Flying low over the Afghan treetops, an elite unit of special operators from three different
American military branches and the Afghan army huddle together tightly inside their helicopter.
The mood is tense; the night is dark. Each man prepares for the dangerous mission in his own way.
Some tell lighthearted jokes or make small talk. Others focus intently on what is to come
constantly rehearsing his own role in the matter. While the rest simply sit in silence
contemplating what tomorrow will hold as the days tick down until they rotate home.
They’ve been waiting for hours at this point until the call finally comes over the radio
to go into action. American forces on the ground have radioed for assistance and it is
their job to help accomplish the mission. As they cut their way through the humid,
Afghan night, they can see their landing zone barely visible over the treetops.
The massive helicopter they are in starts to slow and make its descent.
“One mike out!” Roars the pilot over the radio. The men start to stand and brace themselves for
the mad dash they are going to have to make once the helicopter touches the ground. They
are checking magazines and weapon conditions while tightening the helmet straps they loosened
for the ride over here. Then, disaster strikes.
With no sound; no warning the aircraft bursts into flames. There is a tremendous explosion and
within five seconds thirty-one American and seven Afghan lives are lost. But what exactly happened
to Extortion 17 (pronounced ONE-SEVEN) to cause it to go down in a ball of fire
and cause one of the largest single-day losses of life in 21st century American military history.?
Qari Tahir, Taliban commander and linchpin of the Taliban resistance,
needed to go down. Either arrest or termination, the man was too dangerous
to be left alive. To get its man, the US military turned to a mix of Navy SEALs,
Air Force Pararescuemen, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, US Army Rangers, and Afghan commandos.
Tahir was in charge of all Taliban forces in the Tangi Valley of Wardak province.
This was a strategic area since it was only 60 miles from the Afghan capital of Kabul
where Taliban fighters had been launching deadly attacks in the heart of the country
with near impunity for years. American and coalition forces had tried repeatedly to
control this region but it remained effectively a Taliban stronghold.
After multiple operations to subdue the region with little success, American commanders were
ecstatic when they received reliable intelligence that Tahir was going to be located at a compound
with a lighter than usual bodyguard. This presented the perfect opportunity to not only
cut the head off the snake of the local Taliban but would enable the coalition to gain valuable
insight into how the Taliban were so successfully able to elude their best efforts to contain them.
American officers knew from the beginning the mission was going to be high risk.
The compound where the supposed meeting was taking place with Tahir was in a terrorist
hotbed with little to no support from locals. Making matters worse, the natural geography
of the valley presented only one way in and one way out- an easy kill zone for enemy defenders.
Compounding these difficulties was that there was almost zero illumination that night meaning the
pilots and crew would have extreme difficulty seeing any incoming fire and have less time to
react than usual. Lastly, if that were not enough, Taliban fighters had started to become much more
active at night in response to the increased use of night raids by special forces in the area.
In short, American forces were going up against a well entrenched, battle-hardened
and experienced enemy who had geography and the cover of darkness on his side.
Definitely not the most ideal of circumstances. American commanders wanted to keep the element
of surprise but were prepared to engage whatever enemy forces they might find. The plan of attack
was to insert a platoon of Army Rangers by the compound who would then sweep in to capture
Tahir while he was in the building. The Navy SEALs and their accompanying support personnel
would be on standby at the Forward Operating Base they were based out of. This force was intended to
be the reserve force in case the Rangers did not succeed or needed help before the target
could get away. Two Apache attack helicopters, an AC-130 gunship, and multiple Intelligence,
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance aircraft were tasked with providing support to the mission.
At approximately 2258 local time the Ranger platoon was inserted onto the objective.
At about the same time, friendly aircraft noticed a group of eight Taliban fighters walking in a
single file line north of the compound. One of the Apache gunships opened fire
and killed six of them while the other two were sent fleeing into the night for their
lives. Over the next several hours, the Rangers battled to control the compound.
By about 245 in the morning, the compound was secure with no sight of the Taliban leader. It
was thought that the leader had fled before the Americans could arrive and that his most trusted
fighters made a last-ditch effort to delay his pursuers long enough to give him time to escape.
This theory was backed up with the fact that the two fighters who escaped the initial attack
by the Apache gunship were joined throughout the firefight by more and more Taliban, making their
group between nine and ten members by 215 in the morning. American commanders believed that Tahir
was among these fighters and that action needed to be taken immediately to prevent his escape.
