Pentagon names 30 Americans killed in downed Afghan chopper - NBC News Directors Karl Horstmann Stephen Spivey Writer Stephen Spivey Stars Sean Hannity Raj Kala Carter and Nichols continued the descent. On such missions, the Chinook pilots nearly always fly at night, wearing night vision goggles, or NVGs. The following was transcribed from the above video press conference. To find answers to many of the outstanding questions regarding Extortion 17, a congressional oversight committee held a hearing on February 27, 2014. Seconds later, with the Chinook just over 100 feet off the ground and traveling at 58 mph, two or three previously unseen fighters emerged from the tower of a two-story building roughly 220 yards south of the helicopter, shouldering RPG launchers. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. Several minutes later, a 20-man Pathfinder team (specializing in downed-aircraft rescue and recovery) arrived at the site. 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 two military investigations, one conducted by United States Central Command and one by the multi-service Joint Combat Assessment Team, pored over the details of the crash with excruciating focus and concluded that no planners or participants bore any fault regarding the circumstances leading to the shootdown of Extortion 17. American forces continued to carry out operations in the area (mostly via helicopter and using special forces), encountering resistance from Taliban fighters on several occasions. As they made their approach, there was a line of thunderstorms nearby. [11], At 02:00, the special operations task force commander and the Immediate Reaction Force commander decided to add additional (non-SEAL) reinforcements, increasing the size of the team to 33.
A 17-year-old boy died by suicide hours after being scammed. The - CNN The previous highest U.S. death toll from a single incident in the war came from a rocket attack on a Chinook helicopter carrying Navy SEALs during Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005. However, the Afghan government forces did not occupy the base, which was seized by the Taliban shortly after the departure of American forces. Two investigations of the incident proved inconclusive. The landing zone had been examined for a previous mission but had not yet been used. [11] At 22:37 (local time) on the night of 5 August, a platoon of 47 U.S. Army Rangers left a forward operating base in Logar Province via two CH-47D transport helicopters, one of which would later be involved in the accident. The group fired 2-3 RPG rounds from a two-story building from a location some 220 meters south of the helicopter. Naval Special Warfare Development Groups (DEVGRU) Gold Squadron, No Easy Day (detailing his participation in Operation Neptune Spear), Mark Owen, congressional oversight committee held a hearing on February 27, 2014, 7 Afghan National Army Commandos, part of the Afghan National Army. On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (pronounced "one-seven") was shot down while transporting a Quick Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. Courtesy . He was probably in the top 1 percent of Army aviators, Lee said. No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. Touch device users can explore by touch or with swipe . 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. Having studied and directly observed the counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan, Ive watched commanders and individual American troops consistently lean far to the side of restraint to encourage Afghans to side with American interests long after U.S. forces have left. At 23:30, one of the Apache support helicopters engaged in a brief skirmish with a different group of eight Taliban fighters 400m (440yd) north of the compound, killing six. Here, in silence, are the names and photographs of all 30 men. [11], Separately, ISR aircraft continued to observe the unengaged group from the compound. A Department of Defense official asserted that there were no leaks from the Afghans. A Taliban fighter shot the helicopter out of the sky with a rocket-propelled grenade and all aboard were killedthe single greatest loss of American life in the Afghan war. The reality is, every time a helicopter lifts off the ground in a war zone, it might get shot down, Darack said. He grew up in Tyler, went to Texas A&M;, joined the Corps of Cadets and stared in shock at the news that two planes slammed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Lee and his friend Bryan Nichols flew their Chinook into battle several times the first night, dropping off troops at a landing zone (LZ) almost 10,000 feet above sea level. Your Privacy Rights According to his book, No Easy Day (detailing his participation in Operation Neptune Spear), Mark Owen (the pen name of former SEAL Operator Matt Bissonnette) stated that nearly all of the Operators on that mission were handpicked from Red Squadron. Landing in deserts or mountainsides, the helicopter rotors kick up clouds of sand and dust, causing brownouts that can blind a pilot. Explore. Then they have to stick the landing. We didnt do fast-rope inserts, building insertions, or anything like that. Subsequent to their Iraq deployment, the unit flew the SEALs of Team 6 on practice raids around Fort Carson, Colorado, and during nighttime urban training in Denver, further cementing the 2-135ths reputation with special operations units. Justin Buddy Lee will never forget that night six years ago. Among the 38 occupants inside the Chinook were some of the most highly trained and battle-seasoned fighters in the U.S. military, including 15 commandos from the Navys SEAL Team 6, the unit that three months earlier had killed Osama bin Laden. Tragically, as Extortion 17 was nearing its landing zone, Taliban fighters, hidden in a building, fired two or three rocket-propelled grenades at close range, leaving the pilot no chance to perform evasive maneuvers. LZ is ice, transmitted one of the Rangers on the ground, indicating the landing zone was free of enemy activity.
