Operation Red Wings: The Untold Story Behind Lone Survivor (Kindle Single) (SOFREP) (3 page)

Rangers, Combat Controllers, and PJs finally arrived at Turbine 33’s crash site at 2316Z, set security, and began to recover the bodies, as well as any electronics, equipment, and weapons. The earlier reports of a survivor on the ground were belied, as they found the bodies of all sixteen men aboard, eight Night Stalkers and eight SEALs. The crash being as localized as it was, on the relatively flat shoulder of the mountain, they didn’t have to go far, so they set a perimeter and went to work.

*   *   *

Meanwhile, it had taken some time, but the pilots finally had the go-ahead to go back up into the mountains to search from the air. CJSOTF had been reluctant to clear any more flights, fearing the loss of another helicopter after the shootdown of Turbine 33. Finally, with a stern warning to the pilots that the United States could not afford to lose another bird on that mountain, they were allowed to take off.

This time, the birds didn’t take off until after dark. Turbine 33 had been shot down trying to land in broad daylight, driven by the sense of urgency to get the SEALs out. The follow-on rescue effort would be more cautious, relying on the cover of darkness to keep the birds safe.

Skinny and Spanky flew patterns over Sawtalo Sar and the surrounding Korengal and Shuryek valleys, listening and watching for any sign of the missing men. Spanky was on the radio, calling out repeatedly, “This is Air Force Rescue. We are here to get you out. Please, show yourself. Make yourself known.” They flew close to the mountainsides, looking with night-vision goggles and the helicopters’ forward-looking infrared (FLIR) thermal cameras for any sign of the missing men. In the mountainous terrain, without a verifiable signal to narrow things down, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Multiple times during the night, they heard the radio key on the SAR frequencies, but they could never nail down where the transmissions were coming from, or whether they were legitimate. Given the pattern that was developing in the JOC, most or all of them were SAR traps, sent by the enemy to attempt to draw the helicopters into striking range.

Several times, aircraft even saw infrared (IR) lasers signaling from the ground. It is still uncertain where exactly the enemy procured them, as Marcus does not recall signaling with his own laser at any time. Weapons captured from the dead SEALs by Ahmad Shah’s fighters did have PEQ-2 IR laser sights attached; it is entirely possible that these were the source of the spurious IR signals.

As dawn approached, the helicopters had to turn back to return to Bagram before losing the cover of darkness. There had been no definite sign of the SEALs, but they weren’t about to give up.

Day 3: June 30

At just after midnight, an elderly Afghan by the name of Shina arrived at the gate of Camp Blessing. When the interpreter reached the gate, he said he needed to speak to the marines’ senior officer, because there was a wounded American in his village. The interpreter ran to the Marine Combat Operations Center and found the commanding officer, telling him that the man said he had a wounded American in his village. The interpreter added that for anyone to venture out in the middle of the night in Kunar was extraordinary.

The marine lieutenant was unaware of what had happened on Sawtalo Sar less than two days before. He knew only that he had been instructed to prepare for a search in the nearby mountains. He ran to the gate and met Shina, a tired-looking, gray-bearded man from the Shuryek Valley.

Taking Shina to the FOB’s “tearoom,” the lieutenant had him served tea and a little food, then sat down to talk to him. Shina told him, through the interpreter, that an American doctor was in their village. He had been shot and appeared to be in bad shape. He went on to say that the doctor was treating himself. That suggested to the lieutenant that the “doctor” was a navy corpsman. The man handed over a note, written on Rite in the Rain paper, from Marcus, telling the Americans that he had been shot and that the villagers had taken him in and were taking care of him. Initially, the lieutenant couldn’t make out the signature, or much of the rest of the handwriting, and was confused that there was no real identifying information in the note, which he would have expected from an SOF operator who was isolated and on E&E. He took the note to the Combat Operations Center, scanned it, and sent it by secure e-mail to the marine operations officer at Asadabad, the closest major U.S. base.

