Lightboxes. Campbell was one of 30 Americans killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, with the call sign Extortion 17, crashed in Afghanistan. Find the perfect extortion 17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Are all DEVGRUs saved in a sperm bank? Instead, two rigorous U. S. military investigations followed every moment of the mission to determine what went wrong on Extortion 17s final flight. 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. In The Final Mission of Extortion 17, Ed Darack debunks this theory and others and uncovers the truth behind this mysterious tragedy. 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. As the ground assault force rushed toward Tahirs compound, Extortion 17 and 16 sped back to base, where they were refueled, and awaited word to extract the team, evacuate wounded, or race reinforcing troops to Juy Zarin. Chance is still part of the battlefield, says Brady. The 30 American Servicemen killed in action (KIA) with the downing of Extortion 17. On board the Chinook CH-47D were 15 members of SEAL Team Six, 15 SEAL Team Six Support personnel, 1 Bomb Dog, 7 . But at least you should care about them and appreciate what were asking of them.. He said that insurgents had assumed a strong tactical position without knowledge of the helicopter's flight path. A catastrophic crash seemed unavoidable. [22][20] Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that eight of the movement's fighters had been killed in the assault on the compound. August 6, 2017 marks the 6 year anniversary of the downing of Extortion 17, a bigger scandal than Benghazi in large part due to the fact that America lost 30 of its military personnel, including 17 Navy SEALs, the largest loss of life in the Afghan war. Thirty-eight boarded Extortion 17 Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilots from the 159th General Support Aviation Battalion. 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. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. To reach the crash site, one must wind slowly through the ancient, narrow streets of the villages of Logar to reach the Tangi Valley in Wardak. We continue our work at the Museum so that theirservice and sacrifice will never be forgotten. It just wasnt.. 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). Thirty Americans perished in the blink of an eye, half of which comprised an entire 'troop' from SEAL Team 6's Gold Squadron. Copyright 2023 | National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, The Museum is a 501(c)(3) organization. While classification veils the specifics of these tactics, particularly for special operations raids, manned gunships can detect potential threats through a range of sensors and immediately attack if needed. The Final Flight of Extortion 17 It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. So the whole team went in one Chinook helicopter Extortion 17. On such missions, the Chinook pilots nearly always fly at night, wearing night vision goggles, or NVGs. The Museum Executive Team worked with these men. The second round struck one of the three aft rotor blades of the helicopter, destroying the aft rotor assembly. In April 2011, American forces turned over control of Combat Outpost Tangi to Afghan government forces. Gold Star father Bill Vaughn had a heartfelt message to American "leaders" while discussing a documentary that investigates the Extortion 17 helicopter crash in Afghanistan. He presents the Final Flight of EXTORTION 17 (spoken one seven and seventeen), like a Defense Attorney or an investigator. Humm, to have all the Seal Team 6 members in one place at one time?? Regarding the downing of Extortion 17, all of the DEVGRU Operators aboard were members of the Gold Squadron. 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. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colorado, Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. Should the Apache pilots have fired into the stand of trees after the two fighters ducked out of sight? The downing of Extortion 17 spurred a number of conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the shootdown was revenge for bin Laden's death. The call sign for the Chinook was Extortion 17. We were told at that time we were the first unit to make it through a rotation without having anyone killed.. Lee, now a captain, was placed in command of a Chinook helicopter unit at Forward Operating Base Shank. Fallen Angel.. Now deep in the Tangi Valley, their night vision goggles showing the world around them in greenish hues, the IRF team members readied to hit the ground running as the pilots slowed Extortion 17 and descended toward the village. Learnt of this today, very surprising after ladens raid was covered in the media here. Its almost always a miss.. In March 2002, two MH-47s were downed by machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire while close to ground level. His account of the brave pilots, crew, and passengers of Extortion 17 and . Air & Space/Smithsonian contributing editor Ed Darack is the author of The Warriors of Anbar; War Moments; The Final Mission of Extortion 17; Victory Point; and three other books. The missions commanders decided to insert another team to go after Tahir while the Rangers held the compound. The group fired two or three RPG rounds from a two-story building, the second striking one of the helicopter's three aft rotor blades. All of them were men of courage, integrity, and honor. Their target was a Taliban commander responsible for ambushes and other attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces. The official statement from U.S. Central Command stated that a Taliban fighter scored a lucky shot with a rocket-propelled grenade. Why did it happen? The shootdown was the single, deadliest loss of U.S. forces in the war. The United States military continually works to improve protection for transport helicopters and their occupants, according to Glover and Brady. Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. He would not have hesitated to fly with any of them. 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. The first grenade missed Extortion 17. The crash killed all 38 people on board including 25 American special operations personnel, five United States Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen, seven Afghan commandos, and one Afghan interpreter as well as a U.S. military working dog. [11] Seventeen U.S. Navy SEALs remained in reserve at the forward operating base. [45] McChrystal cited a previous "overreliance on firepower and force protection" and the need to reduce civilian casualties and win the cooperation of the local population. You never want to use the same landing zone twice, Darack said. His father Billy Vaughn recounted Thursday a phone call from his son following the White House . The IRF also included two SEALs from another team, five Navy special operations support personnel, three Air Force special tactics airmen, seven Afghan National Army commandos, a translator, and a combat assault dog. 