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As Extortion 17 moved into final approach of the target area at 0238 local time, the Rangers on the ground watched in horror as it took a direct hit from an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). All topics Extortion 17 Documentary Soon after US Navy Cryptologist Michael Strange and the elite SEAL Team 6 capture and kill Bin Laden, they are deployed to Afghanistan, where their Chinook is shot down. Critics blame Biden for Extortion 17 attack. [42], In 2017, Air Force captain Joni Marquez, the firing officer on an AC-130 gunship that had accompanied Extortion 17 on the final flight, made a similar claim. All of them were men of courage, integrity, and honor. And while all military helicopters carry countermeasures for guided missiles, nothing can interdict the dumb luck of an unguided RPG round sailing through the air. I was terrified. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kansas, Tech. The Final Flight of Extortion 17 It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. They reached the site at 04:12 and found no survivors. LOL, Ray Williams 509th RRCUV (Army Security Agency) Feb68-Apr71. Planners then chose a new landing zone for the IRF, but it was large enough to accommodate only one Chinook. Published Aug 6, 2018 5:05 PM EDT. Ryan Last. THIS COMBAT MARINE SALUTES YOU ALL WE ALL GET A NEW STATION WHEN GOD OKS OUR TRANSFER I AM QUITE CERTAIN THAT GOD LOVES WARRIORS A BIT MORE THAN WE MIGHT REALIZE, I always suspected ObamaTard had something to do with this tragedy. #neverforgotten #screwedbygovt #demmandanswers. | Ninty-six days after the death of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team Six, an old Vietnam era Army Reserve helicopter, call sign "Extortion 17," was shot down in the Wardak Province, Tangi River Valley, Afghanistan on Aug 6, 2011. In July 2010, an RPG-wielding fighter put a round into the tail boom of a Marine AH-1W Super Cobra, downing it and killing both pilots. With a keen understanding of the propaganda value of downing Coalition helicopters, the Taliban single them out as targets. The mission had begun about four hours prior to the shootdown, when the two helicopters touched down side by side in Juy Zarin, a village in the bare rock-walled Tangi Valley of Wardak Province. With 38 people killed on board, it was the largest single-day loss of life in naval special warfare history and the largest single-day loss of life during the war in Afghanistan. The Museum Executive Team worked with these men. At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. That assault team captured Tahirs compound and some of his men. Rest in peace, gentlemen; you will not be forgotten. A hearing was set to get answers to questions surrounding the high-profile shoot-down of an American helicopter in Afghanistan and how the remains of the fallen service members were handled. Bissonnette also said that there was one DEVGRU Operator on the mission who was not a member of Red Squadron and that he was chosen for the mission because of his linguistic abilities. Or when something went terribly wrong. Carter and Nichols continued the descent. That night, nearly 10 years after the U.S. had gone to war in Afghanistan, Lee believed they were the best team for this dangerous mission. Seconds later, with the Chinook just over 100 feet off the ground and traveling at 58 mph, two or three previously unseen fighters emerged from the tower of a two-story building roughly 220 yards south of the helicopter, shouldering RPG launchers. No evidence has emerged to support any of these claims. "Over two years after Extortion 17 was shot down, the families still have these unanswered questions," said Klayman. This was preventable only if they just had not taken off that night, Lee said. Flying to the Tangi Valley for the second time, Extortion 17 and 16 took a different route, approaching from the northwest instead of the south. The sheer amount of experience with our pilots, flight engineers and back-seaters and mechanics offered a wealth of knowledge, he said. [25][original research? Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. Cookie Settings, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds. We had guys who had flown in Desert Storm, guys who had just come off active duty, Lee said. In less than five seconds, the helicopter crashed, killing all occupants, and approximately 30 seconds later, one of the AH-64 Apache helicopters radioed in the crash. The guy was incredibly skilled.. It wasnt preventable. And why was the fire control officer of the AC-130 Gunship flying above denied permission . The SEAL Team 6 community was devastated. Learnt of this today, very surprising after ladens raid was covered in the media here. In June 2005, a rocket-propelled grenade connected with the rear transmission of a 160th MH-47E Chinook as it attempted to come to a hover, downing it; all 16 on board were killed. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. They are not the same SEALs, and these two events are not connected to one another. [22][20] Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that eight of the movement's fighters had been killed in the assault on the compound. The events that unfolded that night are commonly referred to as Extortion 17, the call sign for the helicopter transporting the special operations personnel. In combat, its mission is to transport large teams of elite assault troops, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, to and from the battlefield. Austin Williams visits the gravesite of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher C. Campbell in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. Available for both RF and RM licensing. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The downing of a Chinook helicopter gunship (known by its call sign Extortion 17) in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011, has for years been shrouded in mystery, with the . [9][11], Almost an hour later (01:50), the aviation brigade commander approved a new landing zone for infiltration of the SEAL team. Buy images; Sell images; "[5], Subsequent reports stated that on the night during which the helicopter had been delivering reinforcements to personnel of the 75th Ranger Regiment, another special operations unit engaged in a night raid on a compound to kill or capture a senior Taliban leader. The crew of Slasher 02, the AC-130 circling above, flipped the switch on their powerful light. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. If this was survivable, that was the right crew to have. Every mission is potentially life-threatening. At the time of the Juy Zarin raid, the battalion had been flying in Afghanistan for about two weeks. 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. Having studied and directly observed the counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan, Ive watched commanders and individual American troops consistently lean far to the side of restraint to encourage Afghans to side with American interests long after U.S. forces have left. When the two Chinooks had first touched down in the village, a group of eight fighters armed with AK-47 rifles and RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launchers bolted from the compound. Lee and his friend Bryan Nichols flew their Chinook into battle several times the first night, dropping off troops at a landing zone (LZ) almost 10,000 feet above sea level. [12][13], Six minutes prior to reaching the landing zone, the empty CH-47D left the formation as planned. [2][38], On 10 August 2011, the U.S. military stated that the insurgent who fired the rocket-propelled grenade had been killed only two days afterward in an F-16 airstrike, saying only that intelligence gained on the ground provided "a high degree of confidence" that the person was among those killed in the airstrike from two days earlier, but providing no other details. On board the Chinook CH-47D were 15 members of SEAL Team Six, 15 SEAL Team Six Support personnel, 1 Bomb Dog, 7 . Intelligence had revealed Tahir to be the senior Taliban chief of the Tangi Valley region, with probable ties to upper-echelon Taliban leadership in Pakistan. One AH-64 crew, after identifying the men as enemy combatants, fired on them with their gunships 30mm cannon, killing six. [citation needed] Doubts about this story were raised by families and other concerned citizens despite the fact that the Navy SEAL team aboard Extortion 17 was a different squadron than that which had killed Osama bin Laden three months earlier. 5 U.S. As they made their approach, there was a line of thunderstorms nearby. Restrained by strict rules of engagement in force at the time, the helicopter crews could not have fired without a strong indication of hostile intent. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. The resulting explosion destroyed the aft rotor assembly. Sgt. Were asking people to do incredible things. The five other Navy casualties were NSW (Naval Special Warfare) support personnel; in addition to these, three AFSOC operators, one Combat Controller and two Pararescuemen, all members of the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, died in the crash. It means being informed. The reality is, every time a helicopter lifts off the ground in a war zone, it might get shot down, Darack 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. "One. (Smithsonian Books, September 2017). Naval Special Warfare support personnel: Two, 3 U.S. Army Reserve personnel (Aircrew) from the, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 20:01. But no one died. Find the perfect extortion17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Their target: an Afghan named Qari Tahir and his group of fighters. [9][10], After American intelligence services discovered in 2011 