The first phone call that Rob’s folks received from Lt. Col. Vinnie Savino, the commander of the 38th Rescue Squadron, marked the beginning of three days of agony for them. While Savino kept in touch to tell them when Rob was moved to Qatar, and from there to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, specific information on the damage to his face and his prognosis wasn’t available. And the promised phone call from Rob himself didn’t come as quickly as they’d hoped.
But at three-thirty in the morning the day after Easter Sunday, the phone rang in the Disney home. It was Rob calling from Landstuhl with what only a PJ could describe as “good news.” The bullet had missed his spinal column by little more than a centimeter. Surgeons had to make a two-and-one-half-inch incision from his ear lobe to his eye, and another of similar length on the front of his neck to look for internal damage. Miraculously, aside from fractured cartilage in his outer ear canal, the bullet hit nothing but soft tissue. Doctors said that bruised facial nerves were causing his face to droop, but they expected that to clear up as the swelling subsided. Disney and Fitzgerald were ultimately medevacked to the States, with Rob going to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Craig to a military hospital near San Antonio.
Barb Disney said, “I am so very relieved. It is truly a miracle, of that I have no doubt. We were prepared to expect the very worst, with horrific damage to his face, and very long recovery time. A multitude of prayers were answered.”
Aside from splitting headaches and pain when he chews, Disney told his parents in the call from Landstuhl that he was fine, adding that the psychiatrist who examined him didn’t believe him. She claimed his coping skills were abnormal, that he needed to seek professional counseling when he got home. Apparently, most folks who take a bullet to the head in an ambush—a bullet that missed killing them by mere inches—don’t walk around saying it’s no big deal. It’s a good bet the shrink had never dealt with PJs before.
In Memoriam
Dedicated to the memory of those who have
died in Operation Enduring Freedom,
“So That Others May Live”
Pararescuemen
M.Sgt. Michael Maltz
M.Sgt. William L. McDaniel II
S.Sgt. Juan Ridout
SrA Jason Cunningham
SrA Jason Plite
CSAR HH-60G “Komodo 11” Aircrew
Lt. Col. John Stein
Capt. (Select) Tamara Archuleta
S.Sgt. Jason Hicks
S.Sgt. John Teal
Combat Controller
T.Sgt. John A. Chapman
INDEX
AC-130 Spectre gunship
Aerial refuelings (AR)
Afghan Islamic Press (AIP)
AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command)
AIDS crisis
Air Force Cross (Posthumous)
Air Force Public Affairs
Air Force Reserve
Air National Guard
Akins, Amy
Akins, George
Alexander the Great
Altitude sickness
Ames, Michael
Anderson, Marc
Andrews, Jason D.
Apache attack helicopter
Archuleta, Tamara
Arghandab River
Arlington National Cemetery
Armed Forces Television
Atkins, Mike
Australian SAS
Authentication procedures
Avery, Al
AWACs frequency
B-1 bomber
B-17 bomber
B-24 bomber
B-52 bomber
Bagram airfield, Afghanistan
Baird, Jason
Barrington, Terra
Bearden, Milt
Bennitt, John
Black Hawk assault helicopter
BLU-109/MK 86 warhead
Boeing
Bosnia
Brevity code words
Brindisi, Italy
British Special Air Service
Brooks, Jason
Brown, Gabe
Brown and Root
Brueggemeyer, Mary
Buddy breathing
Burlingame, Brian
Buschor, Graham
Buss, John
C-17 cargo plane
C-130 Hercules
Cahill, Chayane
Cahill, Doss
Cahill, Roxane
Cahill, Ryan
Cahill, Thomas J.
Calvert, Greg
Campbell, Justin “Soup,”
Camp Pendleton, California
Camp Rhino, Afghanistan
Canon, Arin
Carroll, Richard
CAS (close air support)
Castor, Eric
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Chapman, John A.
Charlie (doll)
China People’s Daily
CIPRNet (Classified IP Router Network)
Clark, Craig
Clark, James E.
