The Final Mission of Extortion 17

by Ed Darack

  Another potential enemy emerged, however, to possibly interdict the operation in Ginosa’s favor: the weather. Army aviation regulations required at least two miles of visibility and clouds no lower than 700 feet above the ground. “No, sorry, guys; weather is low, it’s bad, bad visibility, it’s not within parameters,” Air Force Sergeant Harris, the staff weather officer (SWO), told the Apache pilots. Major Rich Tucker, Task Force Knighthawk’s operations officer, then approached the weather officer, explaining the purpose of the mission. The SWO then took a second look at his weather screens and, smiling, said, “Hey, would you look at that, it all just cleared up!”

  “We were more pumped than ever for this,” said John. The four sprinted to the Apaches and cranked them in just a few minutes. In the lead ship for the AWT, Pitch Black 65, or Gun 1, John took the front seat and Randell, who served as the aircraft’s pilot-in-command and the AWT commander, sat in the rear. The other Apache, Pitch Black 40/Gun 2, had Greg forward and Scott in the back. The pilots double-checked and in some cases triple-checked systems during preflight. “We didn’t want anything mechanical to stop us,” recalled John. The two aircraft lifted off at 11:32 p.m. and sped west, crossing two mountain ranges in just over 15 minutes to close on the target.

  Other aircraft roared toward the Chak Valley as well: two Air Force F-16s, call signs Viper 33 and Viper 34, and an AC-130, call sign Slasher 02. Already on station, a Predator streamed a continuous live feed to the JSOC compound at Shank, where G87 (pronounced “Golf eight-seven”) paid close attention. G87, one of DEVGRU’s most experienced JTACs, would control all strike force components, watching events unfold via Predator feed. Two Extortion Chinooks stood by to transport any detainees.

  When the two Pitch Black Apaches arrived in the Chak Valley, Randell requested a “steady stare” for a “laser handover” from Draco 44, the Guardrail. The RC-12 then illuminated the target with its laser designator and passed the laser frequency, invisible to the naked eye, to Pitch Black 65. The Apache’s TADS/PNVS then scanned and within a second locked onto the target: a four-door sedan, driving about 20 mph just past the tiny village of Behrana. Cloaked by darkness and unheard due to distance, the Apaches tracked the car on the main road, gaining a detailed view of the vehicle with the powerful optics of their targeting systems. Ten minutes after Draco 44’s laser handover, Ginosa’s car turned onto a side road and drove into a stand of tall trees roughly 160 feet from the Chak River in the middle of the valley’s Green Zone. (These events were witnessed by John Edgemon and later confirmed for me by Steve Lancianese.)

  “We were just instruments in the orchestra,” said John, who wanted to engage the vehicle with multiple Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. “But the conductor was G87, so he called the shots and very carefully orchestrated everything.” That included holding Pitch Black 65 and 40 at “Echo 6,” or six kilometers away from the target, to keep the two Pitch Black Apaches out of earshot of the enemy. Then all four doors of the sedan, parked amid the trees, opened, and Ginosa, Ayubi, and four others emerged into the night, casually strolling among stumps, fallen branches, and undergrowth, unaware that they were in the crosshairs of enough firepower to level a few city blocks.

  Ginosa and Ayubi walked away from the other four, and G87 transmitted the details of the strike package to the aircraft, explaining that there were two groups, a cluster of four and a group of two, and that he wanted the aircraft to engage both simultaneously. G87 planned to have one of the F-16s, each armed with four GBU-54 Laser JDAM 500-pound bombs—extremely accurate weapons capable of guidance through both GPS and laser designation—drop all its bombs simultaneously on the target area. Then the Pitch Black AWT and Slasher 02 would take turns “cleaning up the squirters,” as John clearly recalled. G87 instructed the Apache pilots to prepare each helicopter to use its 30mm chain gun and flechette rockets, the latter a ballistic weapon system that relies on the Apache’s laser rangefinder to determine the exact distance to a target and sets a timer at the moment each launches. Just before impact, the rocket explodes, blowing 1,180 two-inch finned spikes called flechettes throughout the area.

  Draco, carefully monitoring the insurgents, detected that all six had moved into the tree line and transmitted that they had coalesced into one group. G87 then transmitted that the plan was to begin the attack with a drop of four GBU-54s, immediately followed by a Pitch Black Apache with flechette and “30 mike-mike” (millimeter). “Viper, Pitch Black, confirm.”

  “Black, copy,” Randell transmitted.

