by Sean Naylor
3.In November 2001…headquarters at K2. Gray…. a more intact division like the 101st … The 101st’s Second Brigade returned from a six-month deployment to Kosovo in November.
4.When Mikolashek…division headquarters, Edwards; Mikolashek.
5.…but when…for operations. Burns. That Cody commanded Delta’s aviation squadron is from his official Army résumé.
6.The generals and colonels…limited war with Iraq. Mikolashek; another senior officer familiar with the plan.
7.The response…Paul Wolfowitz. Woodward, pp. 49, 60–61.
8.But in October…or Saudi Arabia. Mikolashek; another senior officer familiar with the plan.
9.Burns was unaware…to train,” Burns said. Burns; Edwards; a senior special operations officer.
10.Shortly…war was over.” Burns.
11.As they would…auspicious start. Gray; Bello, in a briefing he and Ziemba delivered at the Senior Fire Support Conference at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, October 3, 2002. I attended the briefing, hereafter referred to as “Bello at Sill,” or “Ziemba at Sill.”
12.…“the culminating point”… Lockwood.
13.The draft plan…counterparts’ requests. Wille.
14.…D-Day… Although the general public tends to associate the phrase D-Day with the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, D-Day is actually the term used in every U.S. military plan for the day on which an operation is to commence. The D stands for day. Similarly, the hour at which an operation kicks off is known as “H-Hour.”
15.Nor did it help…in country. Gray.
16.…about eight modular olive drab tents… Gray.
17.The TOC soon…adventure.” Bello at Sill.
18.The Mountain staff…“ad-hocracy.” Bello at Sill.
19.“There were a lot…he added. Lockwood.
20.The common…two communities. Gray; my personal observations at Bagram.
21.Despite…previous jobs. Bello; Hagenbeck, Wille.
22.The most obvious…knew he did.” Wiercinski.
23.But it was the Ranger…leader that he was.” Larsen; Wiercinski; Wille; Rosengard; Blaber; Grippe.
24.Then Hagenbeck…doing,” Wille said. Gray; Hagenbeck; Wille.
25.To reduce…from Hagenbeck’s headquarters. Gray.
26.But there was only…pheasants.” Sources in the Mountain TOC; TF 11 officer in Masirah.
27.(Despite the…in the Shahikot, Bello; Briley; Wille; TF 11 source.
28.…the very presence…cadre of guards. Bello.
29.This added…Harrell said.) Lockwood; Harrell; numerous conversations I had with officers in the run-up to Anaconda.
30.Blaber installed…raising his voice. Sources in the Mountain TOC; TF 11 officer in Masirah.
31.The first Mountain…occurred February 17. Wille; Nocks; Hagenbeck; Gray.
32.Hagenbeck was briefed…aside for Anaconda. Bishop; Gray; Larsen; Nocks; Rosengard.
33.(Mikolashek, however…forces,’” he said.) Mikolashek.
34.Finally, the leaders…(CJTF) Mountain. Rosengard; Hagenbeck; Gray.
Chapter 17
1.Pete Blaber had…otherwise have taken. Special operations sources…. handpicked these men… The core of an AFO force was usually drawn from Delta’s operational support troop, a unit trained to infiltrate cities under cover (sometimes using female operators posing as girlfriends or wives of male operators, because couples attract less suspicion than single males or groups of men), but the AFO commander also had the option of drawing personnel from Delta’s three reconnaissance and surveillance troops.
2.Blaber envisioned…between them. Task Force 11 source.
3.Juliet was the larger…peer, anywhere.” Task Force 11 sources; special ops time line…. nickname “Speedy.” A Delta operator’s nickname functions as an internal call sign…. “SF baby,”… This was the name given to soldiers who joined Special Forces straight out of high school, instead of from another part of the Army. The Army ended the program, but revived it soon after Anaconda because of the high demand for Special Forces troops.
4.Juliet had the northern…mountain streams. Special ops time line; The Bear Went Over the Mountain; Afghan Guerrilla Warfare, p. 171.
5.Twenty-five years…entire operation.) Special ops time line; special operations source.
6.The first phase…Task Force Orange. Special ops time line; other special ops sources; http://www.specwarnet.com/americas/isa.htm.
