Operation Red Wings

US Navy Seals prior to Operation Red Wings

date	June 27 to mid- July 2005
place	East of Afghanistan , Sawtalo Sar Mountains, Shuryek (Matin) Valley, Korangal Valley, Pech District, Kunar Province
output	successful Taliban ambush
consequences	later temporary pacification of the region by coalition troops

Parties to the conflict
Taliban Al Qaeda	United States United States
Commander
Ahmad Shah (Nom de Guerre, Mohammad Ismail; approx. 1970 - approx. April 2008)	Lieutenant Colonel Andrew MacMannis (USMC) (USA)
Troop strength
8-10 or 70-100 fighters (depending on the sources)	12 Navy SEALs , 8 Night Stalkers , including helicopter crew 2 MH-47 Chinook , 2 UH-60 Black Hawk and 2 AH-64D Apache
losses
depending on the estimate up to 35	19 fallen US soldiers 1 wounded ( Marcus Luttrell )

Operation Red Wings , also known as the Battle of Abbas Ghar , was the code name for a military operation by the United States Navy SEALs in the 2005 war in Afghanistan .

Summary of events

Operation Red Wings took place from June to July 2005 in the Pech District of Kunar Province , on the slopes of the Sawtalo-Sar Mountains, in eastern Afghanistan , about 20 mi (32 km) from the provincial capital Asadabad . The aim of the operation was to stop the local anti-coalition militia activities. Ahmad Shah led a small armed group close to the Taliban active in Nangarhar province . They were the primary target of the military activities of the US armed forces. The 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment was involved in the concept of the undertaking. Special forces such as SOF units (Special Operations Forces), US Navy SEALs and commands of the SOAR (A), the US Army Special Operations Command, of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment were provided for the implementation of the opening phase . A team of four Navy SEALs was to be dropped off by helicopter in the area of operations, as a patrol to investigate enemy areas and to locate and neutralize the group around Ahmad Shah. The operation failed and the SEAL group was destroyed in a heavy gun battle except for one survivor, Marcus Luttrell . A Chinook helicopter was shot down by an RPG rocket during the rescue operation . All soldiers on board were killed. The subsequent Operation Red Wings II, which lasted three weeks, had the goal of recovering the bodies of the fallen US soldiers and saving Marcus Luttrell. Ahmad Shah's group withdrew behind the Pakistani border and then increasingly returned to the Sawtalo Sar Mountains with new weapons. In the meantime, Shah had gained great recognition among the Taliban after the US helicopter was shot down. In August 2005 he was seriously wounded during the Whaler follow-up operation.

background

After the invasion of Afghanistan, US forces and allies of the mass armies of so-called displaced increasingly by "kinetic" operations counterinsurgency (COIN Counterinsurgency) on a smaller scale at the command level. In 2004 the focus was on the nation building process and the improvement of the general security situation also in distant provinces, enabling free elections and improving the infrastructure . The elections to the Afghan National Parliament in Kabul in September 2005 were viewed as a significant milestone . Due to its isolated location and its proximity to Pakistan , ongoing unrest broke out in Kunar Province, initiated by around twenty-two local militia groups (Anti Coalition Militia - ACM), some of which were affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaeda , but some of them were also one criminal background such as smuggling wood. To ensure safe elections in Kunar Province, a series of operations were carried out to break the power of the ACM.

The 3rd Battalion of the 3rd US Marine Infantry Regiment was subordinate to the Regional Command East, RC (E) (Regional Command East), and began to show increased military presence at the end of 2004 and involved special units for operations in the rough mountain terrain. Operation Spurs took place in the Korangal Valley in February 2005. US Navy SEALS were also involved. After Spurs , Operation Mavericks followed in April and Operation Celtics in May 2005. In April 2005, ACM commander Najmudeen was forced to surrender. After Najmudeen's surrender, “gang activity” in the region declined significantly, but it also left a power vacuum. Lt. Col. Norman Cooling from 3rd Battalion / 3rd Battalion. The US Marine Infantry Regiment started Operation Stars in May 2005 , which aimed to further secure and consolidate the US military presence in the troubled mountain region. Enemy reconnaissance under Captain Scott Westerfield had located a small cell which had apparently taken over from the Najmudeen militia. Shah and the self-proclaimed “mountain tigers” were suspected of carrying out at least 11 attacks (fire and explosive attacks) against coalition forces and the Kunar provincial government. Operation Red Wings was supposed to make the Shah group in their retreat, the Sawtalo Sar, completely harmless.