  “Viper copies,” said Viper 34, flying as the sole F-16 at that point as his wingman headed for an aerial tanker to refuel.

  G87 then formally approved the strike at 11:45: “This is a JPEL kill or capture.” Draco then positively identified hostile intent as the group removed weapons from the sedan’s trunk, possibly alerted to the presence of helicopters as the sounds of the Apaches’ rotors echoed off the walls of the valley. The six targets carried RPG launchers, AK-47s, and medium machine guns. With Draco lasing the target area to guide the F-16’s bombs, Viper 34 prepared to release all four GBU-54s.

  At 11:46 p.m., G87 transmitted the words all on station awaited: “Viper 34, you’re cleared hot, cleared hot, cleared hot.” Viper released all four 500-pound bombs from 20,000 feet, guided by Draco’s reflected laser energy. Seconds later, whump! whump! whump! erupted throughout the valley as all the bombs exploded within a second of one another, felling and splintering trees in the stand. Randell then accelerated Pitch Black 65 toward the target area as four fireballs coalesced and rose into the sky. The bombs instantly killed all but two of the insurgents. The RC-12 tracked Ginosa by his cell phone and the other one with its FLIR.

  Draco 44 then transmitted that they were tracking two squirters headed to the northwest in the grove of trees as John and Randell closed on the target area. Seconds later, John fired the first of eight flechette rockets—fsunk! With that, nearly 10,000 razor-sharp spikes were unleashed onto the target. As the Apache passed over the target, Slasher 02 readied to fire. Seconds later, with the tree line safely to the rear of Pitch Black 65, Slasher 02 pounded the enemy position with its 105mm howitzer from more than a mile aloft. Explosions shook the tiny valley as bursts of fire erupted throughout the Chak River’s Green Zone. Pitch Black 40 then came inbound for its portion of the attack, diving toward the grove of trees. Fsunk! Sievers fired four rockets.

  “OK, hit the gun!” Quiros said. Sievers loosed 40 rounds of high-explosive 30mm throughout the area, the ground glowing white through their TADS/PNVS where each hit. Slasher then hit the area with more 105mm artillery rounds, followed by another gun run by Pitch Black 65. At that point, all but one insurgent—Ginosa—lay dead. Draco continued to track him. With a “talk on” from the RC-12, Pitch Black 40 returned, searching for Ginosa. Using the TADS/PNVS, they zoomed into every tree, every log, every boulder, any place where the terrorist who just days earlier brought down Extortion 17 might hide. Despite all the technology at their disposal, the RPG shooter, hidden deep within the trees, might still be able to escape, disappearing into the nooks and crevices of the Green Zone. Or he might stand and fight. Then Sievers spotted a clearly dead body next to a small grove of trees near the main stand that the group had been pulverizing. Just as Pitch Black 40 closed on the target, with seconds before it would overfly the location, Ginosa emerged from behind a tree, holding an RPG. Sievers immediately identified him, and identified his hostile intent.

  “He’s firing!” said Quiros of Ginosa, shouldering the RPG. With Ginosa in the crosshairs of the TADS display, Sievers loosed a burst of 30mm, vibrating the Apache as the rounds blazed across the TADS screen: ta-ta-ta! Ten rounds plowed into the ground around Ginosa, sending shrapnel throughout the area. Sievers hit the gun again. Ta-ta-ta! Ten more rounds tore into the area, one of which directly struck Ginosa and exploded, killing him.

  Draco, Slasher, and Viper remained on station for two more hours, with Pitch Black 65 and 40 returning to Shank to refuel and rea
rm, then sped back out to the engagement area. Pitch Black 65 then fired the final rounds of the operation into hot spots of the target area for good measure. The aircraft remained in the area to search for any signs of survivors and to see if the two Extortion Chinooks waiting at REDCON 2 back at Shank would need to fly to the location. They never lifted off.

  Detail of area where U.S. forces engaged “Objective Ginosa,” the person who shot down Extortion 17, and other fighters traveling with him, August 8, 2011. Credit 35

  Universal Soldier would never reward Ginosa and never produce a propaganda video, but he would remain a target. The shadow of the true-to-life myth grew much longer during that period-of-darkness in the Chak Valley, and word of the destruction wrought against the six would spread throughout terrorist circles in Afghanistan and in Pakistan just as news of the identities of those aboard Extortion 17 emerged in world media, the timing no coincidence.