EXTORTION 17 COVER-UP OF SEAL TEAM SIX SHOOT-DOWN | BWCentral Downing of Extortion 17: The Single Deadliest Incident of the US War in Deadliest Day in Spec Ops History: The Extortion-17 Chinook Crash The United States military continually works to improve protection for transport helicopters and their occupants, according to Glover and Brady. For Lee, there was no time to reflect on how close he had come to dying. By The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. [39], Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in April 2011, Tangi valley became a major staging area for attacks on Kabul (located just 60 miles away). [29], Other reports alleged that the Taliban had laid an elaborate trap for American special-operations forces, luring them in with false information. [39], During the same Pentagon news conference in which he announced that the F-16 airstrike had incapacitated "less than 10" of the insurgents involved, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan John R. Allen said that the military investigation would also review whether small-arms fire or other causes might have contributed to the downing. Cart. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. Or when something went terribly wrong. It also became one of the most devastating death tolls of the U.S. Special Operations Forces. These are the words of Billy Vaughn. Extortion 17 was the call sign of a special operations mission in Afghanistan on Aug. 6, 2011, that responded to an Army Ranger unit engaged in a firefight with the Taliban and in need of backup. Three hours after disembarking from the Chinooks, the assault force had secured the compound and detained a number of Tahirs men, but they hadnt found Tahir himself. The helicopter fell from the sky, killing all 38 on board. The group probably contained the commander and a few of his bodyguards, while the remaining Taliban fighters offered resistance in an effort to buy the group enough time to escape. The helicopter carrying the SEALs proceeded to the landing zone alone, without external lighting. Extortion 17 was attached to a mission to capture or kill a senior Taliban leader, Qari Tahir, near Kabul, Afghanistan. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. Captain Marquez claims that had the AC-130 been allowed to fire on the remaining enemy insurgents, Extortion 17 would not have been shot down.
SEAL Team 6 & Extortion 17 Families Suspect Crash Was Inside Job At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. The U.S. Navy SEAL task force assigned to conduct operations in Tangi Valley was well conditioned to the dangerous operating environment. They reached the site at 04:12 and found no survivors.
FALLEN ANGEL Call Sign: Extortion 17 | SalemNOW There is a lot of controversy and discussion regarding the operators from the Gold Squadron who died abroad. About a dozen of the 33 troops in the back of the helicopter suffered broken bones, heavy bruises and scrapes. Two were still alive." A few minutes past 2 a.m.on August 6, 2011, at a dusty forward operating base40 miles south of Kabul, Afghanistan, the rotors of two U.S. Army CH-47D Chinooks began to turn. There are more operations than can be supported by the 160th at any given time," says Major Matthew Brady, a former 160th pilot and company commander. Whether enemy fire brought down the Chinook or a tree strike would never be known for sure. Six weeks later, at around 10:40 p.m., an assault team of Army Rangers and Afghan special operations forces were dropped into an LZ on a mission to capture or kill a Taliban commander named Qari Tahir, who had been responsible for a series of attacks and ambushes in the Tangi Valley, not far from Shank. 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. But one thing that doesnt fade is never forgetting what they did.. There is still a tremendous level of chance for a tragedy of such huge magnitude.. The events that unfolded that night are commonly referred to as Extortion 17, the call sign for the helicopter transporting the special operations personnel. The crash is referred to as Extortion 17 by the callsign of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter involved in the crash. The sheer amount of experience with our pilots, flight engineers and back-seaters and mechanics offered a wealth of knowledge, he said. On Aug. 6, 2011, insurgent forces in Afghanistan shot down an American aircraft. God bless all of them- the bravest of the brave. The crash is referred to as Extortion 17 by the callsign of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter involved in the crash. Buy images; Sell images; But no one died. Photo by Jake Simkin for Coffee or Die Magazine.