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. 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. In this week in military history, we explore the aerial attack on a U.S. Army helicopter with the call sign "Extortion 17" in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. They were part of the same Army Reserve unit, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment based in Gardner, Kan. Nichols, with three combat tours of duty, also had plenty of experience flying dangerous missions. The 30 American deaths represent the greatest loss of U.S. military lives in a single incident in the decade-long war in Afghanistan that began in 2001. The US soldiers killed in the 2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shoot-down with the call sign Extortion 17 (Photo: XY) SGT Alexander J. Bennett SPC Spencer Duncan (youngest onboard) CWO Bryan J. Nichols When the auto-complete results are available, use the up and down arrows to review and Enter to select. Prior to the mission, the deadliest incident was June 2005's Operation . After some time, another group of about 10 Taliban fighters was spotted that we suspected could be Qari Tahir himself fleeing the scene. Over time, certain memories will fade, certain details will fade. [36][37], After the shootdown of Extortion 17, the insurgent responsible used a two-way radio to brag to others about the act. 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. You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.. The vast majority miss. There is a lot of controversy and discussion regarding the operators from the Gold Squadron who died abroad. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Create an account. While the goggles are better than nothing, they turn everything green, distort depth perception and limit peripheral vision. 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. An official investigation found no evidence of a pre-planned ambush, though it did suggest that other helicopter activity in the area could have tipped off Taliban fighters that more helicopters could be approaching, according to the report. The Chinook helicopter they were aboard was shot down by . Why did it happen? As two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, an Air Force AC-130 gunship, and a small fleet of unmanned surveillance aircraft orbited overhead, a platoon of the 75th Ranger Regiment and members of an Afghan special operations unit stormed down the rear ramps of the Chinooks and into the night. The hardest LZ Id ever been into, Lee said. What we saw is that if the enemy knew where you were going to attack, they would back some guys with RPGs off 500 meters or so, to shoot during an ingress, Glover explains. 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. This was preventable only if they just had not taken off that night, Lee said. 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. The SEAL Team 6 community was devastated. Originally just two people, the group eventually swelled to a total of nine or ten fighters, and the special operations task force commander and the Immediate Reaction Force commander became concerned that it might include Tahir. The immediate reaction force Extortion 17 carried should have been flown in two helicopters: Senior JSOC and aviation planners both agreed that the best course of action was to put the entire . The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. There are more operations than can be supported by the 160th at any given time," says Major Matthew Brady, a former 160th pilot and company commander. Caring is more than just slapping a bumper sticker on your car, he said. They reached the site at 04:12 and found no survivors. The crash is referred to as Extortion 17 by the callsign of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter involved in the crash. Ranger assault helicopters had already engaged the enemy and killed six of eight Taliban fighters, causing the other two to retreat. It would never return. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. The men who serve in the American military are the finest! The circumstances surrounding the events of Extortion 17 are tragic. "It's a math problem. Operating with no lights save for the faint green glow of night vision goggles and cockpit instrument panels, the two helicopters, call signs Extortion 17 (one-seven) and Extortion 16, lifted into the darkness and accelerated toward a destination less than 20 miles west. To remove the risk of rocket-propelled grenades downing helicopters in Afghanistan 100 percent, youd have to remove the opposable thumbs of every fighting-age male in the objective area, and thats not how we win a counter-insurgency., Ed Darack Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. Sgt. 1h 33m "A U.S. Army helicopter carrying 30 Americans, most members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 is shot down in Afghanistan. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL)Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Florida, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL)Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL)Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, California, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL)Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. To lose even one precious life is too many, and the United States lost 38 soldiers that day. On August 6, 2011, the final flight of Extortion 17 resulted in the single deadliest incident for the US military during the War in Afghanistan. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didnt want to split up the strike force. One of the best crews in my company. Rest in peace, gentlemen; you will not be forgotten. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kansas, Spc. The second slammed into one of the Chinooks rear rotor blades and exploded, severing 10 feet of it. With a keen understanding of the propaganda value of downing Coalition helicopters, the Taliban single them out as targets. This would not be the first time that an Afghan military member has been an undercover Taliban Terrorist and shot our US Military! While Benghazi resulted in four American deaths, Extortion 17 resulted in 38 deaths, including nearly two dozen Navy SEALs. Or when something went terribly wrong. 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. Today. See more ideas about extortion, navy seals, seal team 6. 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. But Tahir and a group of his fighters escaped. 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). Were handing rifles to 20-year-olds and asking them to shoot people. Published Aug 6, 2018 5:05 PM EDT. 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. The following was transcribed from the above video press conference. Carter and Nichols continued the descent. We were on goggles the whole time. 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.

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