They engaged in a fierce firefight, and at some point the task force lost contact with them. Robert Thaler, courtesy of DVIDS. Brooks told American Military News his experience on that mission added to his appreciation for Luttrells survival. I could see a lot of vehicles with troops armed to the damn teeth, Smith recalled. As the Night Stalkers flew back to Bagram, the JSOC ground force that had convoyed to the crash radioed to the task force that they had secured the site. We argued for what seemed like 10 minutes but was actually about 30 seconds, Brady recalled. The Night Stalkers again loaded their Chinooks with Rangers and SEALs and took off toward the mountains. I will never accept defeat. But we think about it all the time.". Smiling as he looked over the crowd and placing his hand on the shoulder of a first-time E-Day guest, his father Ed said, "He's amongst us all, right here. Coffee or Die Magazine | Operation Red Wings Through the Eyes of the Night Stalkers Features Operation Red Wings Through the Eyes of the Night Stalkers July 26, 2020 Joshua Skovlund The memorial service display in Bagram, Afghanistan. Then the helos blades started hitting each other, and the aircraft rolled to the right before inverting as it descended to the mountainous terrain below. Smith and the others in Turbine 34 watched helplessly as the Chinook full of their fellow aviators their friends crashed into the mountain and erupted in a ball of flames. Marines in the area knew it was an extremely dangerous place filled with Taliban fighters. He didnt think much of it at the time, but many years later he found out a new platoon leader came into their company within the 160th and was responsible for those Black Hawks. They engaged in a fierce firefight, and at some point the task force lost contact with them. "He was just a wonderful person. Graham made a stop at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point just outside of Jalalabad. Graham reported the situation back to Bagram. His creative outlets include Skovlund Photography and Concentrated Emotion, where he publishes poetry focused on his life experiences. The lone C-17 aircraft lumbered through the sky after departing Germany, a necessary stop on the way back to the United States. As Brady climbed into Turbine 33 and started strapping in, Reich tapped his shoulder and asked what the plan was. Doc's platoon was alerted . Its extremely rare to have something that high-profile as your first mission, I recognize that, Brooks said. The Taliban had pilfered the site, as well as the remains of Murphy -- they even stole his wristwatch -- and fellow SEAL operators Matthew Axelson and Danny Dietz in another location down the mountain in the forest. Wikipedia. Disappointed, Brady followed the order and got off the aircraft. Russell went to work right away getting the crews together to prep the aircraft for the mission. Disappointed, Brady followed the order and got off the aircraft. Operation Red Wings Through the Eyes of the Night Stalkers - Coffee or Die The 160th had only lost helicopters during daylight missions at that point theyre called, Combat Engineer: The Unsung Hero of the Battlefield, Troops Who Refused COVID Vaccine Still May Face Discipline, New Statue Will Pay Tribute to Vietnam-Era Military Wives Who Took on the US Government, Heroism & Guts What It Takes To Earn the Navy Cross, From the Silent Service to the Presidency: The Life of Jimmy Carter, Nolan Peterson, Coffee or Dies Ukraine Reporter, Addresses DC, Prosecutors: Marine Threatened To Chop Wife With Machete, Eddie Rickenbacker: Americas Most Decorated World War I Ace, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Im glad youre a thinking air mission commander and not simply one that takes a black-and-white view of the situation.. Operation Redwing was a United States series of 17 nuclear test detonations from May to July 1956. The three-phase plan called for inserting a four-man SR team the first night, then inserting the second element of SEALs the following night to establish an isolation zone around Shah. The projectile flew through the open ramp of the Chinook and exploded inside. Kristensen Family. The fact that the task unit commander had personally led the mission with seven other highly experienced SEAL operators in broad daylight to rescue Murphy's team and kill Shah -- the leader of the "Mountain Tigers" local militia who Murphy had been sent to locate on the Pakistan border -- didn't surprise those who knew Kristensen. Photo by Spc. "It is very redeeming thing. Search instead in. For the Night Stalkers of the famed 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the war on terror continued. He asked the AC-130 crew for one final report on the four potential landing zones the Night Stalkers had identified for the mission. The two Apaches had arrived on station, drawing heavy gunfire, but nonetheless giving Turbine 34s crew back in the operations center a good look at the crash site. Physically, emotionally. They then used explosives to clear out a large enough area for Chinooks to land when they came back. Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell was the only survivor from the initial four-man SEAL reconnaissance element. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Since the SEALs werent sure where exactly the compromised team was located, Kristensen believed inserting at a position of tactical advantage was the best option. It was a gut-wrenching decision for everyone on the mission, as they knew the original SEALs on the SR team were fighting for their lives and one of their own aircraft and crew was burning on the side of a mountain. Theyve got their own quick-reaction force. It was this sort of behaviour from SEALs at the time, which seemed to be rampant across all NATO ops, which caused army SF to constantly hate on them and talk shit. "Hoisting a man at that altitude on that kind of terrain at night is a dangerous operation. I will never quit. He said visibility got so bad that he couldnt see the heat glow of the engines from the Chinook in front of him. The sun was fading behind Afghanistans Hindu Kush mountains the evening of June 27, 2005, as a team of four U.S. Navy SEALs walked up the ramp and into the back of U.S. Army