When I got to the TOC my heart raced. I quickly learned we had TIC in the Tangi Valley. We looked at the blurry drone feed of the fighting at the mouth of the valley. We hoped that they were delivering the knockout punch that Team Merrill had spent the last few weeks setting up in the flat plains surrounding that hotly contested valley. We didn’t have time to fixate on the live feed—we had the rest of our retrograde/redeployment tasks to complete, and we were on an unforgiving timeline.
Still, it was a tense and solemn moment for all of us. We knew the danger our Ranger brothers were in, and our natural instinct was to help. We learned that another Ranger platoon, from 1st Battalion, was on standby to be their QRF.
I pulled myself away from the immediate crisis and tried to focus on the last few tasks at hand. I did my final packing, and Chris and I double-checked each other’s work, strictly adhering to the Ranger buddy system of checking and double-checking everything. Even though our flight back to the States was in less than 24 hours, we needed to maintain the kind of discipline that had gotten us through this rotation.
Every so often, one of the Rangers from 2nd Platoon came by and gave us updates on the firefight, as well as on our own timeline to head to the airfield. We learned that our TIC were meeting heavy resistance, and our leadership had decided to launch the QRF. We also learned that a team of SEALs were going to go in as well. Their mission was to run down a Taliban leader, his personal security detail, and a group of fighters traveling with them.
Once all my retrograde/redeployment tasks were complete, I made my way over to the SEALs TOC. I had done some hunting on the previous deployment with a SEAL sniper I only knew as Rat, and I heard it was his team that was going to bolster our Ranger QRF. I just happened to catch him coming out of the SEAL TOC in full kit, sniper rifle in hand. He still had the cut-down breach-action shotgun that looked just like a pirate’s blunderbuss that I remembered from our last hunting trip together. Seeing this seasoned killer in his well-worn battle gear put a smile on my face.
“Rat!” I called out. It took him a minute to recognize me in my clean garrison uniform.
“Hey, Balls, your boys found some trouble! You’re not coming?” he said with a wry grin.
I just chuckled. “Not this time. I’m heading back to Benning tonight.”
He shrugged lightly. I put out my hand and we grabbed each other’s forearms in a Spartan handshake.
“Good shit, man. Maybe we’ll see you on the next rotation,” Rat replied.
“Hope so, Rat. Happy hunting, brother,” I said. We released each other’s forearms and turned away to go about our business.
I made my way back to our side of the FOB, and we eventually headed out to the airfield. We were completely in the dark about what was happening in the Tangi Valley. It was frustrating, to say the least: we were warriors and fighters, our brothers were in hot combat, and not only couldn’t we help but we had as little idea about what was happening as someone sitting in the comfort of their home in the States.
We boarded the C-17, packed in tight, and bundled against the cold, high-altitude flight. Our doc passed out some sleep aids, and as I slipped into the deep, medicated blackness, I had no thoughts.
It wasn’t until we got back to Fort Benning that we found out about the tragedy that had been visited on our fellow warriors. A National Guard Chinook—call sign Extortion Seventeen—had been hammered out of the sky by an RPG on its final approach to an uncleared LZ. All thirty-eight men on board, as well as one military working dog, were killed instantly.
A second National Guard Chinook with the Ranger QRF had to scramble to find another LZ about 20 kilometers away. The Ranger Platoon that was on the ground, and that had been in bitter fighting with the Taliban, managed to finally break through the resistance that had trapped them and moved out with one mission in mind: to recover the bodies at the crash site.
They cut a bloody swath through fanatical Taliban fighters who seemed to swarm from every compound they passed. The Taliban had the same goal: to get to the American bodies and desecrate them. In one of the most heroic marches in the annals of U.S. military operations, Rangers pushed through what was then the most dangerous place in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban along the way and making a headlong dash to the crash site.
The Ranger platoon made it to the crash site first, leaving a wake of dead Taliban, and recovered our SEAL brothers and the Extortion Seventeen crew. The Ranger QRF that was forced to land 20 kilometers from the crash site, now secured, finally made it there and went immediately about their bitter work. They recovered every SEAL, crewman, JTAC, and Afghan Commando, as well as the K-9.
There was no way to feel good about this mission, but it was some solace to know we didn’t leave any of our fallen comrades behind.
There’s no better way I can capture what it means to be a Special Operator. Team Merrill spent seven months in Afghanistan engaged in some of the heaviest fighting imaginable, and remarkably, miraculously, we didn’t lose a Ranger. We could deconstruct every mission and point to a half-dozen things that could have gone differently each time that would have caused us to lose men.
On the other hand, the loss of Extortion Seventeen and all thirty-eight men on board to an enemy RPG—just one Taliban who was in the right place at the right time—put an exclamation mark on how we live on the edge of disaster, with only dumb luck on our side and our Ranger buddies looking out for us.
Maj Dan helps to calm a child with a chocolate chip granola bar.
(Copyright United States Army)
Maj Dan walking point into our first ambush in Musa Qala.
(Copyright United States Army)
Sergeant Ryan Picou and I pull security while Maj Dan leads an interrogation of villagers meant to draw us into an ambush.
(Copyright United States Army)
Caught in the middle, a group of village elders are compelled to draw us out in the open so foreign fighters can ambush us. We go through the motions and begin a cursory search while we wait to be engaged.
(Copyright United States Army)
Engaging the enemy through a fighting hole during a 180-degree ambush in Musa Qala.
(Copyright United States Army)
I engage enemy fighters during an ambush in Musa Qala.