It was then decided to send in the SEALs. During the firefight with the Taliban at the
compound, American planners assumed that the Taliban commander would be alerted to their
presence and make his escape. That is why at 0100 local preparations were already underway to
insert the Immediate Reaction Force, or IRF, that comprised the SEALS and their supporting members.
The landing zone that was picked out was thoroughly studied before and was
previously approved for earlier missions but never utilized. The pilots that flew the aircraft were
also extremely experienced with thousands of hours of flight time including hundreds of hours
of combat experience. The helo was also “blacked out”- meaning absolutely no light emissions were
allowed from the aircraft, which could give an easy target for any Taliban gunners below. The
one precaution that was the most sound was also the most controversial. The two CH-47D Chinook
helicopters used to insert the Ranger platoon earlier were also utilized for the SEAL insertion,
but instead of splitting the men between the two aircraft, they were combined onto one.
This would prove a fatal mistake. Why it was decided to put the entire
IRF in one helo was actually a matter of sound operating principles utilized throughout the war
and especially in this area. Multiple helicopters would present multiple
targets to the Taliban. Especially in their most vulnerable landing and takeoff phases,
when the helios would be unable to utilize their missile defense measures or maneuver to safety.
Safety concerns may sound extreme, but this threat was not some figment of their imagination.
Over the past several months, there had been at least four attempted downings of
helicopters by Taliban fighters using rocket-propelled grenades and other
small arms. Though wildly inaccurate and basic, these weapons were still
a force to be reckoned with in the hands of the right user and with a bit of luck.
As fate would have it, luck would be on the Taliban side that night.
As Extortion 17 made its way over the treetops it slowed its speed to about 50 knots or almost
60 miles per hour, while also dropping to between 100 to 150 feet. The helo made its approach from
the northwest and was trying to touch down near some fields as it had to pass over several qalats
or mud buildings on the way down. It was here that the Taliban fired between two to three
rocket-propelled grenades at the aircraft. The first one missed but at least one other
hit its mark. The warhead exploded near the end of the aft rotor blade
taking off over 10 feet of blade. This in turn caused a simultaneous catastrophic failure
of the aircraft’s integrity which quickly brought it down in a matter of seconds.
In the mangled wreckage of the once-mighty Chinook, there were no survivors.
Immediately after the downing, the circling Chinook helicopter radioed that they could
see the other aircraft burning and needed help. The Rangers quickly broke from the compound and
rushed over to the wreckage. Once on the scene, they immediately set up a perimeter to prevent
the Taliban from swooping in to finish off their comrades and they started searching for survivors.
Unfortunately, by the end of the morning, the search for survivors was complete
and all 38 on board were confirmed killed. An Army ground convoy was dispatched to transport
the remains and additional Special Forces units were called in to help sort out the wreckage.
Once all the remains were loaded onto the convoy, recovery efforts began in earnest.
What the Army wanted to know from the wreckage was why one of their most combat-tested aircraft
suddenly and without warning plummeted from the sky. Had it been a freak accident? Was it
a mechanical failure of the aircraft? Had the Taliban acquired some new,
advanced weapon systems capable of downing aircraft with ease? The answers to these
questions and many more were sought not only by the Army, but by the families of the deceased,
Central Command leadership, and the US Congress. Initial reports from the Taliban stated that the
weapon that brought down the helicopter was the standard RPG commonly utilized throughout the
country. While some locals speculated that the Taliban had in fact acquired a new weapon from
Pakistan, these reports were unsubstantiated and not backed up by the investigation conducted by
the Army. The Army wanted to know how such a weapon, with a max effective range of a
little over several hundred yards, could take down an aircraft with only one shot.
To prove this conclusively, the Army fired a similar weapon system at the exact same blades
and was able to replicate the damage perfectly, thereby concluding without a doubt that an RPG
could in fact cause such catastrophic damage. But what of the Taliban fighter who fired that
one in a million shot? Apparently, after the battle American forces intercepted
radio communications from him bragging about what he had done. However, the celebration was
short-lived. Several days later he and the Taliban leader who was the focus of the failed raid
were cornered and killed in an airstrike. A follow on team confirmed their deaths after the fact.
Extortion 17 was brought down by a lucky, one in a million shot, and sadly over three dozen of the US
and Afghan military’s finest were all killed in the span of seconds. While many doubt the
official investigation and insist something else must have happened, the sad truth is that that’s
just the way war goes sometimes, even if that fact brings no comfort to the families of the deceased.
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