7.Once again…operations in the Shahikot. Special ops time line; other special ops sources. The description of the Sate Kandow is from Afghan Guerrilla Warfare, p. 167.
8.On February 20…upon the Shahikot. Special ops time line; other special ops sources…. headlights off using night-vision goggles… AFO’s pickup trucks had infrared headlights that could be seen using the night-vision goggles, but the operators rarely turned them on because they would have been visible to an enemy equipped with similar night-vision equipment.
9.The Shahikot’s terrain…and the finger. Ziemba at Sill.
10.From the Whale…the bag.” TF Dagger source.
11.Juliet spotted…gathering in the Shahikot. Special ops time line; other special ops sources; Thomas.
12.This support…resources.” Rosengard.
13.In a briefing…lifesaver. Blaber.
14.As night fell…time to start planning. Special ops time line; other special ops sources.
Chapter 18
1.What this plan…Lincoln. CJTF Mountain slide briefing.
2.The plan envisaged…operation,’” Wille said. Gray; Wille; Bishop.
3.Central to the plan…contingent at Gardez. Briley; special ops source.
4.Locals usually…operation, however.) Briley; Wille; Ziemba at Sill.
5.As to the…experience.) Briley; Ziemba at Sill.
6.The planners…might use. Hagenbeck.
7.Their biggest…later were low. Ziemba at Sill; special ops source; rock drills I attended in the final days before Anaconda.
8.Of greater threat…Hagenbeck acknowledged. Hagenbeck.
9.The Rakkasans and Zia’s…air defense threats. Ziemba at Sill; rock drills I attended; Rosengard.
10.Worries over…fierce resistance.” Hagenbeck.
11.(Rosengard…RPGs. Rosengard.
12.Ziemba’s prediction…Ziemba said. Ziemba at Sill.
13.Like other…doubt the intel.” Hagenbeck.
14.To help with…snatch him.) TF 11 sources; Wille.
15.Undeterred…“Goody.” Blaber; special ops time line.
16.No sooner…into the Upper Shahikot. Rosengard; Wille; Haas; other special ops source.
17.From the moment…them,” Wille said. Rosengard; Wille; Larsen; Wiercinski.
18.But, the Rakkasans…Wiercinski and Larsen. Larsen; Wiercinski; Hagenbeck; Wille.
19.Wiercinski also…to escape?” Wiercinski; Larsen; Wille; Rosengard; Mountain staff officer; my observations of meetings and rehearsals I attended.
20.Matters came…fuming mad.” Mountain staff officer; Antenori; two other SF soldiers reported hearing Mulholland make similar comments at other times.
21.It appeared…Antenori said. Special ops sources…. Delta staff officer… Many Delta staff officers are on short tours from elsewhere in the special ops community. These officers serve only at the headquarters and do not go through Delta’s operator training course required for service in the assault or reconnaissance and surveillance troops.
22.(Not all…could get.”) Bentley; Lundy.
23.With Wiercinski…Lower Shahikot.) Hagenbeck; another source in the Mountain TOC.
24.That the Mountain…back door.” Mountain officer; Wiercinski; Rosengard; other special ops source.
25.While the Dagger…into the Fishhook. Wiercinski; Bello; Hagenbeck; Bentley.
26.This plan reflected…be there.” Bentley; Bello; Wille; Rosengard.
27.The inclusion…meetings, he said. Gray; Wille; a source on the Mountain staff.
28.The Mountain commander…good enou
gh?” Hagenbeck; Gray; Wille.
Chapter 19
1.Amidst all…supporting artillery. Dr. Richard Stewart, U.S. Army Center of Military History. The arguments made by senior officers in the Pacific to support their decision not to deploy artillery to Papua foreshadowed those made during the war in Afghanistan. “The artillery in this theater flies,” one senior general told a subordinate in the Pacific, according the to official Army history of the campaign, Victory in Papua, by Samuel Milner, p. 135.
2.The Mountain and Rakkasan…assets that we had.” Wille; Bello; Hagenbeck; Bentley; two senior Army officers.
3.Bringing air power…Air Force channels. Bello.
4.However, there…of the war. Gray; Bello; Bochain; Wille.
5.But this wasn’t…operation,” he said. Bochain.
6.In the absence…air support.” Donnelly; Gray.
7.But to Mountain…the debate. Donnelly; Bochain; Sources in the Mountain TOC.
