Onboard were 17 members of SEAL Team 6; five naval special warfare operators, including one to intercept communications and another to handle Bart the war dog; five Army flight crewmen, including a National Guard and an Army Reserve pilot; and three Air Force personnel. The U.S. Army knows the risks when it plans air assault operations in Afghanistan. Darack, a writer and photographer, is the author of four previous books, including Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. The Chinook had no Apache escort, as did the Ranger team that enjoyed the element of surprise when it touched down hours earlier. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. If this [operation] was survivable, that was the right crew to have. Our families are in danger,' " Vaughn recalled. Still, the one the president retweeted earlier this week may have been the weirdest yet. Then they have to stick the landing. The crash sent shock waves throughout U.S. special operations. On board were 22 members of the elite Seal Team Six, two U.S. Air Force Para-rescue men, three Army reserve personnel, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller, the pilot and co-pilot, a U.S . 4:05 p.m. - The first helicopter exits the compound. Mr. Klayman said the NSA has agreed to provide some information. Lees second deployment started in May of 2011. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers.On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. 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Despite the risk, operations like these were taking place with such frequency in Afghanistan they only made news when they produced a spectacular success, like the bin Laden mission. This crash is incredibly demoralizing. The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? A volley of three rockets total sped toward the general direction of the approaching Chinook, all launched within a few seconds of each other. Their names and their missions had never been revealed before. And needless to say, it was the real Bin Laden who was killed, not an incredible facsimile. The team was responding to an Army Ranger unit that was engaged in a firefight with the Taliban and needed backup. No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. The families of these deceased heroes have been stonewalled by the Obama Department of Defense and the Obama National Security Agency in disrespect over their sons unexplained tragic deaths. Lee is 36 now, a civil attorney in Dallas, a world away from Afghanistan. As they made their approach, there was a line of thunderstorms nearby. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. The insurgents had no way of knowing the helicopter would be coming in, at the speed it was coming and at the altitude, Darack said. Mills, a 13-year veteran of the military . On a moonless night, an Army Chinook helicopter swept low over the Tangi Valley, a strip of forbidding terrain in eastern Afghanistan teeming with Taliban and located just 35 miles south of the capital, Kabul. The conspiracy has a number of moving parts, all of which have surfaced before, but none of which have any truth to them. Conspiracy theories started almost immediately. Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Navy SEAL's Savior Claims 'Lone Survivor' Got It Wrong. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. One of the things I vowed, I will never forget. At 2:38 a.m. on August 6, 2011, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, entered the western opening of Afghanistan's restive Tangi Valley, flying alone. KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 30 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on. Winds whipped through the fir trees. Saturday's deaths bring the total number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan to 334 this year, according to the Associated Press. An official investigation found no evidence of a pre-planned ambush, though it did suggest that other helicopter activity in the area could have tipped off Taliban fighters that more helicopters could be approaching, according to the report. Your life is in danger. Virginia-based Navy SEALs in a training exercise. Hes also sent more than his fair share of curious retweets, often of the accounts of conspiracy theorists and those associated with QAnon and other outlandish conspiracy frameworks. The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the same regiment that flew the bin Laden raid. The former vice president has become the Democratic front-runner with primary victories across the country. Caring is more than just slapping a bumper sticker on your car, he said. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. For now, let's assume the Chinook was shot down, and by a rocket. He probably doesnt. The compounds unusual and extensive security features, along with further intelligence information, prompted suspicion that the residence was Osama bin Ladens hideout. The parents of three SEALs. See production, box office & company info, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words. By the time the third sped away from its launcher, however, no target remained. The Pentagon on Thursday identified the Americans as 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs, five Naval Special Warfare personnel who support the SEALs, three Air Force Special Operations personnel and. The helicopter was shot down by insurgents. The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., The New York Times reports. Navy SEALs. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He finished his contract with the Army shortly afterward, and that September enrolled in Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. What the men on the Chinook didn't know was that cloaked by darkness, two fighters had emerged from the small village of Hasan Khel, on the south side of the valley. Fallen Angel: Call Sign - Extortion 17: Directed by Karl Horstmann, Stephen Spivey. Due to the sheer magnitude of loss of life, combined with recent news of SEAL Team Six's successful raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, global media outlets lionized the tragedy. Back in May, the families of the SEALs went public with concerns that the Obama administration was at least partially responsible for the deaths [] While some of those who lost their lives that day were members of Seal Team 6, it was not the same platoon that had carried out the Bin Laden raid, and none of those killed in the crash had been a part of that event. Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that supported the raid, including a Predator drone, and a variety of highly specialized spy planes, had kept continuous watch over the region during the operation. Special Forces are expected to keep the pressure on the Taliban, working closely with Afghan forces to maintain control as U.S and Coalition troops depart. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama.". I find it quite disturbing that the government is not willing to give us the answers we deserve. During the event organized by a group called Freedom Watch, family members and former military personnel claimed President Obama turned the SEALs group into a Taliban target after the administration revealed they had conducted the bin Laden raid. The terrorist leader was not only a major player within al-Qaeda but also a figurehead that attracted supporters and recruits from around the world. At this difficult hour, all Americans are united in support of our men and women in uniform who serve so that we can live in freedom and security.". Following a helicopter crash, the SEAL Team must proceed with the mission as hostiles bear down on them and an injured and impaired Jason goes after their target alone. It's unclear how far away the helicopter was from the initial firefight when it went down and unclear how the troops in the firefight got to the crash location, the official said. 4:10 p.m. - A backup helicopter scoops up remaining team members and leaves the area. On April 29, 2011, President Barack Obama authorized a small special operations team, known as SEAL Team Six, to carry out a raid on the compound. Ten computer hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices were retrieved. Every mission is potentially life-threatening. The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October. The had Seal team 6 killed is a likely reference to whats known as the Extortion 17 incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinookmilitary helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing 38 people, 25 of them Navy Seals, in the deadliest day for the U.S. in the entire Afghanistan war. But it's just as plausible that the Taliban got lucky. The Benghazi attack in 2012 plays a part in some other versions of the tale. The fighting lasted at least two hours, he said, the New York Times reported. It's a scary thought. He knew the pilots and crew members aboard Extortion 17. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Chinooks are American forces' preferred helicopters in Afghanistan because they are powerful enough fly over mountains while carrying a full complement of troops. This was preventable only if they just had not taken off that night, Lee said. There were guys in a tower. Guys on the bush line. September-11-pentagon-attack-survivors-evacuation. The chopper's manifest. An Afghan official, speaking anonymously a few days after the attack, speculated that the Taliban had laid a trap, that they had purposely put out false information about a meeting involving the Taliban commander. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. But why? In the rear of the aircraft, the Chinook's passengers stood and prepared to storm out into moonless night once the wheels touched the ground. But it's often foreign to those who observe combat from afar. Here are the . On this night, Aug. 6, 2011, something went terribly wrong. The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., 3 Questions About the SEAL Team Six Crash, Russian Cargo Plane Explodes During Pressure Test, better protected from newer, more sophisticated threats, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. He was probably in the top 1 percent of Army aviators, Lee said. The Chinook helicopter was carrying a quick-reaction force to provide back-up to the troops on the ground in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak, a U.S. official said. It has now been four years since Extortion 17 was shot down, said Doug Hamburger, whose Army air crew son, Patrick, was one of the 30 Americans killed. The operation to kill the world's most wanted terrorist was the result of years of planning and training. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. The US Navy's elite SEAL Team 6 reportedly recovered two bodies and a flight recorder from the site where a US Air Force E-11A aircraft crashed in Afghanistan on Monday. But this might just take the cake. The loss of a helicopter carrying more than 20 U.S. special forces and as many as 8 other U.S. military service members is an unprecedented one in this war. A chief warrant officer 5, a member of the Colorado National Guard, Carter had over 4,500 flying hours, including more than 1,000 hours during combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. See GlobalPost: Navy SEALs had "kill" order on Osama bin Laden, report claims. Theyre going after [enemy fighters] in very hostile environments, who know the terrain very well, who know the battlescape very well, Darack said. Seven Afghan commandos were also reportedly killed. No one saw two Taliban armed with grenade launchers standing on a mud-brick turret well within range of the descending chopper. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. The assassination of Osama bin Laden was a significant victory for the U.S. government and the American people at large. It requires the highest level of skills from the pilots because they are some of the most dangerous operations.. All Rights Reserved. But we are still sending people to another country to fight, and we need to understand why were doing that, he said. He has written about soldiers returning home from war and the mental health crisis facing young people. Some news stories reported that investigators couldnt find the helicopters black box, referring to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. They were part of his command. Some of those Seals were members of Seal Team 6 that took part in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, the AP reported today; although they were not actual participants in the Pakistan raid, according to the New York Times. U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that . Just after entering the Tangi, as Extortion 17 continued to descend and decelerate toward its landing zone, the helicopter passed through the narrowest portion of the valley. On his first deployment, he felt fortunate to be surrounded by veteran pilots he could learn from. On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. "In releasing their identity, they put a target on their backs," said Doug Hamburger, whose son, Army Staff Sgt. Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond. The second RPG round had connected with one of Extortion 17's aft rotor blades, severing more than 10 feet of it when it exploded. Nothing tests the capabilities of a young helicopter pilot like flying in the extreme conditions of Afghanistan.

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