Clark, Stephanie
Clayson, Jane
Cline, John
Cline, Jyl
Clinton, Bill
CNN (Cable News Network)
Commons, Matt
Compensated shock
Cory, Sergeant First Class
Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)
Crabtree, Terry
CRO (combat rescue officer)
Crose, Brad
Crypto bag
Cunningham, Chris
Cunningham, Hannah
Cunningham, Jackie
Cunningham, Jason
Cunningham, Kyla
Cunningham, Lori
Cunningham, Red
Cunningham, Theresa
Curtis, Kenny
“Daisy” (Brian; tail gunner)
Darley, Bill
DEC lockout
Defense, U.S. Department of
DePalo, Lee
DePouli, Raymond
Dharan Air Force Base
Disney, Barbara
Disney, Bob
Disney, Robert
Doss, Jeff-
Durham, Adrian
Durham, Seth
Durocher, Lisa
Durocher, Troy
E-8 J-STAR surveillance and attack targeting plane
Effective translational lift (ETL)
Eglin Air Force Base
87th Infantry, Charlie Companyt Battalion
ELMO (Electronic Layered Map Overlay)
Ethridge, Caleb
F-14 Tomcat
F-15
F-16
F-18 Hornet
FARP (forward arming and refueling point)
Fetters, Josh
58th Rescue Squadron
Finn, Karen
Fitzgerald, Craig
Fleener, Jessie
Flores, Michael
Folkerts, John H.
Forrest, Peter (pseudonym)
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Fort Drum, New York
41st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron
Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) radar
Fox, David
Frank, Captain
Franks, Tommy
Friendly fire
FST (Forward Surgical Team)
Funches, Ross
Gallick, John
Gardez, Afghanistan
Garshasb, Navid “Gee,”
GAU-2 minigun
GAU-5 rifle
General Order Number One
Ghazni province
Ginger Valley
Goodwin, Yandall
GPS (global positioning system)
Graham, Bradley
Gray, David
Gray Knights
Guardian Unlimited
Gumbel, Bryant
Ha, Ed
Hagenbeck, Franklin L. “Buster,”
Haiti
Hall, Ryan
HALO (high-altitude, low-opening) parachute jump
/> Hard-crewing
Harding, Patrick
Harriman, Stanley L.
Harris, Ben
HAS (hardened aircraft shelters)
HC-130 King
Helicopter Emergency Egress Device (HEEDS)
Hellfire missile
HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter
Hicks, Jason
High-Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE)
Highway
Hindu Kush mountains
Holler, Bob
Hotaling, Jim
Hotaling, Sue
Howk, Heather
Howk, Ken
Hull, Tommy
Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia
Hunt for Red October, The (movie)
Hurlburt Field, Florida
Hypothermia
Hypoxia
IDS (Infrared Detection System)
Incirlik Air Base, Turkey
Individual Mobilization Augmentee
Iraq
no-fly zones in
Operation Iraqi Freedom
IV fluids, delivery of
Jacobabad, Pakistan
Jay, Lieutenant
JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition)
Johnson, Mike
Johnson, Terry
Joint Medical Augmentation Unit HC- 130 (J-MAU Herc)
Joint Search and Rescue Center (JSRC)
Saudi Arabia
Joint Special Operations Air Center (JSOAC)
Joint Special Operations Component Commander (JSOAC/CC)
Jumper, John
K-2 air base, Uzbekistan
Kabul, Afghanistan
Kandahar, Afghanistan
Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan
Karzai, Hamid
KC-10 tanker
KC-135 tanker
Kentucky Air National Guard
Khobar Towers apartments, Saudi Arabia
Khowst airfield, Afghanistan
Killough, Dan (pseudonym)
Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
Kline, Steven
Komodo
Kuwait
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany
Langston, Chris
Laser-guided glide bombs
Laundry
LBE (load-bearing vest)
Lengel, Ed
Long Range Patrol Vehicle
Los Angeles Times
Lynch, Jessica
M-4 rifle
M-16 rifle
M-203 grenade launcher
M-249 SAW
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
Mackay Trophy
Malaria
Malone, Patrick
Maltz, Mike
Mangan, Michael
Marines
Marquis, Jared
MASH units
Mayday calls
Mazar-i-Sharif bombing
MC1-C parachute
McDaniel, William L.
McGuill, Martin
McGuiness, Matthew Sean “Moose,”
MC-130P Combat Shadow tail number
MH-47E Chinook helicopter
MH-53 Pave Low helicopter
Mildenhall, England
Millard, Art
Miller, Keary
Mirage jet
mIRC (Military Internet Relay Chat)
Mirich, Ted
Mogadsihu, battle of
Moody Air Force Base, Georgia
Morphine
Mujahideen
Najibullah
National Aeronautic Association
National Air and Space Museum, Washington.C.
