Victory Point - Ed Darack [55]
“Seiffert, we need a name for this op,” Tom Wood quipped at his assistant-in-training, First Lieutenant Lance Seiffert, at the JAF COC soon after the lieutenant arrived in-country. “3/3 was doin’ mostly basketball names—Texas basketball names, but their last was going to be Stars, a Texas hockey team. MacMannis wants to continue with hockey teams, but from throughout the rest of the States.”
“Right, sir. I’ll make up a list.” The diligent Seiffert jumped on the Internet and came up with a list of ten, from the New York Rangers to the Colorado Avalanche.
“Can’t do New York, Seiffert, those are the Rangers. We’re Marines; that’ll confuse people—they’ll think it’s an Army Ranger op. Scratch that one.”
“How ’bout number four, sir, Detroit?” Seiffert asked.
“Yeah . . . yeah, sounds good. I’ll run it by MacMannis, but let’s go with it. I like it. Red Wings.”
By 20 June, Wood had Red Wings mapped out in detail, a detail that would accommodate the rules to which CJSOTF-A mandated such vehement adherence. As well, the OpsO drafted an official goal for the mission: “Disrupt anticoalition militia activity in the Korangal/Shuryek/ Pech region to further stabilize the area for the forthcoming 18 September 2005 national parliamentary elections.” However, since the majority of the ACM (anticoalition militia) attacks at that point had been orchestrated and undertaken by Shah and his men (intel had directly attributed eleven attacks to Shah by that point, including IED strikes, mortar and rocket attacks, and small-arms ambushes), “Commander Ismael” and his terrorist cadre were the clear targets.
The op would consist of five phases:
1. Shaping: A NAVSOF reconnaissance and surveillance team observes the NAIs, guiding the direct-action team of phase two to specific, prenumbered structure(s).
2. Action on the Objective: A Navy SEAL direct-action team inserts by fastrope from TF-Brown’s MH-47s onto the target(s) positively identified by the reconnaissance and surveillance team. Just minutes after the direct-action team inserts, the MH-47s return, inserting Kinser and a group of nineteen of his hand-selected Marines to form an inner cordon. The direct-action team, having linked up with their recon unit, kills or captures Shah and any of his men as Kinser’s team closely guards the objective. NAVSOF personnel then exfil on the craft that just inserted Kinser and his Marines. Simultaneously, members of Echo Company’s First Platoon form a blocking position at the opening of the Korangal Valley and Echo’s Third Platoon moves into the Shuryek Valley, each pushing southward, “up” their respective valleys, to interdict any of Shah’s cell that may have slipped away undetected. Once the NAVSOF teams lift off the ground, the Marines assume the command, or “supported” status, of the operation.
3. Outer Cordon: After the direct-action hit, Golf Company, reinforced with a platoon of Afghan National Army soldiers, inserts by helicopter at Korangal Village, establishes security, then moves by foot up the northwest shoulder of Sawtalo Sar into the village of Chichal, and links up with Kinser and his Marines, sweeping for insurgents and terrorists and searching for weapons caches along the way.
4. Security and Stabilization: In the days following the first three phases of the operation, Golf and Echo Company Marines maintain security of the region, conduct a MEDCAP,