The fact was, Marcus had not intended the note to serve as a “blood chit,” i.e., a reward for his safe return, but had expected to accompany Shina to Asadabad. The elder had instead left without him, apparently considering him too much of a hindrance on a trek over the mountains in his condition, having been shot in the leg. Shina had walked down the Shuryek Valley from Sabray to Matin, where he had hired a taxi for the ride up the Pech Valley to Camp Blessing. The tribesmen of the Shuryek had had more dealings with 2/3 than with anyone at Asadabad, and therefore trusted the marines more.

Shortly after sending the e-mail, the lieutenant called the operations officer by satellite phone. He explained what had happened and that he couldn’t make out the signature; he could read “Marcus” but not the last name. The ops officer, having been read in on the situation, confirmed that a SEAL named Marcus Luttrell was missing and instructed the lieutenant not to let Shina leave until they had gotten all possible information from him.

Because of the lack of identifying information in Marcus’s note, there was some doubt that it had in fact come from him. With Taliban activity in Kunar being what it was, and given the large number of faked SAR signals coming from the area, there was the very real risk that this was a fake, an attempt to draw U.S. forces into some kind of trap. When the note reached Bagram, it was handed over to FBI handwriting analysts, along with other samples of Marcus’s handwriting, in an attempt to ascertain whether the note was legitimate or a ruse. Meanwhile, the rescue forces continued searching and waiting for any other sign that any of the SEALs might be alive.

*   *   *

The Rangers and PJs at Turbine 33’s crash site had set to work gathering the remains and sanitizing the crash. The bodies were packed in body bags and dragged up to the new LZ while the Rangers held security. All weapons and sensitive equipment on the helicopter were either taken or destroyed. The Rangers had rigged what was left of the wreck with explosives to ensure that nothing of any value would be left for the enemy. As the MH-47 with the bodies and the recovery force lifted off, the Rangers detonated the explosives and reduced what was left of Turbine 33 to scrap.

There was later some concern that the remains of all sixteen men on Turbine 33 had not been recovered. This was likely due in part to the state of the remains (the helicopter had exploded on impact, and it was the middle of the summer in Afghanistan, where the bodies had been lying for two days already) and in part to the initial report from the Apache pilot of seeing a survivor. However, by July 6, all the remains had been identified by DNA analysis. All eight Night Stalkers and eight SEALs had been recovered.

Day 4: July 1

After exhaustive analysis, the note from Marcus was determined to be genuine. Finally, the probability of area had been narrowed down, and the search could become more focused. Air assets were still over the area constantly, though only going down toward the mountainsides at night. Dozens of resupply bundles were dropped from the air, containing food, water, cell phones, batteries for every piece of equipment the SEALs might have, radios, and other signaling devices. It was hoped that if one of the missing SEALs found one of these bundles, they would have a chance of contacting SAR assets, since it was assumed, based on the circumstances of the attack, that they did not have working comms.

Leaflets with encrypted survival information were dropped. Others promised a reward to any of the local tribesmen who came forward to Coalition forces with information that led to the rescue of any of the SEALs.

*   *   *

Around this time, the Rangers of 3rd Ranger Battalion arrived in the AO. They had reached Afghanistan a day before but had to go through all of the procedures for entering theater before they could be inserted to join the search.

For interpreters, the Rangers had with them members of the Afghan Counterterrorist Pursuit Team, a U.S.-sponsored Afghan special operations unit. The Mohawks, as they were called, would not only provide language support for the Rangers if they had to talk to the locals but were trained to fight alongside them.

To the Rangers’ concern, when briefed they learned that the insert route was the exact same flight path as Turbine 33’s. Even though the crash site was secured, the Rangers were a little wary of going right into the same area, by the same route. It wouldn’t be the first time a follow-on force taking the same route had been ambushed.

However, the insertion went smoothly, without making contact with the enemy. The Rangers moved off the LZ, seeing what was left of the wreck of Turbine 33 as they passed it. Once away from the LZ, they set up a patrol base, getting ready to head out to search the surrounding mountains in the morning.

Day 5: July 2

With the FBI analysts’ confirmation that the note did indeed come from Marcus Luttrell, things began to speed up. The area of the team’s E&E had been solidified, and the search could be narrowed down to the Shuryek Valley and the eastern side of Sawtalo Sar. While the steepness of the terrain still provided plenty of challenges to the Rangers and Special Forces conducting the search, it was now workable. Furthermore, they now had a location and a contact for Marcus, and confirmation that he, at least, was still alive.