8.But even…or imagery. Bentley.
9.But it was…haystack.” Bello; Ziemba at Sill.
10.When the war…missions in Anaconda. Air Force pilot who flew missions over Afghanistan.
11.But Louis…gave me.” Bochain.
12.The Air Force’s…Air Force officer said. Air Force pilot who flew missions over Afghanistan; Mikolashek.
13.That Anaconda…Over.” Air Force officer; a senior Army officer said that while Renuart may not have been “asleep at the wheel,” he was “overloaded and didn’t use his staff well.”
14.Word of…component. Corley; Stutzriem.
15.Donnelly acknowledged…operation,” Donnelly said. Donnelly.
16.Hagenbeck, Mikolashek…a deal.” Wille.
Chapter 20
1.There were reports…Tohir Yuldeshev. Mikolashek; Briley.
2.A skilled…hideouts of eastern Afghanistan.Jihad—The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, by Ahmed Rashid (New York: Penguin, 2003); interview with Ahmed Rashid on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, March 25, 2002, accessed at: http://gencturkler2.8m.com/MISC/ahmedrashid.html.
3.By late…in that way.” Mikolashek; Bello; Briley; TF 11 officer. More evidence that Yuldeshev was in the valley came after the operation. U.S. forces came across “battlefield litter” indicating that he had been there and some of the few Al Qaida prisoners taken indicated that Yuldeshev had been present. “We had pretty solid information that he was there,” the TF 11 officer said.
Chapter 21
1.Obsessing over…back to the Shahikot. My personal experience. The military gave journalists ridiculously contradictory advice to “pack for a high-altitude, cold-weather mission, and pack light.”
2.U.S. forces…forces, Ziemba said. Ziemba at Sill; Rosengard.
3.The Rakkasan company-grade…returning to Bagram. My observations.
Chapter 22
1.Every few…latest discoveries. Source present when Blaber and Spider arrived at the Mountain TOC.
2.By now…with Dailey. Special ops time line; special ops sources; Hagenbeck; Edwards.
3.But in Dailey’s…commitment,” he said. Senior Army officer.
4.However, the perception…control setup. Special ops sources; sources on the Mountain staff.
5.By late February…different organizations. CJTF Mountain slide briefing; special ops time line; McHale; Blaber; Haas.
6.It was now…destiny.” Special ops sources in Gardez; special ops time line.
7.The two A-teams…into the battle.” McHale; Haas; Thomas; Antenori…. “jinga”… The trucks are also known as “jingle” trucks, on account of the decorative chains that rattle off their sides as they move.
8.But if the SF officers…coffins. Special ops source.
Chapter 23
1.There was an eerie…plan anyway.) My personal observations—I attended all the briefings and rehearsals mentioned; Rosengard; Wille; Gray…. confirmation brief… According to Army doctrine, a confirmation brief is where the subordinate commanders repeat back to their commander their understanding of his intent the missions he has assigned them. In this case, the confirmation brief became something of a back brief, in which the battalion commanders went into more detail than is normal for a confirmation brief.
2.As for engaging…infantry-on-infantry fight.” My personal observations.
3.Once the crowd…about,” Rosengard said. McHale; Rosengard; another Dagger source.
4.But the result…idea,” McHale said. McHale; Thomas; Rosengard; Haas.
5.Between all…Bagram and Tampa. Bilafer, p. 8; Gray; Edwards.
6.Some officers…important.” Wiercinski.
7.But others…[with fewer]?” Mountain staff officer; Operation Anaconda—Lessons for Joint Operations, by Richard L. Kugler, Michael Baranick, and Hans Binnendijk, National Defense University, p. 20.
8.Edwards, the CFLCC…number.” Edwards.
9.But many…issues with it. Gray. Moseley, traveling, was called by his nighttime CAOC director Brigadier John Corley shortly after Corley was briefed on Anaconda February 23. Moseley received his first formal briefing on Anaconda February 25, five days after the CAOC was informed of the operation (source: “Operation Anaconda: Command and Confusion in Joint Warfare,” by Major Mark Davis, June 2004. Davis, a Special Forces officer, wrote this thesis paper while at the School of Advanced Airpower Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. It is a superb effort to “peel back the onion” to get to the heart of the close air support issues during Anaconda.)