Captain Matt Bradys MH-47 Chinook helicopter on Bagram Air Base. Later, militants would display captured U.S. weapons and laptop computers in a video. Photo courtesy of Matt Rogie. Three of the 160ths MH-47D Chinooks on the flight line in Bagram, Afghanistan. Photo by Lance Cpl. The Navy Cross the branchs second-highest award for valor in combat isnt handed out to just anybody. "I will never leave a fallen comrade, it read. Flight line view of U.S. Army UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. Looking over the grim images for the first time, after an ABC News reporter provided them, Sam Kristensen said if conditions were ever safe enough and she had the opportunity to walk the ground where her son and his fellow warriors perished, "I'd be on the next plane -- a mother wants to know everything. Joshua Skovlund has covered the 75th anniversary of D-Day in France, multinational military exercises in Germany, and civil unrest during the 2020 riots in Minneapolis that followed the death of George Floyd. Graham and his co-pilot whipped their Chinook around to look for survivors. Friends such as John Ismay, who wrote appreciatively about this detail in the New York Times last year, say that was a subtle tribute to Kristensen as a genuine "non-conformist," who didn't fit the Hollywood stereotype of coldly conservative SEAL warriors. In his book, Brooks wrote, I got my first real look at Afghanistan from the side of the mountain after offloading from a helicopter onto the Sawalto Sar, a mountain in Afghanistans Kunar Province. He and some of his fellow Night Stalkers felt the SEALs plan was too risky. It wasnt an ideal insertion, but the Night Stalkers had accomplished their mission. When the ramp lowered, the Night Stalkers on the Chinooks stood tall and proud for their fallen brethren as task force members boarded and began solemnly moving each remains bag to the mortuary affairs building. The 160th had only lost helicopters during daylight missions at that point theyre called Night Stalkers for a reason. Brady rushed to the operations center where Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chris Eicher was telling the task force commander that they should wait until dark before sending the QRF because going in during daylight would subject them to more danger. military operation. The Korengal and Shuryak valleysthe geographic region of Operation Red Wingsare sparsely populated and could not support an enemy force of 200 people. He was a non-conformist. . The back of the aircraft contained the flag-draped coffins of 16 great Americans: the fallen Night Stalkers and SEALs from Turbine 33. Operation Redwing Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Primary and secondary zones appear to be clear of potential threats.. Back in the operations center, leaders were busy trying to figure out the SEALs last known location and calculating how many soldiers each helicopter could fly with. The crash site of Turbine 33. After landing, Graham saw the same five Black Hawks that had peeled off earlier parked on the runway. Navy SEALs Conduct an Impressive Capabilities Exercise Here's Rangers vs. Soon they learned that their son Erik was among those killed in action. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Matt Rogie arrived in Bagram just before the Night Stalkers came back after dropping off the recovery force. Once on the ground, theyd have to pick up the rope, hook it to themselves, and get hoisted back up. The birds call sign was Turbine 33. Photo courtesy of Matt Rogie. Kristensen's mother said swapping stories over beers and burgers is probably how the man his friends call the "gentle giant" would've preferred his life be celebrated, since he thought funerals were ridiculous and didn't even fill out the forms for his burial preferences, which most troops do. That weather out there is unbelievable. As the Night Stalkers slept, the SR team was discovered by a numerically superior force of enemy fighters. When Turbine 33 was shot down, they received orders to fly back along with Turbine 34 and the Apache gunships until the next phase of the mission was developed. One of Bradys soldiers in the operations center was asking him a question, but Brady was momentarily frozen with shock. The extreme height of the trees made the full length of rope approximately 90 feet necessary. Steven K. Young, courtesy of DVIDS. Feb 24, 2015 - By Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr Amid the 1200-page military investigation into the crash in Wardak province in August are photos of the helicopter. Three war-weary escorts one of them a SEAL and the other two Night Stalkers Daniel Bell and Chris Eicher sat off to the sides, grimly staring off into space. Photo courtesy of Daniel Bell. His parents buried Kristensen -- wearing his beloved Birkenstocks -- at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, which his father had also graduated from three decades earlier. The flight crew kicked out the ropes, and the SEALs fast-roped down. Chris, Turbine 33 has just been shot down, he told Eicher, who earned the nickname Iceman for his always cool demeanor. : r/CombatFootage by GGdigger NSFW Rare footage of the disastrous Operation Red Wings from the Taliban PoV. As a pilot in the 160th, Brady was the air mission commander for the operation. And we experienced that on that mountain.. Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell was the only survivor from the initial four-man SEAL reconnaissance element. . "Next year, I'm giving him up," Sam Kristensen said, half joking, of future tributes for her son. He asked the AC-130 crew for one final report on the four potential landing zones the Night Stalkers had identified for the mission. The flight back was pure silence. You hope they could. Photo by Cpl. Almost every variety of special operations troops in the US military inventory participated in a coordinated effort through some of Afghanistans most dangerous and austere terrain during the search for their brothers both alive and fallen. He could relate to the most junior guy and to a general or admiral," Paro said. Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and other Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) personnel loaded onto five Chinooks.