Families suspect SEAL Team 6 crash was inside job on worst day in I had to learn how to land while browned-out, wearing NVGs, on the side of a mountain or an uneven field, Lee said. Enterprise writer at The Dallas Morning News. Strange also blamed top military brass for sending the troops into a situation they were allegedly ill-equipped and unprepared to handle. He finished his contract with the Army shortly afterward, and that September enrolled in Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. Several Afghans were on board and were killed, but trust is in short supply in Afghanistan. It was the worst day for fatalities in the history of naval special warfare. As more responsibilities fall on the shoulders of special forces, the risk of more losses like this one will continue to increase. Three of the . Everyone on board died within a fraction of a second30 Americans, eight Afghans and one American military working dog. After Vice President Joe Biden revealed that SEAL Team 6 carried out the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011, Strange said the members of his son's team gave startling indications to their families they were about to meet their demise. In addition to the 30 Americans, the official said there were seven Afghan army soldiers and an interpreter on the helicopter. Image:U.S. PresidentDonaldTrumpholds a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 13, 2020. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. Somebody was leaking to the Taliban, said Mr. The aircraft jerked. The Associated Press is reporting that a rocket attack took down the Chinook (probably a MH-47) , quoting an unnamed source in Washington D.C., but this has yet to be confirmed officially. The co-pilot, Bryan Nichols, was one of Lee's closest friends in the Chinook company. Some of the most highly trained and skilled war fighters in history, the Rangers moved overland to a location where intelligence indicated Lefty Grove and his small cadre of fighters would be holding a meeting. or redistributed. Composed primarily of members of the 75th Ranger Regiment, which falls under the authority of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, the team sought to capture or kill a powerful insurgent leader, Qari Tahir, known to coalition forces by his designation "Lefty Grove." During a press conference on Washington Thursday, family and advocates for the fallen troops called into question the rules of engagement that they say prohibited their sons from being able to return fire, and the White House's decision to announce shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden that SEAL Team 6 was responsible for the raid. Winds whipped through the fir trees. Get everything off your social media. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. I find it very irritating that we will not question the Afghans about their knowledge of what took place that night.. Navy SEALs. In addition to killing the man who was considered the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U.S. forces snagged valuable items from the compound during the raid. In all, 38 people died that night after the chopper was shot down by a Taliban-owned rocket-propelled grenade or RPG over the Wardak Province on Aug. 6, 2011. Ten computer hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices were retrieved. The military's public c Read allOn a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. Following a helicopter crash, the SEAL Team must proceed with the mission as hostiles bear down on them and an injured and impaired Jason goes after their target alone. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. The pilots ranked among the most proficient in this type of flying and the Department of Defense. David Tarrant. The first grenade missed Extortion 17. Hes also sent more than his fair share of curious retweets, often of the accounts of conspiracy theorists and those associated with QAnon and other outlandish conspiracy frameworks. Its like taking a paper towel roll, cutting it in half and strapping it to your eye, Lee said. That same day he obtained a medical waiver he needed to pursue an Army commission -- to serve an eight-year hitch before going to law school. To minimize the danger as much as possible, pilots will land Chinooks out of range of any weapons they know they enemy to have, and an Apache or a UAV will fly overhead to check for threats before the Chinooks drop off any soldiers. The incident comes just months after DevGru's raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Lee and his friend Bryan Nichols flew their Chinook into battle several timesthe first night, dropping off troops at a landing zone (LZ) almost 10,000 feet above sea level. It launched in the belly of the aircraft which made a hard landing and only two soldiers were injured in that attack but this time all on board were killed. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The night before he left to go to Fort Hood, where he would board a plane to Afghanistan, the biggest event of the 10-year war occurred: Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan during a raid by Navy SEALs. Today, some family members are not just disappointed in the investigation and the FOIA process, but also in how the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security conducted a brief hearing in Feb. 2014. House panel probing chopper crash that killed SEAL Team 6 members Call Sign Extortion 17 - Wikipedia Justin Buddy Lee will never forget that night six years ago. The families hope to raise awareness of the incident, which they say the government has largely forgotten since the official report was released in October 2011. Osama bin Ladens personal journal was also recovered. RETWEET!, The president went on to follow that last command, although the Oscar the Midnight Rider account has since been suspended by Twitter. Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Navy SEAL's Savior Claims 'Lone Survivor' Got It Wrong. However, it would be a very lucky shot to hit a moving Chinook with an RPG and they typically fly high to avoid such dangers as well as small arms fire. "No amount of training, skill, or technology will ever defeat chance on the battlefield. He probably doesnt. At that time, this marked deadliest moment in the war in Afghanistan. The team was responding to an Army Ranger unit that was engaged in a protracted firefight with Taliban fighters and needed reinforcements. More than 20 Navy Seals died in the helicopter crash that killed 31 in Afghanistan yesterday. Two investigations of the incident proved inconclusive. SEAL Team Six Helicopter Crash: Let's Debunk a Myth. Planners selected a landing zone that had never been used before. 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,. Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron Vaughn was one of the SEAL Team 6 operators who died in the crash. And it even led Robert ONeill, the Trump-supporting Navy Seal who claims to have fired the shot that killed Bin Laden, to tweet that the conspiracy theories both about the Bin Laden double and about the Seals from the raid having been killed arent true. It alleges thatthe 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, which took place when Biden was vice president, did not actually kill the al-Qaeda leader, but rather a body double, and that Iran had been part of the conspiracy as well. Aug. 7, 2011 -- American communities are mourning the loss of 30 U.S. troops who were killed when Afghan insurgents shot down a helicopter carrying the most elite forces in the US military -- Navy . Originally published August 6, 2011 at 10:50 am Updated August 6, 2011 at 3:16 pm. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. Nobody tipped off the fightersnor could anyone have alerted them. Planners had created an absolutely sound mission. On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. "In releasing their identity, they put a target on their backs," said Doug Hamburger, whose son, Army Staff Sgt. Additional forces were then sent to secure the crash site. Men he knew. Michael Savage: SEAL Team 6 was assassinated, executed Six weeks into his deployment, Lee experienced his worst day as a helicopter pilot to that point. And thats fine; thats what you signed up for, Lee said. Missions like this one to insert or remove an assault force are the military equivalent of a perfect 10 in the Olympics -- equal parts skill, experience and daring. Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. Special forces routinely use helicopters in raids on homes in Afghanistan. No family members were allowed to testify. Onboard were 17 members of SEAL Team 6; five naval special warfare operators, including one to intercept communications and another to handle Bart the war dog; five Army flight crewmen, including a National Guard and an Army Reserve pilot; and three Air Force personnel. He grew up in Tyler, went to Texas A&M, joined the Corps of Cadets and stared in shock at the news thattwo planes slammed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Some of those Seals were members of Seal Team 6 that took part in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, the AP reported today; although they were not actual participants in the Pakistan raid, according to the New York Times. President Trump has also claimed, including in the first presidential debate, that Biden opposed the raid that took out Bin Laden. No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. Chinooks are American forces' preferred helicopters in Afghanistan because they are powerful enough fly over mountains while carrying a full complement of troops. The assassination of Osama bin Laden was a significant victory for the U.S. government and the American people at large. It's true that members of SEAL Team 6 died tragically in a helicopter crash not long after the Bin Laden mission, but the particular soldiers who perished weren't part of that operation, says O'Neill. It has now been four years since Extortion 17 was shot down, said Doug Hamburger, whose Army air crew son, Patrick, was one of the 30 Americans killed. Flying 250 feet above the valley floor at just under 70 miles per hour, Dave Carter, the pilot to the right of Nichols, guided the helicopter toward a carefully chosen landing zone just over a mile away. Navy SEAL Team Six, the heroic unit that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011, is in grave danger due to the reckless actions of the Obama administration. I would say that was the first time that we really had eyes on the LZ.. A man reads the front page of a newspaper featuring the news that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead deep inside Pakistan in a night-time helicopter raid by US covert forces, ending a decade-long manhunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. The quick reaction force included SEAL Team 6 and other special operations personnel. Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. Ultimately, bin Laden was found and killed within nine minutes, and SEAL Team Six was credited with carrying out a nearly flawless mission. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October. 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. Extortion 17, however, would never reach that landing zone. You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy. 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. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. . The ensuing crash killed all 16 on board, eight Army special operations aviators, and eight Navy SEALs. But the Team Six connection makes it a major symbolic victory for them. On his first deployment, he felt fortunate to be surrounded by veteran pilots he could learn from. Charles Strange, whose son Michael, 25, died in the attack said Obama personally promised him a thorough investigation of what happened but has failed to deliver. They were sitting there, waiting. That means more raids, more targets and more reliance on Afghan competenceall of which add up to more special forces casualties. May 1 (EDT)1:25 p.m. President Obama, along with other top officials, formally approve the execution of Operation Neptune Spear.1:51 p.m. Stealth Black Hawk helicopters take off from Afghanistan, carrying a group of 25 Navy SEALs.3:30 p.m. The choppers land on the compound in Abbottabad. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Doug Hamburger, whose son Patrick was killed, called the incident an ambush that could have been prevented. But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data. This misinformation persists in part because those unfamiliar with the battlefield aren't taking into account a fundamental part of war: chance. The Graveyard of Empires: Directed by David Boreanaz. They were part of his command. The front rotor shattered, and the back pylon sheared off. He has written about soldiers returning home from war and the mental health crisis facing young people. Your life is in danger. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. Misinformation regarding the skills of the pilots and crew, and nonsensical conspiracy theoriesoften politically motivatedfollowed, much of which unfortunately continues to this day. Olson himself a former Team 6 leader recalled at his change of command ceremony the men who lost their lives in Saturday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? It had been loaded well within its limits. Family members are hoping Freedom Watch, a watchdog legal group led by Larry Klayman, can force new disclosures using the power of the FOIA process. They believe SEAL Team 6 had a target on its back and that persons inside the Afghan National Security Forces may have tipped off the Taliban that night in Tangi Valley. Are such missiles appearing in Afghanistan? The CH-47D that embarked on the mission that day had been built in the 1960s, she said, and last retrofitted in the 1985. The Taliban silenced him. The Pentagon on Thursday identified the Americans as 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs, five Naval Special Warfare personnel who support the SEALs, three Air Force Special Operations personnel and. Aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, made by the CIA. The SEAL Team 6 community was devastated. But we are still sending people to another country to fight, and we need to understand why were doing that, he said. DevGru is an emblem of U.S. military power, known worldwide. It means being informed. For the last two years, hes been an attorney with the law firm Jackson Walker. The actual mission, dubbed Operation Neptune Spear, officially started in the early-morning hours of May 2, Pakistan time (afternoon of May 1, Eastern Daylight Time). 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 helicopter plunged tail first. President Trump has been known, over the years, to tweet some bizarre things. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team -- one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. They knew. Over time, certain memories will fade, certain details will fade. It is not uncommon for commandos to fly some of their missions aboard such aircraft in the war zone, however. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Related: Marcus Luttrell's savior claim's 'Lone Survivor' got it wrong. Extortion 17 then plummeted to the ground and erupted in a massive fireball. What went so terribly wrong? The crash killed 38 people, including 15 Navy SEALs. Things like Benghazi and the NSA. The loss of a helicopter carrying more than 20 U.S. special forces and as many as 8 other U.S. military service members is an unprecedented one in this war. I will never forget what they did, he said. Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, BroadStreet Review and Splice Today. I would say that on the three-minute call is when Gun 2 started looking at the LZ, giving an LZ brief op. Virginia-based Navy SEALs in a training exercise. The subject of the tweet, per The Beast, is Alan Howell Parrot, a falconer-turned-CIA whistleblower who was once the star of a documentary called Feathered Cocaine.. Still, SEAL Team Sixs bold raid to take down bin Laden was an extraordinary operation that most experts regard as a resounding success. On board were 22 members of the elite Seal Team Six, two U.S. Air Force Para-rescue men, three Army reserve personnel, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller, the pilot and co-pilot, a U.S . By late 2010, analysts were able to link the courier to a large, highly-secured compound in Abbottabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad. But some say the official report, which contained no direct criticism of decision-makers that day, did not delve deeply enough. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This crash is incredibly demoralizing. 4:05 p.m. - The first helicopter exits the compound. It was a hard landing, but it would have been worse if they had landed tail first. Only the pilots, crew, and special operations ground forces commanders knew about the planned flight path and time. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers.On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. Then they have to stick the landing. But special forces don't get such a cushion: Because they can react more quickly, they undertake more dangerous missions; their risk tolerance is much, much higher. Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, was one of the U.S. Navy SEALS killed in the helicopter crash. I find it quite disturbing that the government is not willing to give us the answers we deserve. SEAL TEAM SIX - EXTORTION 17 COVER UP theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 683 53K views Streamed 7 years ago WOW, watch author Don Brown blow the lid off of the official government report. Up to 30 Dead in Afghanistan Following Failed Prison Heist, Total Iraq and Afghanistan Pricetag: Over $4 Trillion. 