A silhouette of a flight engineer manning an M240 machine gun on the ramp of a CH-47D Chinook in eastern Afghanistan. 4:08 p.m. - The team destroys the chopper that crashed. Not all U.S. presidents are missed once they leave the White House. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. Flying 250 feet above the valley floor at just under 70 miles per hour, Dave Carter, the pilot to the right of Nichols, guided the helicopter toward a carefully chosen landing zone just over a mile away. I find it quite disturbing that the government is not willing to give us the answers we deserve. If this [operation] was survivable, that was the right crew to have. In combat, its mission is to transport large teams of elite assault troops, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, to and from the battlefield. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. During the last several years it is evident that our government has spent a lot of time and resources covering up the truth on many things from both our allies and the American public, Mr. But what if it was a more advanced missile? Nigerians await election results in competitive race. The RPG that struck Extortion 17 threw the helicopter into an uncontrollable spin. He finished his contract with the Army shortly afterward, and that September enrolled in Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. 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. Were very concerned that the administration had disclosed that the Navy SEALs had carried out a successful attack on bin Ladens compound resulting in his death. How SEAL Team 6 . I was terrified. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in February signed an order requiring the Obama administration to release documents on a continual basis through the spring and summer. It was the largest single loss of life for Seal Team 6, also known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, (DEVGRU) in the unit's history. The hardest LZ Id ever been into, Lee said. They happened to be in the right place at the right time. The ensuing crash killed all 16 on board, eight Army special operations aviators, and eight Navy SEALs. The next day, a DNA test confirmed that the body was indeed that of Osama bin Laden. MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER, helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. It had been loaded well within its limits. Get everything off your social media. The Chinook is often used to assist in disaster relief, delivering food and water after earthquakes and floods. His unit called itself Extortion Company. One of his Chinooks, flying under the call sign Extortion 17 (one-seven), was tasked with the special operations mission the night of Aug. 6. The Chinook had no Apache escort, as did the Ranger team that enjoyed the element of surprise when it touched down hours earlier. WASHINGTON The families of Navy SEAL Team 6 members killed in a disastrous August 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan blamed the government for the tragedy, during an emotional press conference in Washington Thursday. The route had been carefully planned, and gunships maintained continuous watch over the intended landing zone during Extortion 17's approach. That June, the U.S. military launched Operation Hammer Down to drive out insurgents entrenched in remote strongholds of eastern Afghanistan. Over time, certain memories will fade, certain details will fade. A CH-47D Chinook helicopter (the same model as Extortion 17) speeds through the Sierra Nevada Mountains at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, near Bridgeport, California, during mountain warfare training exercises. 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. Fallen Angel.. Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, announced a slate of futuristic new policies in a campaign video Friday. The second probe, led by Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Colt, explained in excruciating detail what all those familiar with military operations and helicopter aviation in Afghanistan already knew: chance and chance alone, took down Extortion 17. They knew. 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. Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. They are also pretty tough; the only comparable loss to this one was a Chinook shot down in 2005. Nobody tipped off the fightersnor could anyone have alerted them. Olson himself a former Team 6 leader recalled at his change of command ceremony the men who lost their lives in Saturday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan. By the time the third sped away from its launcher, however, no target remained. At that time, this marked deadliest moment in the war in Afghanistan. Many of these family members are undergoing psychological care over what has become a double tragedy: the deaths of their sons and the cover-up for which these family members feel betrayed by their own government.. Its crazy how many times I can think of where me or the guys I was with had to do that.. On board were 22 Navy SEALs, rushing to support troops in firefight. Some of the most highly trained and skilled war fighters in history, the Rangers moved overland to a location where intelligence indicated Lefty Grove and his small cadre of fighters would be holding a meeting. There was no conspiracy. My life is in danger. At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. Their target was a Taliban commander responsible for ambushes and other attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces. Darack did extensive research of what happened next. Many military experts at the time, including some of Obamas top military advisers, had questioned the White Houses public praise of SEAL Team 6 and said it put members in danger. He taught helicopter pilots how to fly in high altitudes at an aviation training site in Colorado. But why? Could an enemy have specifically targeted the U.S. special forces team that took down bin Laden? Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Its like taking a paper towel roll, cutting it in half and strapping it to your eye, Lee said. Asked for comment, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. James Gregory said: "We share in the grief of all of the families who lost their loved ones. Image:U.S. PresidentDonaldTrumpholds a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 13, 2020. Each shouldered a rocket propelled grenade launcher, aimed at the dim silhouette of the approaching helicopter then fired. In the immediate wake of the tragedy, the military initiated two investigations. The next night, the pair had orders to drop off more troops in the same spot. That means more raids, more targets and more reliance on Afghan competenceall of which add up to more special forces casualties. DevGru is an emblem of U.S. military power, known worldwide. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. The families hope to raise awareness of the incident, which they say the government has largely forgotten since the official report was released in October 2011. Youve got [Apaches] flying around, so theres a lot of noise going on and, basically, this entire valley knows that theres something happening in this area. Its lawyers have told the judge that the process of locating relevant documents and removing classified information takes time. One of the other things that we did talk about kind of what youre hitting on, sir, is about the fact that, you know, for three hours we had been burning holes in the sky, the officer told investigators. These helicopters have been well protected from long-range missile attacks for years, but still have few defenses against a simple RPG fired at short range while the Chinook hovers in place. The night her son Aaron died, he was in a helicopter that was built in the 1960s and last retrofitted in 1985. ", Ed Darack's The Final Mission of Extortion 17, published by Smithsonian Books, will be available on September 19. As they started their descent, Lee heard a loud popping noise. Still, SEAL Team Sixs bold raid to take down bin Laden was an extraordinary operation that most experts regard as a resounding success. I am afraid that with this FOIA case that the government is purposely delaying turning over documents because they need the time to redact and to delete things they do not want the American public to become aware of.. "Sometimes the enemy just gets that terribly lucky shot. It was an auspicious day for the two enemy fighters. Apparently, someone tipped them off that the SEALs were coming; the helicopter was attacked from three sides in a coordinated ambush. A collection of moments during and after Barack Obama's presidency. There was a lot of experience in that cockpit, the flight engineers and the door gunners. The mission itself has proven controversial to some family members. Legal Statement. 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. In that incident, 16 Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed when their craft was shot down while on a mission to rescue four SEALs under attack by the Taliban. Then they have to stick the landing. Here are the . The first of the unguided projectiles missed, as the vast majority of rocket propelled grenades shot at helicopters did over the course of the war in Afghanistan. Things like Benghazi and the NSA. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Afghan President Karzai's office released a statement on the incident. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Ohio Republican Secretary of State 'actively' considering Senate run against Sherrod Brown, DeSantis family spends the afternoon at Houston Rodeo ahead of governor's speech, Marianne Williamson launches campaign against Biden, vows to fight 'forces of hatred, injustice and fear', Haley blasts both Democrats and fellow Republicans, including Trump, over exploding national debt. But why? 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. Were handing rifles to 20-year-olds and asking them to shoot people. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. What in the world was that Navy Seals conspiracy that Trump retweeted? The compounds unusual and extensive security features, along with further intelligence information, prompted suspicion that the residence was Osama bin Ladens hideout. The crash took the lives of 17 SEALs and five special warfare development group operators, making it the worst one-day loss in the history of U.S. naval special operations. But we are still sending people to another country to fight, and we need to understand why were doing that, he said. They were part of his command. Lee is 36 now, a civil attorney in Dallas, a world away from Afghanistan. Telling stories about ordinary people involved in extraordinary events is his passion. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst. Strange also blamed top military brass for sending the troops into a situation they were allegedly ill-equipped and unprepared to handle. The second shot hit the rear tail rotor assembly. 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. Some news stories reported that investigators couldnt find the helicopters black box, referring to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country. . Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. And the shooters had no reason to know that Extortion 17 or any other helicopter would be flying through their quiet extremity of the valley. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didnt want to split up the strike force. She also said the team was hindered by rules of engagement that prohibited their firing on potential targets unless they could see a weapon. Nearby, there were two enemy fighters with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. The U.S. military claimed that the Chinook was blown to pieces by a shoulder-fired missile, in which everyone on board was burned beyond recognition. "It's something that a lot of people who have never been in combat have a hard time understanding," he said. "In releasing their identity, they put a target on their backs," said Doug Hamburger, whose son, Army Staff Sgt. The helicopter was shot down by insurgents. Mills, a 13-year veteran of the military . The Associated Press is reporting that a rocket attack took down the Chinook (probably a MH-47) , quoting an unnamed source in Washington D.C., but this has yet to be confirmed officially. Back in May, the families of the SEALs went public with concerns that the Obama administration was at least partially responsible for the deaths [] The Benghazi attack in 2012 plays a part in some other versions of the tale. The first grenade missed Extortion 17. 