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The Warriors of Asadabad
By John
Two of our fallen SEALs were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross today, for their actions in support of Operation Red Wing.
Read the medal write up below the fold. Bin Laden and his ilk would have never started this war if he knew we had troops like Petty Officers Axelson and Dietz.
On June 28 2005, deep behind enemy lines East of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, a very committed four-man NAVY SEAL team was conducting a reconnaissance mission at the unforgiving altitude of approximately 10,000 feet of elevation. These SEALs, LT Michael Murphy, Petty Officer Danny Dietz, Petty Officer Matthew Axelson and a fourth SEAL operator had a vital task.Their mission objective was to capture or kill a key militia leader, Ahmad Shah, aka, Mullah Ismail. The mission was compromised when these SEALs were spotted by anti-coalition sympathizers, who immediately reported their presence and location to the Taliban. A fierce fire-fight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force of 30 to 40 anti-coalition militia.
The enemy had the SEALs outnumbered. They also had terrain advantage. They launched a well-organized, three-sided attack on the SEALs. Three of the four SEALs were wounded. The fight relentlessly continued as the overwhelming militia forced them deeper into a ravine. Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, the officer in charge of the element, LT Murphy, made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force in Bagram Air Base for fire support and assistance. An MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army NightStalkers aboard, was sent is as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs. The MH-47 was escorted by heavily-armored, Army attack helicopters.
Entering a hot combat zone, attack helicopters are used initially to neutralize the enemy and make it safer for the lightly-armored, personnel-transport helicopter to insert. The heavy weight of the attack helicopters slowed the formation’s advance prompting the MH-47 to outrun their armored escort. They knew the tremendous risk going into an active enemy area in daylight, without their attack support, and without the cover of night. Risk would of course be minimized if they put the helicopter down in a safe zone. But knowing that their warrior brothers were shot, surrounded and severely wounded, an unconventional decision needed to be made. The rescue team opted to directly enter the oncoming battle in hopes of landing on brutally hazardous terrain. As the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard.
Three of the four SEALs, LT Murphy, Petty Officer Dietz, and Petty Officer Axelson were killed. The fourth and sole surviving SEAL evaded the enemy for days and was eventually rescued. He has since returned to full operational status within the Naval Special Warfare/SEAL community. His name is withheld to protect his identity. This was the worst single-day U.S Forces death toll since Operation Enduring Freedom began nearly five years ago. It was the single largest loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since the World War II Normandy Invasion. The Naval Special Warfare Community will eternally remember June 28th, 2005 and the heroic efforts and sacrifice of our special operators. We hold with reverence the ultimate sacrifice that they made while engaged in that fierce fire fight on the front lines of the Global War on Terror. -NSW-
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Comments
LT was a team leader and indeed he is under the consideration. I believe all of them should have gotten MH.
ditto that Joel.
I'm thinking of the Battle of Mogadishu as another example.
as a complete civilian I wanted to thank all of our men and women in uniform that serve to protect us...
it may not be said enough
but thank you
What continues to disturb me about our actions in Afghanistan is that almost all of the reports indicate that US forces were at a disadvantage. This account of the Seals points it out again; that they were at a positional disadvantage. One of the traits of a proficient tactician is to NOT get caught at a tactical disadvantage. Aren't we teaching this to our troops, NCOs and Officers?
While at Ranger school in late 1970 I learned to "read and see" terrain and how to employ weapons on terrain. It served me well in VN as a platoon leader from Jun 71-72. My platoon was never at a tactical disadvantage while moving or at a laager for night defense. We had several small ambushes on NVA troops who were always at a terrain disadvantage. In one ambush (long range 150-200 meters) of a 8 man squad, we recieved less than 30 rounds of return file (we fired about 6000 rnds of SA and about 400 40mm grenades) and got at least 5 confirmed kills with a good assumption that the other three were probably wounded.
I know our guys are doing their jobs and are skilled, but in almost every artical I read of an engagement, it seems as though we're the ambushee.
What disturbs me more is the reason for the loss of 16 aboard the helo. I know I'm playing backseat sergeant here, but why were the attack birds so heavily loaded out that they got outrun by a transport? You'd think for infantry suppression chain guns and maybe a rocket pod or two would be sufficient. And frankly, putting a heavily laden helo down in a hot LZ under active rpg volley fire is not a good idea. Can any people here who are more familiar with this situation or similar ones enlighten me here? I know I'm a novice compared to most of you.