10.The first misunderstanding…attack Serkhankhel. My personal observations; Hagenbeck.
11.That was not…support,” Haas said. McHale; Haas; another TF Dagger soldier; other sources in the special ops community.
12.But the officers…that,” he said. Bentley; Bello; Wille; Rosengard; Haas.
13.The final…operations” purposes McHale; Bentley; Army Field Manual 100–106, Information Operations.
14.While scores…presence in Gardez. Special ops time line; another special ops source.
15.None of this…but ignored. Hagenbeck; Wille; Gray; Haupt; Briley; Harrell.
Chapter 24
1.On the morning…before D-Day. Wiercinski; Gray; Larsen.
2.Of all…were pros.” Wille; Burke; other TF Mountain officers.
3.The Australian SAS…transportation,” Bishop said. Bishop; other special ops sources.
4.At the Gardez…course of the operation. Special ops time line; other special ops sources.
Chapter 25
1.On the morning…36 hours away. Special ops time line; Blaber; other special ops sources…. MBITR… The acronym stands for Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio.
2.By the evening…up the tab.” My personal observations.
Chapter 26
1.Shortly after…horrifying life. Special ops time line; other special ops sources; Blaber; photographs taken from an AFO PowerPoint briefing.
2.“The success…heart of Operation Anaconda. Blaber; my personal observations; Bello.
3.The SEAL snipers…mountain perch. Special ops time line; other special ops sources; photographs taken from an AFO PowerPoint briefing…. Adidas sneakers… An investigation based on a sales sticker found on one of the shoes revealed them to have been purchased at The Underground mall in Atlanta, Georgia.
4.The AFO reports…to adjust. Special ops time line; Rosengard; other special ops source; source in the Mountain headquarters; Wiercinski; Larsen; Hagenbeck.
5.The reports from the AFO…around the civilians. Special ops time line; other special ops sources; my observations of Rakkasan briefings.
6.Why not?…in the Shahikot. Special operations sources.
7.One officer…about it.’” Special operations source; a source in the Mountain TOC.
8.At 12:30…present itself? My personal observations; Quinlan…. entire 1,700-soldier task force… This includes headquarters and support troops, as well as the 1,411 who went into the Shahikot.
9.Late that…all concerned. Mikolashek; another CFLCC offi
cer.
10.As the infantry…was gone. Nielsen.
REACTION TO CONTACT
Chapter 1
1.On the road…they said. McHale; Southworth; Thomas; Haas; other special ops sources.
2.Finally…showtime. Special ops time line.
3.The Americans…platoon leader.” McHale; special ops time line; source in the special operations community.
4.Behind them…of it,” McHale said. McHale.
5.Joining Harriman’s…back to Gardez. Special ops time line.
6.Next in…engineer squad. McHale.
7.There was also…south of the Shahikot. Thomas.
8.Bringing up the rear…at the Fishhook. Special ops time line.
9.There were also…breakdowns. McHale.
10.As they drove…into the valley. McHale.
11.The Zermat Road…local hospital. McHale; other sources in the special ops community; Weapon of Choice—ARSOF in Afghanistan, by Charles H. Briscoe, Richard L. Kiper, James A. Schroder, and Kalev I. Sepp. Published 2004 by the Combat Studies Institute Press, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, p. 285. This book, written under the guidance of Briscoe, U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s historian, is a quasi-official history of Army special operations forces in Afghanistan. It avoids all but the vaguest mentions of classified special ops units, and repeatedly uses pseudonyms in place of soldiers’ real names.
12.No sooner…to the U.S. troops. McHale; special ops time line; other sources in the special ops community.
13.The two A-team leaders…“racing time.” McHale; other sources in the special operations community.
14.Nevertheless…2.55 a.m. Special ops time line.
Chapter 2
1.Shortly after…overhead. Special ops time line; other special ops sources.
2.Once they…bloodstream. Special ops time line; CENTCOM investigation report; special ops sources.
3.For the SEALs…yet again. Special ops time line; special ops sources.
4.The SEALs…mountainside. Turner; other special ops sources; report.
5.The sound…peaks.” Special ops time line and other special operations sources.
Chapter 3
Hermany; Ryan; Hardy; Chenault; Hurley; Hamilon; Pebsworth; Pierce; author’s general knowledge.