deserves it’s military?
Jul 21, 2008 - 10:30 am 54. Old Blue:Roderick: That’s an excellent point. Custer’s Last Stand was romanticized into something greater than what it was. Custer was an idiot who didn’t listen to his subordinates and took them all into the worst ambush ever. The press at that time was a cheerleader and portrayed it like it was the Alamo. It clearly wasn’t. It was a stupid mistake brought on by arrogance and disregard for his enemy.
Tet is a good example of a victory turned to defeat by IO. Tet was a strategic blunder by the Viet Cong that resulted in a tactical defeat in detail, resulting in the destruction of the VC as a viable force. Our lovely press turned it into an IO disaster. It completed the destruction of American popular support for the successful prosecution of the war.
Remember that the guys who run the MSM now cut their teeth on that.
We do deserve our military and everything that is right and wrong with it. We deserve every president we get, every kudo and every black eye. These are times that try the arguments of the founding fathers between the nobility of man and the idiocy of man. The information is out here, but so many fail to look. Our press has failed us in their zeal to skewer the sitting president and their taste for a new Tet.
But we are still a nation which breeds such as those nine and their comrades who still live who fought that fight in Waygal. We may be a nation rife with diseased thinking, but we deserve even the greatness of those soldiers.
Yes, we Americans deserve our military. Does our military deserve us?
Jul 21, 2008 - 11:44 am 55. Lugh Lampfhota:Old Blue, thanks for the service and the commentary. I wish that all of you could tell your story because ya’ll got 1E-10^9 the credibility of the media.
I’ll probably never know all the hows and whys of what happened on July 16 in Kunar, but I’m damn proud of the Sky Soldiers. I’m teaching my grandson that he lives in a time when giants and superheroes still walk on the earth. And they ain’t politicians, journalists or artists. They are citizen soldiers wearing the uniform of the US military.
Strength and Honor.
Jul 21, 2008 - 11:51 am 56. buddy larsen:Reilly, that’s a helluva question. Sometimes i wonder at the sheer nastiness of the hard left, and wonder if that’s one of their strategies — to make the country not worth defending. I guess i’d answer your question by saying maybe it’s a numbers game, maybe as long as there’s enough good folks in it, it’s a good country. But you’re right — ingratitude is harsh, very harsh — and must be a real challenge for 21st century American soldiers to overlook, even tho it emanates from a funamentally confused and/or compromised minority.
PS — i dunno why i said 21st century — it goes back to Vietnam — and really, Korea, too.
Jul 21, 2008 - 11:57 am 57. vnjagvet:buddy:
That is the thing I think many of us have been struggling with since 9/11. The MSM’s predominant attitude regarding the WOT brings back to me all of the cognitive dissonance Blue describes so well about TET which I experienced first hand when I returned to The World in May 1968. I was sure we had won a great victory. I was astonished to hear everyone at home, including loved ones and family, thought we had lost and wanted to throw in the towel.
Then with the likes of Fonda and Kerry, we start hearing we were war criminals. As a JAG officer in the central highlands, I investigated a number of alleged war crime incidents. We prosecuted those that needed prosecuting. The idea that there was wholesale criminal activity going on was complete BS. After I was released from active duty, in 1970, I ignored it all and successfully repressed it until 2001.
Jul 21, 2008 - 12:36 pm 58. Hey; it sucks to be there. You know what would suck worse? Having it be for nothing. « Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group:[...] Old Blue’s pithy comments about media coverage of the Battle of Wanat over at The Belmont Club are worthy of wider [...]
Jul 21, 2008 - 1:42 pm 59. buddy larsen:Must have been tough to swallow, vnjagvet. The 70s in general — not our finest decade, as a people.
Jul 21, 2008 - 2:12 pm 60. vnjagvet:It was, Buddy. But 2004 sure was therapeutic. I am not as emotionally invested in this election, but I think it is important not to give any quarter to “elite” thought. McCain isn’t the best person I can think of for the job, but he is the only alternative to the a naive defense in the face of an enemy who has proven it has neither scruples nor boundaries.
Jul 21, 2008 - 2:25 pm 61. buddy larsen:Right you are about 2004. Imagine Iraq today –the middle east today –hell, the world today –had things gone the other way that election. Why hell by now we’d be cutting off our OWN limbs, wiring our OWN genitals, and razing our OWN towns in the manner of Jenjis Khan.