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. One of the best crews in my company. The ensuing crash killed all 16 on board, eight Army special operations aviators, and eight Navy SEALs. We were told at that time we were the first unit to make it through a rotation without having anyone killed.. This misinformation persists in part because those unfamiliar with the battlefield aren't taking into account a fundamental part of war: chance. The helicopter was in great operational shape. The Graveyard of Empires: Directed by David Boreanaz. It launched in the belly of the aircraft which made a hard landing and only two soldiers were injured in that attack but this time all on board were killed. A silhouette of a. Per factcheck.org, while Obama and his advisers were deliberating over which mission to authorize for attacking Bin Ladens compound, Biden advised the president to wait for further confirmation that bin Laden was actually in the compound in Pakistan before acting. Biden was not, as implied, altogether opposed to killing Bin Laden. Ninty-six days after the death of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team Six, an old Vietnam era Army Reserve helicopter, call sign "Extortion 17," was shot down in the Wardak Province, Tangi River Valley, Afghanistan on Aug 6, 2011.On board the Chinook CH-47D were 15 members of SEAL Team Six, 15 SEAL Team Six Support personnel, 1 Bomb Dog, 7 unidentified members of the Afghan National Army, and 1 . "So much of the war is fought in areas where these helicopters have to fly at high altitudes," where the thin air can strain the performance of the engines and rotor blades, said Ed Darack, author of the recently published book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, SEAL Team Six and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan. By The Newsroom 6th Aug 2011, 6:30pm 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. On his first deployment, he felt fortunate to be surrounded by veteran pilots he could learn from. And Justice unilaterally set a new deadline for the release and then ignored it, Mr. Klayman said. They were part of the same Army Reserve unit, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment based in Gardner, Kan. Nichols, with three combat tours of duty, also had plenty of experience flying dangerous missions. When asked what lessons Americans can draw from the crash of Extortion 17, Lees answer is simple: Americans should care about what happens in Afghanistan because theyve sent Americans to war there. The Pentagons witness stuck to a theme that no mistakes were made that night, though the investigative file contained testimony from a number of witnesses saying the mission was riddled with missteps. A Justice Department spokeswoman said there would be no comment beyond its court filings. Their names and their missions had never been revealed before. It alleges thatthe 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, which took place when Biden was vice president, did not actually kill the al-Qaeda leader, but rather a body double, and that Iran had been part of the conspiracy as well. As they made their approach, there was a line of thunderstorms nearby. On July 25, a Chinook was hit by a rocket propelled grenade fired by the Taliban. In all, 17 members of the SEAL Team 6 counterterrorist force were on board the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, along with its Army National Guard aircrew, several support personnel and seven Afghan commandos. More than 20 Navy Seals died in the helicopter crash that killed 31 in Afghanistan yesterday. The Taliban silenced him. That night, nearly 10 years after the U.S. had gone to war in Afghanistan, Lee believed they were the best team for this dangerous mission. For the last two years, hes been an attorney with the law firm Jackson Walker. Seven Afghan commandos were also reportedly killed. Our families are in danger,' " Vaughn recalled. RETWEET!, The president went on to follow that last command, although the Oscar the Midnight Rider account has since been suspended by Twitter. U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that . The families accept the fact that a single shot brought down the helicopter. And it even led Robert ONeill, the Trump-supporting Navy Seal who claims to have fired the shot that killed Bin Laden, to tweet that the conspiracy theories both about the Bin Laden double and about the Seals from the raid having been killed arent true. Special forces are very selective on who they partner with, but any collaboration with Afghans opens up U.S. The CH-47D that embarked on the mission that day had been built in the 1960s, she said, and last retrofitted in the 1985. During a press conference on Washington Thursday, family and advocates for the fallen troops called into question the rules of engagement that they say prohibited their sons from being able to return fire, and the White House's decision to announce shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden that SEAL Team 6 was responsible for the raid. No family members were allowed to testify. A Marine speaks into a radio and troops unload a CH-47D Chinook in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. And they sent our guys right into the middle.. This time, they might simply have run out of luck and encountered an RPG-armed enemy who was in the right place at the right time. Nothing tests the capabilities of a young helicopter pilot like flying in the extreme conditions of Afghanistan. I mean, at any time if we would have found these squirters, or they would have found weapons, we were the way I was understanding it, we were going to be clear to engage due to the fact that they had weapons, but we had to [positively identify] them first., He added: So we hadnt started looking at the LZ yet, just due to there was so much more of a threat to the east with the squirters. 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. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that insurgents had been gathering at the compound, adding that eight of them had been killed in the fighting. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Patrick Hamburger, served among the helicopter's crew. The workhorse in Army aviation, the tandem rotor, heavy-lift Chinook helicopter is used for carrying troops, equipment, supplies and even the mail. The chopper's manifest. The navigator on the AC-130 gunship said there was simply too much gun and engine noise to think that the Chinook could make an undetected entrance. Somebody tipped them off. The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the Obama administration of deliberately endangering their loved ones for political ends. Missions like this one to insert or remove an assault force are the military equivalent of a perfect 10 in the Olympics -- equal parts skill, experience and daring. The aircraft jerked. So, to do an infil on the X or Y, you know, having that element of surprise in the beginning of an operation is good, but by the time weve been there for three hours, and the partys up, bringing in another aircraft like that, you know, may not be the most tactically sound decision.. Since the agencys main task is to eavesdrop on phone and Internet messages, it may have recorded communications related to the attack. That is why, they say, a fighter just happened to be stationed in a turret within 150 yards of a landing zone that had never been used before. I will never forget what they did, he said. In all, 38 people died that night after the chopper was shot down by a Taliban-owned rocket-propelled grenade or RPG over the Wardak Province on Aug. 6, 2011. Two investigations of the incident proved inconclusive. President Trump has been known, over the years, to tweet some bizarre things. Composed primarily of members of the 75th Ranger Regiment, which falls under the authority of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, the team sought to capture or kill a powerful insurgent leader, Qari Tahir, known to coalition forces by his designation "Lefty Grove." Retired Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who served as deputy undersecretary of defense for Intelligence and was a commander in the Army's super-secret "Delta Force," denounced politicized rules of engagement as a "deliberate plot" within the American armed forces that he says puts political correctness above the safety of the troops. 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. 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.". 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. The helicopter was shot down by insurgents in August 2011; many of those killed were part of the same Navy SEAL Team 6 unit that carried out the raid on Usama bin Laden's compound three months . The Joint Combat Assessment Team report identified, through detailed metallurgical analysis, the type of projectile that blew Extortion 17 out of the sky: an antipersonnel unguided ballistic rocket propelled grenade. For many families of 9/11 victims, bin Ladens death symbolized justice and retribution. During an attempted reinforcement effort during Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005, high on the slopes of a mountain called Sawtalo Sar in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province, a lucky shot took down an Army Special Operations Chinook, call sign "Turbine 33." EXPLOSIVE: CIA Whistleblower Exposes Bidens Alleged Role With the Deaths of Seal Team- Claims to have Documented Proof. Not all will end as well as bin Laden's takedown, as PM noted in July. 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. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. Special forces routinely use helicopters in raids on homes in Afghanistan. The reality is, every time a helicopter lifts off the ground in a war zone, it might get shot down, Darack said. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. The SEALS intentionally . Information about the incident is still trickling in, but these are a few of the most important questions in the immediate aftermath. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. They heard a helicopter coming, they grabbed their RPGs, and they fired in quick succession, Darack said. ", "The hearts and minds of our enemy are more valuable to our government than my son's blood," she said. 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. When the shock subsided, questions arose and persisted. August 6, 2011 / 6:08 PM / CBS Boston KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the. Joe Pappalardo is a contributing writer at Popular Mechanics and author of the new book, Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. "The downing of Extortion 17 was a catastrophic and unprecedented tragedy for our nation," Reid testified. They have to slow down to land or allow troops to rappel to the ground. It just wasnt.. Your life is in danger. Lees second deployment started in May of 2011. They start the movie showing George W Bush saying that after 9/11 we will hunt down those responsible. SEAL TEAM SIX - Extortion 17 EXPOSED theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 4.7K 394K views Streamed 9 years ago AUGUST 6, 2015 - Today, on the fourth anniversary of the shoot down of. It wasnt preventable. Today, some family members are not just disappointed in the investigation and the FOIA process, but also in how the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security conducted a brief hearing in Feb. 2014. The military's public c 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. As is routine on such missions, two Apache attack helicopters provided extra cover and security for Extortion 17, while circling above was an AC-130 aircraft, a gunship that also provides surveillance. 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. Family members question SEAL Team 6's most deadly incident. The helicopter plunged tail first. Planners selected a landing zone that had never been used before. Joining the 15members of SEAL Team 6, two pilots and three-man crew inside Extortion 17: ten other Navy and Air Force personnel, eight Afghansand a combat assault dog named Bart. Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, was one of the U.S. Navy SEALS killed in the helicopter crash. It marked the greatest single incident loss of American life in the war in Afghanistan, the deadliest moment in the history of SEAL Team Six and the entirety of the Navy SEALs, and the deadliest single incident in the history of U.S. Special Operations Command. In fact, Chinooks are better protected from newer, more sophisticated threats than from older, more crude ones. Its planners and pilots must use whatever intelligence is available (which is usually pretty thin information, and comes from earlier attacks) to plan the flight route.
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