(Copyright United States Army)
Staff Sergeant Mac pulls overwatch from a ROD site, while we wait for the cover of darkness to move into a hostile village.
(Copyright United States Army)
A Ranger leader takes in the striking beauty of Afghanistan’s mountains while monitoring radio communications.
(Copyright United States Army)
Our heaviest hitting weapons system, a Ranger mortar section, beats back Taliban Ambushers in Musa Qala.
(Copyright United States Army)
DEA intel leads us to several tons of semi-processed hashish, known locally as “sheesha.”
(Copyright United States Army)
A partially successful attempt to destroy several tons of hashish/sheesha.
(Copyright United States Army)
Marc and me after a 13-kilometer running firefight with Uzbek militants.
(Copyright United States Army)
Weary from a night of village clearing, Rangers prepare to occupy a ROD site where they will repel attacking Taliban all day.
(Copyright United States Army)
The “big guys,” two of 2nd Platoon’s team leaders. I took every opportunity to walk point with these Rangers.
(Copyright United States Army)
I try to unwind and catch some rest in the “castle” we took over as our ROD site after a night of intense fighting.
(Copyright United States Army)
Back on duty after a short rest, the setting sun means we will soon be fighting through the Uzbek militant-held village near our ROD site.
(Copyright United States Army)
Late spring in northern Afghanistan.
(Copyright United States Army)
/> Alpha Company Medics roasting a turkey for the boys after a long night of fighting.
(Copyright United States Army)
The rising sun and fast-approaching CH-47s are welcome after a long cold night in Northern Afghanistan.
(Copyright United States Army)
A view through my spotting scope of the thousand-foot cliffs that rise from the plains of Mazar Sharif.
(Copyright United States Army)
A Ranger machine gunner takes fire commands from his team leader during an attack on our ROD site.
(Copyright United States Army)
Rooftop Ranger checks mission progress during a night raid outside of Jalalabad.
(Copyright United States Army)
A cache of RPGs we found in the Tengi Valley, identical to the ones that shot down CH-47 Extortion 17, killing all aboard.
(Copyright United States Army)
A night vision shot of the severe terrain around Tengi Valley. This terrain has been used as a natural defensive barrier for centuries.
(Copyright United States Army)
A long exposure captures Rangers processing potential fighters disguised as Afghan Nomads.
(Copyright United States Army)
A team leader and I pulling security in the desert outside a Bedouin encampment.
(Copyright United States Army)
Bedouin encampment and a custom-painted tractor.
(Copyright United States Army)
A long exposure shows the vibrant color of a Bedouin encampment lighted by green infrared lasers and red headlamps.
(Copyright United States Army)
A long exposure of outer cordon securing a perimeter around a Bedouin encampment.
(Copyright United States Army)
Premission checks complete, Team Merrill takes a load off before launching on a night operation.
(Copyright United States Army)
What I call the “point of no return” Team Merrill loads a CH-47 for night operations.
(Copyright United States Army)
A 160th SOAR UH-6 provides close air support during a night raid in Afghanistan.
(Copyright United States Army)
Rangers run to load a National Guard CH-47 after grueling combat operations in Afghanistan.
(Copyright United States Army)
A night vision shot of a CH-47 after dropping off members of Team Merrill for night operations.
(Copyright United States Army)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My special thanks go to my Ranger brother Nicholas Irving, who is the only reason I ever had the opportunity to write this book, and for killing that one guy who was going to kill me back in “Taliban City.” Thanks, Reaper!
To my editor, Marc Resnick, who went to incredible lengths to make this book happen. He was truly the man behind the scenes.
To my coauthor, George Galdorisi, for working with me on this story. Like most Ranger missions, this one couldn’t have been done without a helo pilot.
To my exceptional designer and close friend Lisa Pompileo, you truly gave 100 percent and then some.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PAUL MARTINEZ, SSG (Ret.), spent seven years in Special Operations and was a Sniper assigned to 3rd Ranger Battalion who fought alongside and was trained by The Reaper, Nicholas Irving. He was the 2nd Place Finisher at the 2010 USASOC Sniper Competition, deployed six times to Afghanistan, and has faced off against Chechen snipers, Uzbek militants, and Taliban insurgents. Martinez was the first Ranger to be selected as a liaison instructor to Special Forces Sniper Course. You can sign up for email updates here.
GEORGE GALDORISI is a career naval aviator who began his writing career in 1978. He has written twelve books published by mainstream publishers, including the New York Times bestseller Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor, the novelization of the Bandito Brothers/Relativity Media film, and The Kissing Sailor, which proved the identity of the two principals in Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photograph. He has also written more than three hundred articles in national media and professional publications. His latest project, in collaboration with St. Martin’s Press, is a reboot of the Tom Clancy’s Op-Center series. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Battallons
Epigraph
Editor’s Note on Names
Foreword
Preface
1. Chechen Sniper
2. Night Ops
3. Sugar Shack
4. Working with the DEA
5. Saving the Cavalry
6. Castle Mission
7. Simo Shot
8. Tangi Valley
9. Eye on the Prize
Photographs
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Copyright
WHEN THE KILLER MAN COMES. Copyright © 2018 by Paul Martinez. Foreword copyright © 2018 by Nicholas Irving. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Lisa Pompilio
Cover illustration © Zhelunovych/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-09440-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-09441-4 (ebook)
e-ISBN 9781250094414
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: October 2018
When the Killer Man Comes Page 22