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Still, the one the president retweeted earlier this week may have been the weirdest yet. When asked what lessons Americans can draw from the crash of Extortion 17, Lees answer is simple: Americans should care about what happens in Afghanistan because theyve sent Americans to war there. MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER, helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Just last week the Afghans arrested an Army officer for aiding Taliban suicide bombers through checkpoints, and doing so under employ by Pakistan. It's a scary thought. At this difficult hour, all Americans are united in support of our men and women in uniform who serve so that we can live in freedom and security.". The Chinook helicopter was carrying a quick-reaction force to provide back-up to the troops on the ground in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak, a U.S. official said. They dont even produce under their own self-imposed deadline, Mr. Klayman told The Washington Times. But why? because seals have a habit of writing books once they retire. An official report was released in October 2011 but family members say it did little to fill in the details and left more questions than answers. They are also pretty tough; the only comparable loss to this one was a Chinook shot down in 2005. Coincidence or not, any Chinook shoot-down is a coup for the Taliban. Market data provided by Factset. U.S. Conspiracy theories started almost immediately. Telling stories about ordinary people involved in extraordinary events is his passion. He was probably in the top 1 percent of Army aviators, Lee said. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. In combat, its mission is to transport large teams of elite assault troops, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, to and from the battlefield. International reactions to bin Ladens death ranged from favorable to mixed. At the pilots request, the AC-130 flashed an infrared spotlight, which could be seen only through night vision goggles, to light up the landing zone. Aaron Vaughn's mother, Karen, also demanded an explanation for why her son and his team were not using a special operations aircraft, such as the Chinooks flown by special operations pilots, which have specialized defenses designed to fly commandos deep behind enemy lines. But over time, they became more disturbing, including one that suggested the Taliban had been tipped off by someone inside the Afghan government as revenge for bin Ladens killing. But Tahir and a group of his fighters escaped. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. Some congressional lawmakers demonstrated their support for the group, including former Florida Republican Rep. Allan West -- an Iraq war vet -- and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. Not all U.S. presidents are missed once they leave the White House. The event was organized by Freedom Watch, a conservative advocacy group, at the National Press Club. About a dozen of the 33 troops in the back of the helicopter suffered broken bones, heavy bruises and scrapes. The conspiracy has a number of moving parts, all of which have surfaced before, but none of which have any truth to them. The compounds unusual and extensive security features, along with further intelligence information, prompted suspicion that the residence was Osama bin Ladens hideout. On April 29, 2011, President Barack Obama authorized a small special operations team, known as SEAL Team Six, to carry out a raid on the compound. Navy's SEAL Team 6 Recovered 2 Bodies From Afghanistan Crash The first of the unguided projectiles missed, as the vast majority of rocket propelled grenades shot at helicopters did over the course of the war in Afghanistan. Insurgents in Iraq have used Russian-made SA-7s, shoulder-fired missiles tipped with infrared homing devices, against U.S. and British aircraft. The two Apaches, Gun 1 and Gun 2, on scene were never emphatically told to move near the landing zone to scan for threats. The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the. 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 U.S. Army knows the risks when it plans air assault operations in Afghanistan. Karen Vaughn says she wants to know why her son Aaron and his team were not using special operations aircraft which have defenses in place to help allow helicopters to go deep behind enemy lines. The night her son Aaron died, he was in a helicopter that was built in the 1960s and last retrofitted in 1985. And needless to say, it was the real Bin Laden who was killed, not an incredible facsimile. Members of Navy SEAL Team Six formed the core of the IRF, with other American special operations personnel and highly-vetted Afghans playing integral roles. That assault team captured Tahirs compound and some of his men. Darack, a writer and photographer, is the author of four previous books, including Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. A CH-47D Chinook helicopter (the same model as Extortion 17) speeds through the Sierra Nevada Mountains at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, near Bridgeport, California, during mountain warfare training exercises. WASHINGTON - The families of Navy SEAL Team 6 members killed in a disastrous August 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan blamed the government for the tragedy, during an emotional press. SEALs killed in crash were on rescue mission - NBC News Although the Taliban have claimed to have shot the helicopter down, U.S. officials have only identified the attackers as insurgents. "One minuteone minute," transmitted Bryan Nichols, the pilot in command of the helicopter. JSOC ground forces and those who flew them knew and trusted each other. Its planners and pilots must use whatever intelligence is available (which is usually pretty thin information, and comes from earlier attacks) to plan the flight route. In the immediate wake of the tragedy, the military initiated two investigations. Hamburger added. It marked the greatest single incident loss of American life in the war in Afghanistan, the deadliest moment in the history of SEAL Team Six and the entirety of the Navy SEALs, and the deadliest single incident in the history of U.S. Special Operations Command. However, a shoot down does not necessarily mean insurgents have changed their tactics or hardware.