that senior Taliban leader Qari Tahir was possibly in Tangi Valley, Wardak province, Afghanistan, local American forces launched a mission to apprehend or kill him. [43][45], 2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, United States Air Force Combat Control Team, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Tangi Valley, Wardak province, Afghanistan, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Naval Special Warfare Development Group's, Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians, United States House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six, List of aviation accidents and incidents in the war in Afghanistan, "Elite Force Died in Bid to Save Comrades", "Taliban shot that brought down American Chinook killing 30 US commandos was 'lucky', officials believe", "Taliban shoot down US helicopter in Afghanistan; 38 killed", "Worst US loss of life in Afghan war as helicopter crash kills 38", "US military helicopter crash in Afghanistan kills 38", Executive Summary (Crash of CH-47D Aircraft in Wardak Province, Afghanistan on 6 August 2011), "Families suspect SEAL Team 6 crash was inside job on worst day in Afghanistan", "DOD Identifies Service Members Killed in CH-47 Crash", "Tragedy devastates special warfare community", "Friends remember three area soldiers killed in Afghan crash", "Chinook Crewmembers Line of Duty Deaths", "US special forces Afghan helicopter downed by Taliban", "Chopper crash kills 31 U.S. troops, 7 Afghans", "Copter Downed by Taliban Fire; Elite U.S. Unit Among Dead", "Impact on special forces of Navy Seals helicopter loss", "SEAL Team 6 Families Believe the 2011 Chinook Shootdown in Afghanistan was Planned | Navy SEALs Blog by USNavySEALs.com", "Army delayed Chinook helicopter's black box until it was too late", "Obama stonewalls SEAL Team 6 helicopter crash probe, watchdog says", "US helicopter shot down in Afghanistan was sent in after night raid went awry", "US military probes deadly Afghan helicopter crash", "What happened on night of deadly Afghanistan helicopter crash? The forward rotor system then tore off, stressed by the imbalance and the strain of carrying what would normally be a shared load. We were told at that time we were the first unit to make it through a rotation without having anyone killed.. To find answers to many of the outstanding questions regarding Extortion 17, a congressional oversight committee held a hearing on February 27, 2014. [7][27][28] During the battle, American forces observed a small group of Taliban trying to flee the scene. The incident became known as "Extortion 17" after the helicopter . There's also that little issue that came up when 6 Navy SEALs' funerals were conducted by a Muslim Cleric that condemned them to Hell during the service. At the flight controls were David R. Carter of the Colorado Army National Guard and copilot Bryan J. Nichols, a Kansas-based Army reservist. Seven Afghan National Army commandos and one Afghan civilian interpreter were also killed in the crash. The IRF commander then made a critical decision: In order to get everyone on the ground as quickly as possible and deny the Taliban time to react, he ordered the entire force to fly in Extortion 17. On the anniversary of the Extortion 17 tragedy, we remember the heroic men who were felled rushing into battle, as they had done hundreds of times . I had to learn how to land while browned-out, wearing NVGs, on the side of a mountain or an uneven field, Lee said. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. August 12, 2022. by Samantha Franco. God bless all of them- the bravest of the brave. An Afghan official, speaking anonymously a few days after the attack, speculated that the Taliban had laid a trap, that they had purposely put out false information about a meeting involving the Taliban commander. They may have seen Extortion 17 and its landing zone through their own night vision goggles or simply aimed by sound alone. Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. (Photo Credit: Senior Airman Anthony Nin Leclerec / U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) There were a total of 38 individuals onboard Extortion 17. Immediately after Ryan shared an intimate photo of his own, the cybercriminal demanded $5,000, threatening to make the photo public and send it to Ryan's family and friends. Directors Karl Horstmann Stephen Spivey Writer Stephen Spivey Stars Sean Hannity Raj Kala Through sensors on manned and unmanned aircraft, U.S. forces observing the mud walls and terraces of the village saw new groups of fighters gathering and maneuvering. In that incident, sixteen Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed, and three more SEALs were killed in subsequent fighting on the ground. Will this ever be exposed! Two were still alive." Joining the 15 members of SEAL Team 6, two pilots and three-man crew inside Extortion 17: ten other Navy and Air Force personnel, eight