The Final Mission of Extortion 17

by Ed Darack

  15. THE MECHANICS OF THE MISSION

  Information about task forces such as Task Force 3-10 came from my phone discussions with a senior field-grade military officer familiar with JSOC’s command structure and table of organization who wishes to remain anonymous. Details of counterterrorism contingency actions for the 2008 Democratic National Convention came from a senior Army National Guard officer who wishes to remain anonymous. Information on Green Lantern and JPEL came from an interview with an officer familiar with the planning of the ground phase of the operation who also wishes to remain anonymous. Details about the flight portion of Operation Green Lantern came from an in-person interview with Buddy Lee. Information on the evolution of an operation, inclusive of platform types used, came in part from an analysis of the Colt Report and in part from an anonymous officer familiar with such operations. Information about JTACs and Andrew Harvell came from a phone interview with John Edgemon. Information about the pilots and crew of Extortion 16 and 17 learning of their mission came from an in-person interview with Lee and analysis of the Colt Report. Information on pilot flight hours and flight lead and air mission command came from the full Colt Report. Geographic information came from Google Earth, with translation from Farsi to English by Kim Ertefai. I learned about intelligence revealing the plans of Lefty Grove from Edgemon, who also told me about the actions of the Apache pilots. Quotes attributed to Randell DeWitt came from transcripts in the full Colt Report. An analysis of the Colt Report and of digital audiovisual data on the events described was supplied to me by an anonymous source familiar with the occurrences of that period-of-darkness but who was unaffiliated with the Army aviators. This source also provided me with information about times, locations of aircraft, and aircraft types used.

  16. DECISION POINT

  Quotes from Randell DeWitt came from the Colt Report, as did details on the timeline of the Team Darby assault force movement. Technical information on the TADS system and the Area Weapons System came from a phone interview with John Edgemon, as did information on Taliban counterintelligence methods. Information on the “squirters” came from the Colt Report and a phone interview with Edgemon. Details on the raid and the recovered weapons cache came from a phone interview with Edgemon and a review of the Colt Report. Information about Jonas Kelsall and his decision, as well as Dan Bair’s decision, came from an in-person interview with Buddy Lee. More information about Kelsall’s decision about the only way to insert the force also came from a phone interview with Bair. Information on the Apaches’ role in the insert of the IRF on Extortion 17 came from an interview with Edgemon, who is very familiar with these events. Geographic information came from Google Earth and an analysis of the Colt Report.

  17. THE PASSENGERS

  The section on the SEALs and BUD/S came from a phone interview with “Grant,” a Navy SEAL and former BUD/S instructor who requested that I use a single-name pseudonym for him as he does not wish to draw attention to himself (he agreed to the interview only because I am friends with him and his family). The list of names, with correct spellings, came from Jan Anderson, Kevin Houston’s mother, via email, and information about Kevin and his fellow DEVGRU SEALs came from a phone interview with her. Information about John Brown, Andrew Harvell, and Daniel Zerbe came from a telephone interview with Susan Zerbe. The names of the Afghans came from my own copy of an official video (not publicly available) of the ramp ceremony at Bagram. Information about Bart, the military working dog, came from an in-person interview with Buddy Lee. Times and locations of aircraft given at the end of the chapter came from an analysis of the Colt Report. These recordings, noted in the Colt Report, captured Bryan Nichols’s radio calls.

  18. HIGHEST VALOR

  Locations, times, and quotes from pilots throughout this chapter came from the Colt Report and were corroborated for me by anonymous sources, which also enabled me to plot specific positions of aircraft at specific times using Google Earth to re-create the events down to the tenth of a second. Information about Randell DeWitt came from John Edgemon. Information on the crew’s activities inside Extortion 17 came from a phone interview with Kirk Kuykendall; all are strictly standardized functions that all crews do on every flight. Technical details on the Chinook helicopter came from Van Valkenburgh, “Chinook.” I learned the names of the two fighters through intelligence reports. My statistics came from a search of Wikileaks’ Afghan War Diaries. The Wikileaks site allows keyword search; inputting the keywords RPG or SAFIRE (small-arms fire) returned more than 700 results of shots that pilots detected but which missed them. Information on ballistic properties came from a phone interview with Doug Glover, a former Marine Weapons and Sensors operator and an expert on enemy weapon systems such as the RPG. Information on the Cobra shoot-down also came from a phone interview with Glover, who is highly familiar with such incidents and who also supplied information on volley firing and the enemy’s pursuit of large, attention-grabbing strikes. Information on the two enemy fighters firing at Extortion 17 came from the Colt Report and from an intelligence report on the two-way radio transmissions by the two fighters who shot at Extortion 17; the level of lunar illumination and the angle from which the shooters would be seeing it; and the ingress route of the helicopter. Slasher 02’s transmissions came from time- and location-stamped audiovisual digital recordings transcribed in the Colt Report (http://extortion17book.com/​resources/​chinook.pdf), as did quotes from Apache pilots, descriptions of what they saw, and their actions. Details of the impact and destruction of Extortion 17, and the type of RPG round used, came from the Joint Combat Assessment Team report (http://extortion17book.com/​resources/​jcat.pdf). Information on what Buddy Lee saw when looking into the Tangi Valley came from my phone interview with him. Information on DeWitt’s belief about the point of origin of the shooter came from my discussions with Edgemon, who was intimately familiar with the circumstances and dispositions of the Apaches during this phase of the operation. Information about crew of Slasher 02 came from the Colt Report. Information on the types of aircraft and their activities came from the Colt Report.