Ohn - The team was a recon element that was compromised. Any 4-man team would be at a tactical disadvantage in that situation. The whole point was for them to observe and not be seen. All the skill in the world can't overcome the numerical and firepower disadvantage they faced, especially against skill fighters like Ahmed Shah's forces. There are valid criticisms and lessons learned for this mission, and I think one is that Ahmed Shah's forces were underestimated and the extraction of the recon team wasn't timely enough. An R&S mission like this is inherently dangerous.
William - The helo with the SEALs was hit by an RPG and crashed. It wasn't a question of the escorts not clearing the way. The problem is that in the mountainous terrain we're talking about, it's very tough to identify targets before they fire at you. The RPG was hit by a either a lucky or very skillful shot as part of an ambush. Afghani RPG gunners are some of the most skilled in the world. Ahmed Shah's fighters are some of the most capable in Afghanistan and they play for keeps. I don't know the precise details, but it's reasonable to say that Shah knew that a rescue force would be sent in to recover the SEALs. The insurgents know that terrain better than anyone and I bet they knew what route the helos would take and even what LZ's they might use. The very high terrain and steep valleys mean there are limited avenues of approach and few LZ's.
I hope the full story comes out eventually - there is much more to it than widely reported.
I didn't say it wasn't an issue of not clearing the way, nor did I say anything about Afghan RPG gunners being bad. Massoud's boys invented the time fuse detonation method of using RPGs against helos, which was downright innovative, back during the Soviet days. To add to what you said, I would guess that it wasn't fired singly. I know during the Soviet war Mudjahideen bands would volley fire them so that when the distance fuses started detonating they would get a curtain of fire that would be near impossible to escape from or evade.
What I'm trying to understand is why were attack birds unable to keep up with a Chinook, which the article posted said was because of a heavy ordnance load-out (which seemed odd to me for an infantry suppression sortie). Did the Chinook try to land in the center of the firesack, or were they trying to break the ambush from one side? The article made it sound like the former, but I'd think the latter would be more logical. Then again, I don't know exactly what sort of terrain we're talking about.
Please note I'm not trying to dishonor these brave men's sacrifice. I have the utmost respect for all our fighting men and women, I know they are braver and more dedicated than I will ever be. I'm just trying to understand as a student of military history how exactly this occurred.
William, I don't know if this was a contributing factor in this instance, but so much of Afghanistan is at high altitude (hovering in the neighboorhood of 10,000 feet in many places) that even the Chinooks have trouble getting that high. Blackhawks are, from what I've been told, useless there and Apaches really struggle to get to many places to provide CAS. We have a fairly large contingent of A-10's there. Why they were not employed I don't know.
Since the topic of medals is up for discussion, does anyone know why in the hell USMC SgtMaj Kasal did NOT receive a Medal of Honor?? If anyone deserves the Medal, he does. Did it have to do with him surviving his incident or the Corps' EXTREME standards in the decoration department? Or was it never really explained?
I am ABSOLUTELY against the habit of handing out medals like candy (re: Bronze Stars), but I think it does an equal disservice when warriors are not appropriately decorated with the award they've earned.
The altitude thing is interesting, I'll look into that. Thanks. That would explain a lot.
Altitude does severely limit power available to helicopters. In the summer, it's much worse because of the heat, which further reduces available power. It's a huge issue in Afghanistan, especially in the summer.
I don't think the article is correct on some of the details. The helicopters with the MH-47 were close enough to see the rpg hit the aircraft, so I don't think they were that far back.
I also don't intend to in any way dishonor the sacrifice those guys made or the good fight they fought and died. However, the mission exposed planning problems within the JSOTF as well as the relationship between the SOF community and conventional forces operating in Afghanistan. Those are issues that I believe were solved. Whatever problems there were, they do not detract at all from the heroism of the individuals involved or the selfless sacrifices they made.
William, Paddy;
You are correct. The reason the Chinook was hit was because it outran the attack helicopters that were supposed to provide cover. The attack helicopters were carrying alot of ammo and it made them very heavy. You have to remember that Helos do not really "fly", they actually "beat the air into submission" with their rotors. At 10,000 feet about ground level, there is very little "air" to beat. Thus, it puts us at a major disadvantage. The Hindu Kush mountain terrain is some of the most inhospitable on earth.
The QRF commander, in this case, LCDR Erik Kristensen on board the Chinook, had to make a very tough call. Slow down and wait for the cover helos or go get his boys who were by this time, almost overrun. He chose to try and get his boys. I would have done the same thing.
Thank you Paddy.
Their sacrifices hopefully will be remembered.
Superb! (I wrote something else and then I read below that I aint supposed ter. So I deleted it.)
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Does anyone know why the LT did not receive a Navy Cross? Is he under consideration for a Medal of Honor?
I have always found it one of the great ironies of military service that the most tragic moments can be, at the same time, our finest hour.