Afghans and a combat assault dog named Bart. Two fired at roughly the same time. Many of these SEALs were made famous, credited with the killing of Osama bin Laden. Located in a remote and dangerous province in eastern Afghanistan, the base was the target of near-constant rocket attacks from Taliban insurgents. He said that insurgents had assumed a strong tactical position without knowledge of the helicopter's flight path. Thirty-eight boarded Extortion 17 Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilots from the 159th General Support Aviation Battalion. The SEAL task force was monitoring this activity, and they were soon called upon to deploy quickly into the northern end of the valley to intercept Tahir and capture him and those moving with him. Why did it happen? 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. The helicopters are capacious and fast, and they can perform well in Afghanistans performance-degrading high altitudes and heat. We continue our work at the Museum so that theirservice and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Today. [11] Going forward, the two AH-64 Apache helicopters would be engaged in tracking those two groups of Taliban, and hence unable to provide surveillance or fire support to the inbound helicopter carrying the SEAL team. The SEALs who assaulted Osama bin Ladens compound were drawn from Naval Special Warfare Development Groups Red Squadron, according to several sources in the special operations community.. Extortion 16 flew empty. The conspiracy theories didnt bother Lee at first. In 2006, he was called into Afghanistan, where he turned 25. Tangi valley remained under Taliban control until April 2013, when more than 1,000 Afghan security forces personnel launched an offensive in an effort to clear the area of Taliban fighters. As they started their descent, Lee heard a loud popping noise. One of the things I vowed, I will never forget. The insurgents had no way of knowing the helicopter would be coming in, at the speed it was coming and at the altitude, Darack said. Play FALLEN ANGEL Call Sign: Extortion 17. Lee is 36 now, a civil attorney in Dallas, a world away from Afghanistan. The worst of the wounded was one of Lees crew members, who suffered what was later diagnosed as a severe traumatic brain injury. So much of the war is fought in areas where these helicopters have to fly at high altitudes, where the thin air can strain the performance of the engines and rotor blades, said Ed Darack, author of the recently published book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, SEAL Team Six and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. [11][12], As the Rangers approached the target compound, ISR aircraft observed several people leaving the compound. The two may have been those who escaped Apache cannon fire, or they may have split away from either of the groups that formed after the start of the raid. extortion 17 crash photos. The RPG is not a laser. Extortion 17 and 16 weren't MH-47s and their crews were not Night Stalkers. Another tactic sometimes employed by gunships, according to Glover, is a show of force, in which pilots and crew fire into an empty field or stand of trees just before a transport helicopter prepares to land, using the sound of a gun alone to keep enemy heads down and fingers off triggers. In order to speed disembarkation, all troops were loaded on a single CH-47D helicopter for transport; the other Chinook would approach the landing zone second as a decoy. Nothing tests the capabilities of a young helicopter pilot like flying in the extreme conditions of Afghanistan. A body went into the ocean, but Ill bet it wasnt Bin Ladens. Please take a moment and pause to honor and remember these heroes. The first round sailed past the helicopter. 1h 33m "A U.S. Army helicopter carrying 30 Americans, most members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 is shot down in Afghanistan. But at least you should care about them and appreciate what were asking of them.. That June, the U.S. military launched Operation Hammer Down to drive out insurgents entrenched in remote strongholds of eastern Afghanistan. May God give them the strength to carry on without them. Oct 26, 2016 - Explore Concerned Citizen's board "EXTORTION 17", followed by 829 people on Pinterest. American forces continued to carry out operations in the area (mostly via helicopter and using special forces), encountering resistance from Taliban fighters on several occasions. One of the engines flew off, and the other caught fire. Fallen Angel.. Campbell was one of 30. A few minutes past 2 a.m.on August 6, 2011, at a dusty forward operating base40 miles south of Kabul, Afghanistan, the rotors of two U.S. Army CH-47D Chinooks began to turn. Extortion 17 sped alone toward the landing zone. [29], Other reports alleged that the Taliban had laid an elaborate trap for American special-operations forces, luring them in