  19. AFTERMATH

  Information about Buddy Lee and his quotes came from my in-person interviews with him, as did information about events post-crash, including the crash of the AH-64 from FOB Salerno and details about body identification. Information about the ramp ceremony came from in-person interviews with Lee and from a video of the ceremony. Information about the Shank Ceremony came from my in-person interviews with Lee and with Kirk Kuykendall. Information about and quotes from Kuykendall, Christy Lee, Mary Nichols, Laura Carter, Kyle Carter, Kaitlen Carter, Joyce Peck, Megan and Dale Duncan, and Jan Anderson came from my in-person or phone interviews with each. Information about the JCAT report and the Colt Report came from the reports themselves. Matt Brady’s quote about chance came from my phone interview with him. The reexamination of the Colt Report was done by a number of trusted intermediaries, former Army aviators who analyzed multiple digital audiovisual recordings of the actual events. Information from and quotes by Pat Gates came from my in-person interview with him. Historical detail on Extortion 17 came from Van Valkenburgh, “Chinook.”

  20. OPERATION GINOSA

  I used Google Earth for geographic information in this chapter, and used key extracts of intelligence reports provided to me by anonymous intelligence sources to supply various information here. Details about and quotes from John Edgemon came from my phone interviews with him, as did information on the Ginosa strike, participants, call signs, events leading up to it, and the weapons used by the Apaches. Details about the staff weather officer and his quote (here paraphrased) came from Buddy Lee. Due to the nature of this and previous chapters, I asked Steve Lancianese, who planned the Apache portion of Operation Ginosa and was very familiar with all its events and those preceding it, to carefully review the book’s chapters from “The Invisible Warfighters” through “Operation Ginosa.” His assessment was “You’ve clearly done your homework. I can validate your acc
ount of the Ginosa strike.” While Lancianese could not comment on some aspects of the story, his overall impression that it was “remarkably accurate” supported the sourcing I used. (Lancianese was not involved in the sourcing, only in validating the final work.)

  EPILOGUE

  Information for the first section of the epilogue came from my in-person interview with Buddy Lee. Details about the Duncans came from my telephone interviews with Dale and Megan Duncan. Information about and quotes from Mary Nichols, Joyce Peck, Jan Anderson, and Kaitlen Carter came from my phone interviews with them. Information about Lee and Randell DeWitt came from my phone interview with Lee.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I couldn’t have undertaken this book project without the support and assistance of many exceptional people, from those who provided me with information never before revealed to those who helped me unwind after an intense day of research and writing. To all noted below, thank you so much. First and foremost was Ellen Liebowitz. Justin “Buddy” Lee proved absolutely vital. Thanks to him, the project evolved into a book far better than it would have been without his help and support. I can’t thank him enough. Darren Freyer introduced me to the story of Extortion 17 and Dave Carter’s tenure as a HAATS instructor one overcast day in September 2012 at Moe’s Barbecue in Fort Collins, Colorado. Darren, a former AH-64 Apache pilot, became an instructor pilot at HAATS (where I met him on my embed, courtesy of Darin Overstreet’s work) in September 2011. I observed HAATS training flights from the cockpit of an OH-58 Kiowa piloted by Darren over the course of three days at the training facility, and we’ve been great friends ever since. Darin facilitated my work with the 120th Fighter Squadron (Colorado Air National Guard), which became my September 2011 article for Air & Space magazine, and he further procured for me those unprecedented three days of flight time at HAATS.

  Linda Shiner, editor-in-chief at Air & Space, ignited the idea for me to produce a book-length work about Extortion 17 and discussed the idea with Carolyn Gleason, director of Smithsonian Books, and her staff, including Laura Harger, Christina Wiginton, Jody Billert, Matt Litts, Leah Enser, and Jaime Schwender. Thanks, too, to my literary agent, Scott Miller of Trident Media Group, and the absolutely wonderful staff in all the departments of Trident.

  I thank all family and friends of the Extortion crew, as well as those lost as passengers on Extortion 17, whether or not they are noted here. For all of my many confidential and anonymous Defense Department sources and data, materials, and information procurers, thank you.