  Left to right: CW2 Scott Quiros, Captain Greg Sievers, CW2 Randell DeWitt, and Second Lieutenant John Edgemon, members of the Apache Attack Weapons Team for the attack on Objective Ginosa, in a photo taken in August 2011. After engaging Ginosa and returning to FOB Shank, the four made this sign using expended 30mm casings, referencing the downing of Extortion 17. Credit 36

  “After we left, we could see the first light of dawn,” recalled John Edgemon of his final flight out of the Chak Valley at the completion of the operation. Once at Shank, the four Pitch Black pilots could not sleep. “We wanted to make something to commemorate the operation.”

  “When I woke up, I found this sign bolted to the side of my command post,” recalled Buddy. All the Pitch Black pilots, particularly Randell, the only American to witness the actual shoot-down of Extortion 17, had taken the deaths of Dave, Bryan, Pat, Spencer, Alex, and their passengers very personally. The sign, adorned with six red skull-and-crossbones representing the six enemy killed during the operation, plus spent 30mm ammunition casings, read:

  IN MEMORY OF

  CW4 CARTER CW2 NICHOLS SGT HAMBURGER

  SPC BENNETT SPC DUNCAN

  & THE FALLEN HEROES OF TM LOGAR

  6 AUGUST 2011

  ANY ENEMY WHO SPEAKS OF THIS DAY

  WILL BE MET WITH OVERWHELMING FIREPOWER

  8 AUGUST 2011

  “Ginosa made two mistakes,” said John. “He shot down Extortion 17, and then he got on his radio and bragged about it.”

  Those responsible for the loss of Extortion 17 would never fire another shot or speak of their deeds again due to the skill and determination of those in Operation Ginosa. The memories of those lost onboard the Chinook, however, would endure. And while the loss caused so much pain for so many, their memories would serve to inspire strength and fortitude.

  EPILOGUE

  “We weren’t going to quit. We weren’t going to stop,” said Buddy Lee of the days and months following the shoot-down. To the contrary, despite the loss of Extortion 17, nothing changed operationally at FOB Shank. American forces continued to strike terrorist and insurgent cells in the Tangi Valley and beyond. Within a week of the shoot-down, the Naval Special Warfare Command sent another troop of SEALs from Gold Squadron to FOB Shank, and operations began anew.

  With Travis Baty flying lead and Buddy as air mission commander in Chalk 2, Extortion’s first night raid after the Tangi downing inserted a strike force of Task Force Darby Rangers into a village north of FOB Shank. While the infil proceeded without a hitch, the enemy threat weighed heavily on the minds of pilots and crew. Dusty conditions nearly caused a brownout when the lead ship flared and landed, causing Buddy to slow to a near hover over some buildings. Looking down onto courtyards and rooftops through his NVGs, the pilot scanned potential hides for concealed fighters. The dust settled around Chalk 1 seconds later, and the Extortion Company commander set his Chinook onto the LZ, the crew unloaded the force from the two helicopters, and they relaunched without incident. Hours later, the two CH-47s returned to exfil the strike force. Shortly thereafter, they transmitted their Zulu calls to the Shank air traffic controllers, marking the end of yet another successful mission.

  Enemy activity slowed in the area around FOB Shank by the middle of August, a function of both ongoing American pressure and the time of year: the end of summer fighting season, when the majority of the enemy typically returned to Pakistan. JSOC, supported by Extortion Chinooks and Pitch Black Apaches, however, continued its efforts, returning to the Tangi for a large operation to clear the region before most of the fighters crossed the border. During the multiday operation, a strike force composed of two platoons of Rangers swept through the valley, inserted and extracted by Extortion Company CH-47Ds and 160th SOAR(A) MH-47s. Pitch Black Apaches, Night Stalker Direct Action Penetrator helicopters—UH-60 Black Hawks fitted with a special array of guns and rockets—and AH-6 Little Bird attack helicopters provided aerial fire support. While the operation was successful, with a number of enemy captured and some killed, including HVI Lefty Grove, the Tangi proved deadly for American forces yet again: one Ranger, Sergeant Tyler Holtz, was killed.

  An Extortion CH-47D Chinook flies over the snow-dusted mountains of Maidan Wardak Province, near the Tangi Valley, as a storm clears. This photo was taken a few months after the downing of Extortion 17 in 2011. Credit 37

  Despite the success of the Ginosa strike and subsequent Tangi Valley sweep, Universal Soldier, Ginosa’s commander, remained in command in the Chak Valley, and he continued to foment unrest and violence, particularly in the COP Saydabad region. JSOC’s ISR assets, however, remained vigilant.