As soon as the note was verified at around 0200Z, Special Forces and Ranger personnel were immediately directed by the JOC to move to Objective Barracuda, which was the code name for the village of Sabray, where Marcus was being harbored by the local villagers, led by Gulab, the son of the village elder.

At about midday, the first elements made contact with Marcus Luttrell. According to Marcus’s recollections, the first one he saw was an Afghan commando, followed by two Rangers from 2
nd
Ranger Battalion. The word spread quickly that Marcus had been found, and the Rangers got him to higher ground, where his wounds were further treated while the Rangers and Special Forces set security and prepared for the birds to come extract him.

The two 920
th
Rescue Wing HH-60 Pave Hawks would fly the extraction mission, covered by AH-64 Apaches, A-10 Warthogs, and an AC-130 Spectre. At 1452Z, the flight, call sign Halo 43, received its tasking, and Skinny and Spanky began their planning process.

Because of the Black Hawk’s vulnerability to ground fire (as had been graphically demonstrated in Mogadishu, Somalia, twelve years before), and the fear of losing yet another helicopter after the shootdown of Turbine 33, the HH-60s had only flown at night and would go into the extract in a pair, with one helo landing and the other flying top cover, its door gunners vigilant for any threats to the bird on the ground. It was decided that Skinny would fly top cover while Spanky went in, landed on the LZ, and retrieved Marcus, Gulab, and Gulab’s family. Spanky, on learning he was going to get the most dangerous part of the mission, became even more focused.

The pilots had not gotten a good look at the terrain near Sabray on their previous flights, and Spanky later recalled that the imagery they had to work off of didn’t give an entirely accurate picture of just how steep the terrain in the Shuryek Valley was. Regardless, they departed Bagram Airfield at 1750Z, heading east toward Kunar.

En route, Halo 43 received a radio call from Bagram, informing them that the extract grid coordinate had changed and that the LZ was 2 kilometers over from where they had planned. They received the call while ten minutes out from the LZ, prompting some frantic recalculation to ensure they got to the right spot. In the dark, in the mountains, a 2-kilometer error was going to make the rescue all but impossible if they didn’t figure it out.

As the copilots calculated the new grid coordinate, it made less and less sense. The flight computers were not changing the time or distance to the new grid. After what he described as trying to pull his hair out through his helmet, Skinny’s copilot, JP, figured out that there had been a misunderstanding by the source sending the new grid.

Military grid coordinates operate on a metric system, where each digit represents so many meters. Thus, a 4-digit grid is accurate to within 1 kilometer, a 6-digit grid is accurate to within 100 meters, etc. What had happened with the new grid coordinate was that the end of the 10-digit grid coordinate had changed, and someone had misinterpreted a 2-meter change as 2 kilometers. The LZ hadn’t changed at all.

As they neared the mountains, the cloud cover got heavier. The moon was not up, and the clouds were obscuring any starlight, rendering the pilots’ and crews’ night vision nearly useless. The AC-130 on station was supposed to illuminate the LZ with its IR floodlight, commonly known to the men on the ground as “the Eye of God.” This IR flood, invisible to the naked eye but incredibly bright on night vision, is usually used to mark targets for the gunship’s weapons, including a 25 mm chain gun, a 40 mm Bofors cannon, and a 105 mm howitzer. As they neared the LZ, however, they received a call from the AC-130, “Halo, negative burn, negative burn.” The AC-130 had to stay above the clouds and couldn’t burn through them with the floodlight. The LZ remained shrouded in pitch darkness. The pilots were already having to use their FLIR cameras to navigate, because the illumination was so poor.

On the ground, the Rangers and Special Forces were waiting with Marcus, watching the lights of the Taliban moving on the opposite slopes, as Ahmad Shah’s men tried one last time to capture the wounded SEAL. Based on his recollections and observations from the previous few days, Marcus helped the Rangers call in air support on the enemy positions. Spanky recalled the muzzle flashes and rocket strikes flickering over the mountainsides.

The problem still remained that the LZ was completely shrouded in darkness and invisible to the pilots. Unless they could get some reference to get a fix on it, the rescue was going to be a no-go.