Lawmakers hold hearing on deadly 'Extortion 17' helicopter crash in But even a precisely aimed shot fired from an unguided weapon by a seasoned fighter is subject to the ballistics-altering whims of atmospheric variation, subtle and undetected flaws in launcher or projectile, and uncontrollable environmental factors such as wind gusts, large temperature variations, or even particulates in the air. Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. On August 6, 2011, the final flight of Extortion 17 resulted in the single deadliest incident for the US military during the War in Afghanistan. The vast majority miss. The helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, was on a mission to reinforce American and coalition special operations troops. Photo by Sgt. "It's a math problem. It means being informed. He taught helicopter pilots how to fly in high altitudes at an aviation training site in Colorado. 2 U.S. Army personnel from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, part of the Colorado Army National Guard, PO1 John Douangdara & Navy SEAL Dog Bart, Of the 22 NSW members killed, 17 were SEALs, and five were direct support personnel, according to the source in the NSW community.
Downing of Extortion 17: The Single Deadliest Incident of the US War in That June, the U.S. military launched Operation Hammer Down to drive out insurgents entrenched in remote strongholds of eastern Afghanistan. As the operation got underway, our airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, including an MQ-9 Predator, detected a group evading the Rangers, moving towards the north. [33], The New York Post reported that the Pentagon released 30 names from the crash. [36][37], After the shootdown of Extortion 17, the insurgent responsible used a two-way radio to brag to others about the act. On the anniversary of the Extortion 17 tragedy, we remember the heroic men who were felled rushing into battle, as they had done hundreds of times . Early life So the whole team went in one Chinook helicopter Extortion 17. His account of the brave pilots, crew, and passengers of Extortion 17 and . Its crazy how many times I can think of where me or the guys I was with had to do that.. The 30 Navy SEALs and other Special Forces personnel, along with the Helicopter flight crew because American Military and Political leaders threw these men under the bus the enemy was driving and then covered it all up with lies and deceit. Around 02:23, the two helicopters departed the forward base. The two may have been those who escaped Apache cannon fire, or they may have split away from either of the groups that formed after the start of the raid. The suspicious August 6th, 2011, CH47-D Chinook helicopter crash in Wardak Province, Afghanistan which claimed the lives of 38 American military personnel.Of those 38 lost, 22 were members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the Naval Special Warfare unit responsible for the killing of notorious 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden . Winds whipped through the fir trees. Should the Apaches, or the AC-130 overhead, have fired upon the groups of suspected Taliban that gathered in the village after the raid began? Create an account.
The true story behind the recovery of Extortion 17 In Memoriam: The 31 Heroes of EXTORTION 17 - American Thinker Since the shootdown of Extortion 17, the military has continued to gain vital experience and equipment to enable an ever greater understanding of an enemy force, aiming to know every combatant and potential combatant and his weapon system before a raid. Of those 38 lost, 22 were members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the Naval Special Warfare unit responsible for the killing of notorious 9/11 mastermind Osama Why did it happen? Afghanistan has long been a counter-insurgency campaign: The United States strategy has been to win Afghan trust through cooperation and aid. Flying low, the pilots have to maneuver a machine weighing up to 50,000 pounds over mountains, under cover of darkness, in swirling wind and dust, wearing night vision goggles. The tempo of the missions did not decrease. There was a lot of experience in that cockpit, the flight engineers and the door gunners.