  Thanks to my mother, Judy, and the Scholl family. Thanks also go to Rob Scott, Doug Glover, Allisyn Shindle, Loretta Elliott, Elliot Welch, Scott Westerfield, Kain Anderson, Doug Pasnik, Nicole Salengo, Jill Henes, Bobby “Doc Maldo” Maldonado, Justin Bradley, Charles Christmas, Pat Gates, Mike Felton, Anthony Somogyi, Carolyn Gleason, Matt Litts, and the staff at Smithsonian Books, Randi Freyer, Violet Freyer, Avery June Freyer, Major General H. Michael Edwards, Major Darin Overstreet, Colonel Tim “Conk” Conklin, Christy Lee, Sam Lee, Jack Bryan Lee, Mike “Tiger” Greiger, Kim Ertefai, Wendy Miller Ertefai, Dave Arendts, Barbara Arendts, Wendy Arendts Schultz, Jim Schultz, Scott Titterington, Kristin Titterington, Aly Titterington, Andy Titterington, Jim Titterington, Phyllis Titterington, Kristi Black, Kevin Black, Betty Titterington, Frida Titterington, Charlie Titterington, Lisa Black, Tracey Black, Matt Bartels, Lindsay Bartels, Avery Bartels, Troy Bartels, Pat Kinser, Justin “JD” Kinser, Elissa Kinser, Doug and Mary Kinser, Jamie Grim, Alex Grim, Judy Grim, Ryan Young, Lauren Price, Mike Lane, Amelia Mouton and the great 415 Restaurant, Brodie, Andrew, Austin, Gabriel, and Kelly Snollir, Kristin Mouton, Tucker Cunningham, Sam Vogt, Joe and Laney Vogt, Crosby Moresco, Chris Moresco, Chase Moresco, Allison Horsch, (An)Drew Merryman, Kate Harris, Dan Ehle, Rachel Sinton, Charlie Moresco, Terry and Anne Cunningham, Susan Grimm, Kyle D. Morris, Jim Morris, Ann Morris, Jenna Morris, Rebecca Maksel, Zach Rosenberg, Katherine Barbis Rossi, Kristin Janus and everyone at the Trailhead, Ted Schneider and staff at Moe’s Fort Collins, Laura Carter, Kaitlen Carter, Kyle Carter, Elsie Carter, Mary Nichols, Doug and Cyndi Nichols, Dan Robinson, Matt Brady, Andy Bellotti, Kirk Kuykendall, Norm Cooling, Jim Donnellan, Tom Wood, Regan Turner, Nigel J. R. Allan, Kurt Thormahlen, Megan and Dale Duncan, Joyce and DeLayne Peck, Perry Turner, Tom Renfroe, Adam Morgan, Dan Bair, John Edgemon, Jake Miller, Jason Sauer and Pinnacle Machining, Kevin Barrier, Dan Langbauer, Sandra Langbauer, Seth Langbauer, Todd McCowin, Kate McCowin, Ewan McCowin, Robert Adams, Dustin Ivers, Mason Clay Coggins, Tia Wilson, Sgt. Maj. Patrick Wilkinson, Rick Scavetta, Ben Cooper, Jordan Giesick, Kinsey Kidgell, Brandon Rall, Mitch Aschinger, Brian Kelly, Jack Rockway, Lisa Vazquez Roper, Casmer “Pigeon” Ratkowiak, JJ Konstant, Rick and Christy Crevier, Doug Stone, Kathy Stone, Grant Dysle, Amy Esterle, Tony and Megan Powers, Joe Miller, Tim and Lisa Townsend, Adam Steele, Thomas Daly, Eric Blehm, Cory Diss, Luis Anaya, Parker Hobbs, Alisa Puga, Mark Vogel, Kristin Vogel, Beatrix Vogel, Luke Downey, Sean Dillon, Bill Schaeffer, Sherie Fox-Eschelbach, Bing West, Thomas Ricks, Bill Winternitz, Scott Pierce, Kelly Grissom, Mike Lowrie Trucking, Mike Tozzi, and Austin Lunn-Rhue.

  INDEX

  1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment (1-214 AVN), 8.1, 8.2

  10th Combat Aviation Brigade (10th AVN)

  10th Mountain Division

  10th Special Forces Group

  101st Airborne Division

  160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (160th SOAR(A)), 2.1, 6.1, 14.1, 15.1, 18.1, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, epl.1

  2nd Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Regiment (2-10 AVN)

  2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (2-135 AVN)

  24th Special Tactics Squadron, 15.1, 15.2, 17.1, 20.1

  27th Civil Engineer Squadron

  3rd Infantry Division

  31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

  4th Infantry Division, 8.1, 9.1

  42nd Infantry Division

  5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment (5-159 AVN)

  5th Special Forces Group

  6th Calvary Regiment

  7th Battalion of the 158th Aviation Regiment (7-158 AVN), 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 6.1, 8.1

  75th Ranger Regiment, 1.1, 2.1, 2.2

  9/11 terrorist attacks, 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3

  A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog,” 14.1, 15.1, 18.1

  Abbottabad (Pakistan), 3.1, 4.1

  AC-130 gunship, 1.1, 4.1, 6.1, 14.1, 15.1, 15.2, 16.1, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 19.1, 20.1, 20.2

  Addison, Herbert

  Aden (Yemen)

  Adkins, Dustin M.

  Afghanistan, prf.1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1, 9.1, 9.2, 10.1, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 13.1, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 15.1, 17.1, 17.2, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, epl.1

  AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter, 13.1, 13.2, 18.1

  AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, 1.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 7.1, 11.1, 11.2, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 15.1, 15.2, 16.1, 149, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, epl.1, epl.2