with false information. The helicopter crashed less than 5 seconds later, killing all 38 people on board. Get the latest in military news, entertainment and gear in your inbox daily. The group probably contained the commander and a few of his bodyguards, while the remaining Taliban fighters offered resistance in an effort to buy the group enough time to escape. Following a scorched earth tactic may have killed the two shootersand possibly a greater number of innocentsprior to Extortion 17s return that night, but counterinsurgency doctrine dictates that such tactics lead to potentially far worse long-term consequences. What are the odds? It is considered the worst loss of American lives in a single incident in the Afghanistan campaign, surpassing Operation Red Wings in 2005. The men who serve in the American military are the finest! Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. All three airmen were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, North Carolina. Advertising Notice "All of this raises the distinct possibility of a cover-up as to . ", "Taliban laid trap for Chinook: official", "Honor Roll: Remembering the 30 U.S. Lightboxes. Prior to the mission, the deadliest incident was June 2005's Operation . Mission commanders, believing that Tahir was likely among one of the groups, deployed an Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) to interdict them while the Rangers held the compound. The image released and purported to be Bin Laden was a blended image of an old Bin Laden pic and an image of a different terrorist that was killed in battle. During a previous deployment to Iraq, Carters unit flew dozens of similar raids, which he often planned and led, and gained a reputation for working well with special operations troops. All 38 passengers aboard Extortion 17, including 30 U.S. military personnel, eight Afghans and a U.S. military working dog, were killed after the transport helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. The 30 American Servicemen killed in action (KIA) with the downing of Extortion 17. The crash claimed the lives of 38 personnel, including 22 special operations forces in Afghanistan Aug. 6, 2011. The crash is referred to as Extortion 17 by the callsign of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter involved in the crash. I will never forget what they did, he said. See more ideas about extortion, navy seals, seal team 6. As he did, he felt the craft leveling off. Warnings from her crew to turn the Chinook back or cancel their mission went unheeded. Director Franois Garcia Writer Sandeep Panesar Stars Robert O'Neill (archive footage) Patricia Economo Enrique Garcia 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Pinterest. Their target was a Taliban commander responsible for ambushes and other attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a62b75e7a99f5de39e28d378788f7ec9" );document.getElementById("c08a1a06c7").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Content on this website is free to use and share, but please provide a link back to Spec Ops Magazine as a source. June 5, 2022 Posted by: Category: Uncategorized; No Comments . We were supporting special operations, but not to the degree of the 160th. At 2:36 a.m., Extortion 17 requested an infrared spotlight, visible only through night vision goggles, to illuminate the landing zone. Nearby, there were two enemy fighters with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. He presents the Final Flight of EXTORTION 17 (spoken one seven and seventeen), like a Defense Attorney or an investigator. U.S. Special Operations Command possesses its own specialized ChinooksMH-47sflown by the ultra-secretive 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Night Stalkers. The MH-47s modifications include inflight refueling probes, additional and upgraded sensors, more powerful engines, and more powerful defensive weapons than their conventional counterparts. We are here today at the request of many of the families of the fallen heroes aboard Extortion 17 to obtain answers to their ques-tions where answers can be found. Photo by Sgt. A source from the Navys special operations community described the reaction as Shock and disbelief. There is a lot of controversy and discussion regarding the operators from the Gold Squadron who died abroad. Early media reports suggested that the Army had been tardy to recover flight recorders from the downed Chinook, and, as a consequence, the recorders had been swept away by the flood. Rest in peace, gentlemen; you will not be forgotten. At 02:15, one group of three Taliban fighters took a position in a stand of trees; the remaining six or seven men entered a building located some 2km (1.2mi) from the target compound. Night Stalker pilots and crew rigorously train for nighttime raids, like the one in Juy Zarin. The CH-47 "Chinook" was carrying some of this nation's bravest and most capable military .