Extortion 17 and the Truth The Havok Journal Donald Trump Retweeted A Conspiracy Theory that Biden Had Seal Team 6 Air Force Officer Speaks Out for First Time About Downing of Extortion [1][2][3][4], The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board including 17 US Navy SEALs, two United States Air Force Pararescue, one United States Air Force Combat Control Team member, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan interpreter. He presents the Final Flight of EXTORTION 17 (spoken one seven and seventeen), like a Defense Attorney or an investigator. In less than five seconds, the helicopter crashed, killing all occupants, and approximately 30 seconds later, one of the AH-64 Apache helicopters radioed in the crash. Available for both RF and RM licensing. It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. When the Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter was hit, all 38 onboard were instantly killed. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The downing of a Chinook helicopter gunship (known by its call sign Extortion 17) in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011, has for years been shrouded in mystery, with the . "[31][32] NBC News reported that the Pentagon released the names of the 30 Americans killed. Their deaths are the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U.S. Special Operations community in the 24-year history of the U.S. Special Operations Command.[5][22][15][23]. While Benghazi resulted in four American deaths, Extortion 17 resulted in 38 deaths, including nearly two dozen Navy SEALs. All 38 passengers aboard Extortion 17, including 30 U.S. military personnel, eight Afghans and a U.S. military working dog, were killed after the transport helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Hs 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. [40], In October 2011, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that an investigation following the shootdown concluded "that all operational decisions, linked to the incident, were deemed tactically sound." The crew of Slasher 02, the AC-130 circling above, flipped the switch on their powerful light.
Fallen Angel: Extortion 17 Facts and Documentary A junior, he was ready to fight, but the war would be over, he figured, before he even got out of college. That's the only route, so they took positions on either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. 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. To remove the risk of rocket-propelled grenades downing helicopters in Afghanistan 100 percent, youd have to remove the opposable thumbs of every fighting-age male in the objective area, and thats not how we win a counter-insurgency., Ed Darack It would never return. [11] Going forward, the two AH-64 Apache helicopters would be engaged in tracking those two groups of Taliban, and hence unable to provide surveillance or fire support to the inbound helicopter carrying the SEAL team. by FighterSweep Staff Apr 25, 2017 Retired Air Force Captain Joni Marquez is claiming the Pentagon hid the truth and lied about the circumstances that led to a Chinook helicopter crash that. ], Four years after the downing of Extortion 17, there were many theories about a possible government coverup. The second round struck one of the three aft rotor blades of the helicopter, destroying the aft rotor assembly. The duo may also have had no ties to Tahir or any of his suspected fighters, and attacked the helicopter on their own. "One. Find the perfect extortion 17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (pronounced "one-seven") was shot down while transporting a Quick Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Gold Star father Bill Vaughn had a heartfelt message to American "leaders" while discussing a documentary that investigates the Extortion 17 helicopter crash in Afghanistan. He finished his contract with the Army shortly afterward, and that September enrolled in Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. The Museum Executive Team worked with these men. The "had Seal team 6 killed" is a likely reference to what's known as the "Extortion 17" incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinook military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan,. As two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, an Air Force AC-130 gunship, and a small fleet of unmanned surveillance aircraft orbited overhead, a platoon of the 75th Ranger Regiment and members of an Afghan special operations unit stormed down the rear ramps of the Chinooks and into the night. The crash killed all 38 people on board including 25 American special operations personnel, five United States Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen, seven Afghan commandos, and one Afghan interpreter as well as a U.S. military working dog. (Photo Credit: Senior Airman Anthony Nin Leclerec / U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) There were a total of 38 individuals onboard Extortion 17.
Extortion 17 - The Brian Bill Foundation Oct 26, 2016 - Explore Concerned Citizen's board "EXTORTION 17", followed by 829 people on Pinterest. | READ MORE.
- Afghanistan: Honoring the Heroes of Extortion 17 August 6 marks six years since deadly 'Extortion 17' helicopter crash 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. The pilots and crew of Extortion 17, however, had ideal experience and abilities for the mission that night. "[30], On 12 August 2011, Jim Lehrer of the PBS NewsHour announced that he would report the Honor Roll at the end of the program with names and photographs of all 30 men. During a previous deployment to Iraq, Carters unit flew dozens of similar raids, which he often planned and led, and gained a reputation for working well with special operations troops. So where did it go?? The 30 American Servicemen killed in action (KIA) with the downing of Extortion 17. The Joint Combat Assessment Team report further noted that despite a robust deck of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets, none identified the location from which the shooters fired prior to the helicopter downing.
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