Planning and enemy reconnaissance

Operation Red Wings planning sketch

With the planning of the Operation Red Wings immediately after the arrival of the battalion staff 2./3. U.S. Marines Regiment under the direction of Lt. Col. Andrew MacMannis and Chief of Staff Major Thomas Wood started. Captain Scott Westerfield was responsible for enemy reconnaissance and identified the relatively unknown opponent Ahmad Shah Dara-I-nur (translated by Ahmad Shah: "from the valley of the enlightened") by means of several photographs, found his place of birth in the Kuz-Kunar district and found it found out that he was fighting for Gulbuddin Hekmatyār at the time . Wood discovered that Shah had withdrawn to the village of Chichal , which was on the ridge of the Sawtalo Sar in the lower Korangal valley. Aerial reconnaissance images were evaluated which identified human settlements in the region, and four points were selected that were believed to be of particular interest to Shah.

It was decided to excavate this area due to the low moon brightness in June and to eliminate or capture Shah as a "high-value target" (capture or kill). The operation should be carried out by a small command team at night. When camouflaged in the dark, the SEAL Team 10 should be dropped off with a transport helicopter at some distance from the area of operations, march to the emergency room under cover of night and locate Shah. The elimination itself should be done by a Marine Corps scout / sniper team - a scout / sniper team. A special command structure made up of combined special forces (CJSOTF-A), which also provided the MH-47 helicopters, was involved in the overall planning.

team

Michael P. Murphy and Matthew G. Axelson, fallen members of the US Navy Seals patrol

Michael P. Murphy

The SEAL team consisted of the following soldiers:

Navy Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy , SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 (SDVT-1)
Petty Officer Second Class Danny P. Dietz, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2 (SDVT-2)
Petty Officer Second Class Matthew G. Axelson, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 (SDVT-1)
Navy Hospital Corpsman Second Class Marcus Luttrell , SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 (SDVT-1)

Scheduling

Operation Red Wings was divided into five phases:

Phase 1 Shaping : A US Navy SEALS reconnaissance and surveillance team was to be deployed to approach a suspicious settlement in the area where Ahmad Shah's group was suspected should have stopped at this point. This group should work for phase 2 of the direct intervention group by clarifying the structures of the Ahmad Shah militia.
Phase 2 Action on the Objective (“Action in the target area”): First, the SEALS intervention group should be deployed with an MH-47 helicopter. Shortly thereafter, a group of marines would follow who would either capture or kill Shah and his men.
Phase 3 Outer Cordon : US Marines and the Afghan National Army should comb the surrounding valleys in search of other suspected insurgents.
Phase 4 Security and Stabilization : In the days following the first three phases, US Marines and the Afghan National Army were to provide medical assistance to the local population and identify their needs such as improved roads, wells and schools.
Phase 5 Exfiltration ("withdrawal"): Depending on enemy activity, the US Marines should stay in the secured area for another month and then leave it.

execution

The SEAL attack took place on the night of June 27, 2005 after MH-47 helicopters had dropped off on the Sawtalo-Sar Mountains. One of the helicopters carried out a series of camouflage maneuvers, so-called "decoy drops", in order to leave the enemy in the dark about the true intent of the command company. The four SEALS were deposited on the Sattelberg between Sawtalo Sar and Gatigal Sar in the south of the mountains. The drop-off point was around 2.5 km from the actual target region. The group moved to an observation point from where they could see the target region. The team was discovered by goatherds in a forest and the mission was endangered. Lieutenant Murphy chose not to liquidate the civilians but to release them according to the military rules of engagement. The team suspected that the goatherds were running back to the village and betraying them to the Taliban, so they retreated into a backward position. After an hour, the SEAL reconnaissance team was attacked by outnumbered Taliban with light RPK machine guns , RPG-7 armored rifles , AK-47 rifles and 82 mm light mortars . The strength of the fire attack and the superiority of the enemy forced the SEALs to retreat into a mountain ravine on the northeastern part of Sawtalo Sar, near the Shuryek Valley. From there they made several unsuccessful attempts to contact their combat operations center by radio and satellite phone. A permanent connection could not be established. The team only had the option to announce that they were currently under fire. Within a short time they were bypassed by the Taliban and taken under fire from several sides. Three team members were killed. Marcus Luttrell alone survived with a number of bone fractures and other serious injuries. Luttrell was rescued and brought to safety by members of a Pashto tribe who were enemies of the Taliban.