Jul 21, 2008 - 3:10 pm 62. NahnCee:Why hell by now we’d be cutting off our OWN limbs, wiring our OWN genitals, and razing our OWN towns in the manner of Jenjis Khan.
You mean I don’t get to go out and start doing this to moonbats and other assorted progressives and liberals once LA, Seattle and Chicago go up in a mushroom cloud? You *really* don’t want to raze Berkeley, for example?
Jul 21, 2008 - 3:35 pm 63. Wadeusaf:Well, I think for historical perspective, we have a taste of the wringer Old Abe was put through. I fear the coming peace and what policies the party of McClellan will concoct for reconstruction. How do you say “Jim Crow” in Arabic?
While major combat ops may subside, other ops continue. I don’t think the GWOT will be over for a long, long time.
Jul 21, 2008 - 4:30 pm 64. CPT. Charles:I read the [other] Stars & Stripes article. I simply say this:
The men of that unit deserve the highest honors; those that died, did so at their posts and many died fighting. They fought for each other and trusted each other to the end.
I can think of no higher compliment for any fighting unit. See what free men can do. Here’s the other link:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63479&archive=true
All honors to the fallen, all honors to the brave.
Jul 21, 2008 - 5:05 pm 65. trangbang68:Bravo, Old Blue!
Jul 21, 2008 - 6:54 pm 66. 3Case:I have read accounts of Hill 875 in the Central Highlands of that old war. Among the obstacles the 173rd had to overcome was an errant Marine 500 pounder dropped on the battalion aid station, but the fellows got to the top.
The conflicting reports from the battle are probably due to the Hell and chaos small unit combat always is.
“The 70s in general — not our finest decade, as a people.”
The ’70s started out all right. Then Nixon screwed the pooch, which was followed by the big mistake by the people: trusting the Dems and electing Jimmy Carter, a charismatic cipher who promised “Change.”. That’s when we got caught by the vortex and started spinning down the bowl….
Jul 21, 2008 - 7:01 pm 67. fred:I read the accounts of Hill 875 too, and the incident where the Marine fighter/bomber pilot dropped the 500 pounder on the battalion aid station. I wept when I read about it. I really did. And yet elements of that unit hung on for a long time until relief arrived and they were able to storm the rest of the distance to the top. The enemy had crept away, but you know that the North Vietnamese had to have suffered horrific casualties too, otherwise they would have stayed and fought off an understrength American force. The NVA had policed their dead and wounded, so we had no idea exactly what their casualties were. But they had to have been mauled.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it happened only six years before I reached 18 in 1973 when I joined the Army. I knew a lot of veterans of that war, and I’m damn proud of them. Even in my Leftist days in college and then the seminary I harbored no disrespect for our veterans or our military. That was another bone of contention between the other Leftists I knew. They didn’t like the fact that I was Catholic and a U.S. Army veteran who was unashamed of his service and of the U.S. military. I never really had a future on the Left anyway.
Jul 21, 2008 - 8:11 pm 68. buddy larsen:3case is sho right — the five years between electing the ARVN-killing ‘watergate congress’ and seeing the Ronald Reagan light filled up graveyards across every land mass on the globe.
Jul 21, 2008 - 8:57 pm 69. Drive Time Happy Hour » 7-22-08:[...] on the same topic from Richard Fernandez: “The entire purpose of the operation — what the Taliban hoped to achieve by their [...]
Jul 22, 2008 - 10:48 am 70. MaryAnn:Thank you for this article, Richard.
Here is another first-hand report: http://hamptonroads.com/2008/07/soldier-eastern-shore-recounts-deadly-battle-afghanistan
Jul 23, 2008 - 3:13 am 71. Tim:Here is another look at the battle. Notice the reference to artillery being used.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/07/medevac-view-of.html
The Art of Saving Lives
By Spc. George Welcome
101st Combat Aviation Brigade
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Every morning, the Soldiers of 1st Platoon, C Company, 6-101 Aviation Regiment make their way across a scorching flight line to the platoon’s three UH-60 Black Hawks.
Pilots, crew chiefs and medics all take part in the ritual checks to make sure medical equipment is prepared, perform pre-flight inspections and power up the helicopters.
105414
As the medical platoon attached to Task Force Out Front, they are responsible for conducting medical-evacuation missions at a moment’s notice.