  Then one night, when U.S. forces received their trigger courtesy of an RC-12 Guardrail, they once again struck, unleashing a kill-or-capture raid. Aided by Extortion Company Chinooks and Pitch Black Apaches, Gold Squadron SEALs swooped onto a tight LZ near Universal Soldier’s compound, and within an hour the terrorist leader lay dead. The shadow of the true-to-life mythical curse grew that much longer and broader. Those lost on Extortion 17 were never to be forgotten, their memories proving essential to the motivation of those continuing the fight.

  In the wake of the downing of Extortion 17, new faces arrived at Shank to replace those lost in the tragedy, including CW3 Andy Bellotti, good friend to Dave Carter and his copilot during the harrowing Little Bear flight. While members of Extortion Company trickled out of Shank bound for home and those remaining conducted left seat–right seat introduction flights with newly arrived pilots and crew, the clock ticked toward the final flight of Extortion Company as a named unit. That mission came on March 1, 2012, when Buddy and Travis, as pilots, and crewmen Staff Sergeant Brandon Williams, Sergeant Cory Hayes, and Specialist Taylor Banks launched with another Extortion Chinook. Regardless of the stated mission of the flight, the actual purpose was simple: to pay respect to those lost on Extortion 17.

  Minutes after launching, the two Chinooks roared over the mountains surrounding the valley, as so many Extortion CH-47s had over the course of the past year, almost all of them at night. Then, as they approached the tiny village of Hasan Khel, crew in the rear of the Chinook held an American flag from the loading ramp. Below them streaked the peaceful landscape of fields covered in snow, earthen walls and buildings, the sinuous Logar River, and the low, golden light of winter afternoon accentuating every bump, branch, and ripple of the land. The sun lit one long strip of snow-covered open land in the vista most brightly—the field on which Extortion 17 had come to rest seemed to glow. To the south was the dark, shadowed village from which the two enemy fighters had emerged.

  Moments later, the pilots, each wearing Extortion 17 memorial patches, turned the Chinook back toward FOB Shank. Brandon, Cory, and Taylor carefully folded the flag and stowed it. The strip of snow-covered land receded into the distance as the Chinooks sped toward their base. The Tangi Valley was soon out of sight, but the memories of those on the lost Chinook would live on.

  A crewman unfurls a flag to honor the men of Extortion 17 as Extortion Company flies over the Tangi Valley on their last
flight in Afghanistan on March 1, 2012; the craft was commanded by Captain Justin “Buddy” Lee and flown by Lee and CW3 Travis Baty, with crewmen Staff Sergeant Brandon Williams, Sergeant Cory Hayes, and Specialist Taylor Banks onboard. Credit 38

  In the years that followed, the legacies of those on Extortion 17 would endure among their families, friends, and fellow soldiers. Some started foundations, such as the Make It Count Foundation, which Megan and Dale Duncan started in memory of Spencer. Many became friends, including Mary Nichols, Joyce Peck, and Jan Anderson. Others used the memories of those lost to inspire others, such as Dave Carter’s son Kyle, who became a pilot. Many members of Extortion Company and Task Force Knighthawk have stayed close, some remaining in the Army to attain new career heights and others moving into successful civilian careers. Regardless of their lives’ directions, civilian or military, their paths continue to cross. Buddy Lee, just prior to beginning a career as an attorney, visited Randell DeWitt at Fort Rucker while the former Pitch Black pilot worked as an Apache instructor pilot, the two noting the importance of the Extortion 17 story as part of the greater story of Army aviation.

  Left to right: CW3 Travis Baty, Staff Sergeant Brandon Williams, Captain Justin “Buddy” Lee, Sergeant Cory Hayes, and Specialist Taylor Banks at FOB Shank holding an American flag after completing their final mission in Afghanistan, March 1, 2012. Credit 39

  One of the most notable aspects of the story of Extortion 17 and Extortion Company came years later in an iconic moment demonstrating the deep bonds of Army aviators. A group of Black Hawk crew chiefs, keenly aware of the Extortion 17 story, arrived at FOB Shank long after the departure of Extortion Company. The old quarters in which Dave, Bryan, Pat, Spencer, Alex, Kirk, Buddy, and the rest of the company had lived were slated to be torn down. The crew chiefs found a large Extortion Company “This Thing of Ours” sign painted on one of the plywood walls and, not wanting this important piece of Army aviation history to go missing forever, carefully cut it out and preserved it, ultimately giving it to Buddy. The sign, with signatures of most of the pilots and crew of Extortion Company, was yet another reminder of the inherent strength of those on the fallen helicopter and those throughout Army aviation.