After the failure of Red Wings went after the ambush of the Taliban to the SEAL team to the Operation Red Wings II. After the radio contact was broken off, the position of the attacked SEAL team could not initially be determined. A rapid reaction force was put together from members of SEAL Team 10, the US Marines and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment to rescue the SEALs in distress in the mountains. The mission was delayed by a few hours due to an unclear command situation with the Special Operation Forces headquarters. Two MH-47 special helicopters, two conventional UH-60 Black Hawk and two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters at the helm approached the area of operation. As soon as they reached the Sawtalo-Sar Mountains, they were shot at with small-caliber weapons. A shell fired by an RPG-7 hit an MH-47 helicopter on the rotor unit and caused it to crash. Eight US Navy Seals and the entire crew of the 160th Army Special Operations Aviators were killed - a total of 16 people, including commanders LCDR Erik S. Kristensen from SEAL Team 10 and Air Command Commander Major Stephen C. Reich. The helicopter crash also cut the chain of command for a while. In the late afternoon, storm clouds began to appear in the region and the other aircraft had to return to the base. The bodies of Dietz, Murphy and Axelson were later found at the battle site. Marcus Luttrell had found refuge in the village of Salar Ban , about 1.1 kilometers northeast of the mountain gorge at Sawtalo Sar, where the ambush took place.

Marcus Luttrell's rescue

In the years that followed, details of Marcus Luttrell's rescue became known. Previously, the US media had misreported some details about the villagers who shot the seriously wounded SEAL soldier. The firefight between SEALS and the Taliban of Ahmad Shah began along a contour line on the ridge of the Sawtalo Sar, the highest mountain of which is 2,830 meters. To the west it goes down into the Shuryek valley, in the northeast lies the mountain gorge. The SEAL team was ambushed above the village of Salar Ban. The Korangal valley begins east of the Sawtalo-Sar mountain range. When the wounded Luttrell went into the gorge, he met a Pashtun named Mohammad Gulab Khan. Gulab took Luttrell to his village to look after him there. The admission of the injured person is justified by the Pashtun's cultural code of honor to grant refuge (Nanawatai) to those who were persecuted by their enemies. The residents of the village of Salar Ban were at a feud with the neighboring Taliban village of Chichal. The conflict was justified, among other things, by disputes over pastureland. Prior to Operation Red Wings, US-Afghans relations in the Shuryek Valley had improved significantly through the provision of humanitarian aid. Ahmad Shah suspected that the surviving American would escape to the village of Salar Ban, as it was on his route. The Taliban leader even found out in which house the wounded man was and asked the villagers to surrender him. Luttrell was taken to a safe place, wrote a message to the US base at Camp Blessing, and was eventually evacuated by US helicopters. Gulab and his family received death threats from the Taliban and were relocated to Asadabad.

aftermath

Relatives of soldiers who fell in Operation Red Wings at a memorial service

Plaque in memory of the crew of the downed helicopter

Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy posthumously received the Medal of Honor , Dietz, Axelson (posthumously) and Luttrell the Navy Cross . Survivor Luttrell was honored in a ceremony at the White House . The dead were remembered in front of 25,000 spectators during a San Diego Padres baseball game . The names of the nineteen soldiers who fell were immortalized on a memorial to the US Army Night Stalker.

After the battle, the Ahmad Shah group came into possession of numerous weapons and ammunition, such as M4 carbines , M203 grenade launchers , a laptop for military use, including a map of the embassies in Kabul, night vision devices , a telescopic sight for a sniper rifle and other items of equipment the SEALS. After the successful ambush and pressure from the follow-up operation Red Wings II, the group withdrew to Pakistan. The Afghan National Army and US special forces presence was sustained for a while. Nevertheless, the Shah group, which received a large influx of volunteer fighters due to its success against the Americans, was able to return to its traditional area of operation a few weeks later. Operation Whalers was launched in August 2005 to prevent the Taliban from taking the province completely. The operation eventually neutralized the group and seriously injured Ahmad Shah. Shah was finally killed in a shootout with Pakistani police in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April 2008 .

Various statements have been made about the size of the Taliban group in the village of Chichal. Shortly after his rescue, Luttrell stated in the official combat report that there were 20 to 35 men. Later in his book Lone Survivor he mentions 80 to 200 fighters whom the enemy reconnaissance initially suspected in this area. Later sources name ten to 20 and 30 to 40 respectively. The event is also polemicized that there was initially a conflict within the SEAL group on how to treat the goatherds, i.e. unarmed civilians, who they were to be treated in the forest above the village of Chichal would have discovered. A vote was taken as to whether they were to be liquidated or released.

Trivia

The experiences of the soldier Marcus Luttrell during Operation Red Wings were recorded by Patrick Robinson in his book Lone Survivor , which became a bestseller in the USA. The experience report was filmed under the same title in 2013 with Mark Wahlberg as the main actor .

literature

Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson: Lone Survivor: SEAL-Team 10 mission in Afghanistan. The authentic report of the only survivor of Operation Red Wings, Heyne Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-453-20070-8
Ed Darack: Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers - The Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Berkley Publishing Group, 2010, ISBN 978-0-425-23259-0
Gary Williams: Seal of Honor: Operation Redwing and the Life of LT. Michael P. Murphy, USN, Naval Institute Press, 2010, ISBN 1-59114-957-6