Navy SEALs
Nawur district, Afghanistan
NBC News
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Newsweek
Nicholas, Keith (pseudonym)
9mm pistol
9th Special Operations Squadron
NIPRNet (Nonclassified IP Router Network)
Northern Alliance forces
Objective Ginger
O’Grady, Scott
Oman
Omar, Mullah
101st Airborne
123rd Special Tactics Squadron
160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) Night Stalkers
Operation Anaconda
Operation Desert Shield
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Northern Watch
Operation Southern Watch
Operation Uphold Democracy
Oswald, Brian
P-3
Painkillers
Panama
Paradrogue
Pearl, Daniel
Pearson, Bill
Peterson, Greg
Pihana, Patrick
Pitsenbarger, William H.
Pitts, Jerry
PLF (parachute landing fall)
Plite, Jason
Pohl, Jeff
Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina
Pornography, prohibition on
Portland Air Force Base
Predator unmanned aerial vehicle
Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia
Al Qaeda
QRF (Quick Reaction Force)
Quarles, Stacey A.
Radar
Radar altimeter
RAMZ (Rigged Alternate Method Zodiacs) procedure
Rangers
Rapid sequence intubation
REDS kit
Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), Uzbekistan
Reuters
Ridout, Juan
Roberts, Bob
Roberts, Neil C.
Rolle, Kevin
Rotator
RPG (rocket-propelled grenade)
Rumsfeld, Donald
Russell, Robert
Sanitation
SATCOM (satellite communications)
Saudi Arabia
Savino, Maria
Savino, Vincent
Schultz, Ryan
SCNS (self-contained navigation systems)
Self, Nathan
September 11 terrorist attacks
71st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron
75th Ranger Regiment
720th Special Tactics Squadron
Shahbaz Air Base, Pakistan
Shah-e-Kot valley, Afghanistan
Shawali Kowt, Afghanistan
Shelton, Donald
Shepherd, Ray
Sherzai, Gul Agha
Shoemaker, John
Sikorsky Aircraft
Sine, Bill
Sine, Billy
Sisko, Greg
16th Special Operations Wing
66th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron
Somalia
Soviet Union
Special Forces
Special Operations Tactical Air Control (SOTAC)
Stein, John
Surface-to-air (SAM) missile
Survival, Escape, Resistance, and Evasion (SERE) training
Svitak, Philip J.
Swenson, Phil
Symon, Brian
Tacan
Tachney, Chas
TACP (tactical air controller)
Takur Ghar, battle of
Takur Ghar mountain
Taliban
Taylor, Robert
Teal, John
10th Mountain Division
Thermobaric bomb
38th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron
347th Rescue Wing
Tora Bora, battle of
Translation lift
Trebon, Gregory
Turner, Jeremy
20th Special Operations Squadron
24th Special Tactics Squardon
25th Infantry Division
274th Forward Surgical Team
Tyler, Barbara
Tyler, Don
U.S. CENTCOM (Central Command)
U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command)
USS Theodore Roosevelt
Vance, Kevin
Viet Cong<
br />
Vietnam War
VVI (Vertical Velocity Indicator)
Walker, Joshua
Walker, Rich
Walk of Death mission
Washington Post
Water supply
Weaver, Rick
White, Chuck
White, Matthew
Wiercinski, Frank
Wilkes, Randall, Jr.
Wilkinson, Tim
Willard, Chris
William H. Pitsenbarger Award for Heroism
Wise, Kip
Woods, Charles
Woolsey, James
Wright, Amanda
Wright, Jason
Young, Chris
Young, Rhonda
Young, Rodney
Photo of the author in the cockpit of a C-130 flying over the Hindu Kush mountain range on Christmas Day, 2002
Michael Hirsh is a Vietnam combat veteran, a journalist, and a George Foster Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He is the author of Pararescue: The Skill and Courage of the Elite 106th Rescue Wing—The True Story of an Incredible Rescue at Sea and the Heroes Who Pulled It Off.
1
At the insistence of the Air Force Special Operations Command public affairs officer monitoring the interview with Forrest and Nicholas, and contrary to the wishes of these flyers, pseudonyms are being used for the copilot and mission commander. When the major attempted to provide his full name and was stopped by the PAO and told he must use only his rank and first name, the major said, “Good thing my name isn’t Dick.” Nothing in the Privacy Act or SOCOM policy later cited by the AFSOC PAO forbids an individual from disclosing his/her full name, and official Air Force policy encourages them to do so.
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