“The platoon’s primary mission is to provide continuous first-up and second-up [medical evacuation] support for the entire [Nuristan, Nangahar, Konar and Laghman] regionws of Afghanistan,” said Capt. Ben Seipel, 1st Platoon leader. “Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year, we have two ships available to pick up urgent and urgent surgical patients. We also pick up casualties on the battlefield or Afghan civilians.”
The moments between calls are filled with a quiet anxiety because the crews can never completely let their guard down. Waiting becomes a constant in the life of MEDEVAC Soldiers. It’s a peculiar situation to be in – none of the Soldiers wants anything bad to happen, but at the same time, doing the job is the only real way to stop the waiting. To pass the time between missions some of the Soldiers take correspondence college courses.
When a call comes, the Soldiers race to their aircraft, get their gear on and are ready for takeoff within minutes. This is critical, every minute counts when life hangs in the balance.
“Our average response time [from receiving a mission to wheels up] is down to about 12 minutes, which is a significant reduction from the previous unit that was here,” said Seipel. “Our goal is to never be the weakest link. I never want the process to be waiting on us to get ready for takeoff; our goal is to be ready and waiting for launch authority.”
Expecting the unexpected is critical to being able to operate in an environment where hardly anything is routine. Soldiers don’t know what time a call will come and the medical report they receive prior to take off doesn’t always provide a full view of what they will face.
Early in the morning, July 13, the platoon tactical operations center received a MEDEVAC request to respond to the village of Wanat, where a small outpost was under attack by enemy forces. In the battle, nine Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade were killed and 15 others were wounded.
Most of the time things can be really quiet, with absolutely nothing going on, said Spc. Saturnino Crespo, 1st Platoon aviation operations specialist. Other times, things can be really hectic. Crespo recalls the day of the Wanat attack:
“When we got the call responding to the attack, things were happening really fast,” he said. “Things were more sudden and hectic than usual. I was tracking all the aircraft as they went to the different FOBs and outposts to pick up patients. We launched all three aircraft, which is pretty unusual. We had to launch before the usual morning shift change, so some of the crews were pulling overtime.”
Most of the Soldiers were still asleep when the MEDEVAC request came over the radio, continued Crespo, recounting the morning of the Wanat attack. They responded as their training has conditioned them to – by having their gear on and the helicopters spun up for launch within minutes.
The initial attack started early in the morning, recalled Staff Sgt. Matthew Kinney, a flight medic who was part of the mission.
“We got off the ground really quick,” said Kinney. “Once we got there, we flew over the mountainside directly on top of FOB Blessing, which was firing artillery upon the outskirts of Wanat. [close air support] was on station dropping bombs and the enemy was being pushed back away from the wire.”
The MEDEVAC helicopters had to wait until the bombs impacted their targets before being given the OK to enter. The battle was still ongoing when they landed.
“As soon as the bombs were dropped, our Apaches came to the area,” Kinney said. “The first MEDEVAC aircraft landed on the base and picked up six patients. Our aircraft was called into the [observation post] right next to it. We were originally going to use the hoist, but the pilots determined that we had a big enough area to put the aircraft down on the side of a terrace.”
Once the helicopter touched down, Kinney exited the aircraft and climbed down the hillside. He had to breach the outpost’s concertina wire in order to begin treating patients and preparing them to board the aircraft.
“After you’ve been doing this for a while, you don’t really think about what’s going on,” said Kinney. “Its second nature and you keep moving through all the steps. When we got called in, there was still shooting going on. The Apaches were firing rockets at a house about 50 to 80 meters to our left. The ground guys were firing on a house that we were taking fire from. I then determined that many of [the ground forces we] thought were wounded were actually [killed in action].”
By keeping their composure under fire, the Soldiers of the MEDEVAC platoon were able to safely extract their wounded comrades, and undoubtedly save their lives.
“It was pretty hard,” Seipel said about the Wanat mission. “All my crews saw quite a bit down there on the ground. It’s never fun, going somewhere and knowing you’re going to see fallen Americans on the ground, especially in that situation where there’s utter chaos.”
The MEDEVAC crews handled the situation phenomenally and knew exactly what they needed to do, said Seipel.
“There was no hesitation at all, the crews hit the ground and reacted instinctively,” he explained. “They did what they were trained to do, and I am extremely proud of them for handling the situation as professionally as possible.”…
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