Victory Point - Ed Darack [66]
“Didn’t die off, Tommy. Just changed. Relax. He’s gonna be there on the night of the twenty-seventh and stay there for at least two days. Structure 11, it’s an IED factory and weapons-cache location. With those SOF guys heloing in—basically announcing their presence—we don’t want the recon team lingering around any longer than they have to. They gotta insert on the twenty-seventh, not tonight. That’d be a day too soon, especially in that area.” Wood sat down and dropped his face into his hands.
“And we still figure that he’s got between six and twelve guys with him?” the OpsO asked.
“At the very, very most, he’s got twenty fighters, and some other nonfighters he pays for support. Realistically, though, from the latest hard intel, we know he has between six and twelve. But those six to twelve are well-trained foreign fighters with experience,” Westerfield responded.
“Okay. They helo-insert on the twenty-seventh. Brown’s been doin’ decoy drops all week, so let’s hope that Shah or any of his lookouts figures its just another unlit helicopter buzzing around the villages up there.” Westerfield stared back at Tom blank-faced, just as uneasy as the OpsO about NAVSOF’s planning decisions for phase one, as well as what both felt to be a tenuous at best command structure that was inviting disaster. Even if disaster were to strike, however, the Marines had their component of Red Wings’ quick reaction force (QRF) in place, prepared to speed to the rescue of NAVSOF personnel during the first two phases of the op. The QRF would consist of twenty-four Marines from Golf Company, led by Captain Pete Capuzzi, who would form the main effort of phase three of the mission with their job of outer cordon.
With the Marines of the QRF fastrope qualled and ready to act with lightning speed, Red Wings stood ready to launch on the night of 27 June 2005. Just hours prior to the scheduled insert of the reconnaissance team, Kristensen and other members of NAVSOF met with ⅔’s commanders at the JAF COC and “rock-drilled” phase two and the segue into phase three. Confidence swelled at the meeting—the SEALs impressed with the Marines and the grunts confident in NAVSOF’s fighting prowess—as they hashed out the final air support, indirect fires assets, deconfliction, and QRF details. By 6 P.M. at Jalalabad Airfield, as the scorching sun sank toward the dusty plains to the west, Red Wings seemed destined to become yet another success in joint operations in the area, despite the hardened stance on USSOCOM doctrine at the CJTF-76 and CJSOTF-A levels.
Just after sunset, as the orange glow of dusk began to succumb to night’s grip, pilots readied two MH-47Ds of the 160th at a remote hangar at Bagram for another mission into the darkness. The modified Chinooks were some of the most impressive of Aviation’s creations, and their crews looked after every maintenance and operational detail with an eye for perfection—the “birds” were masterpieces, and the maintainers sought to keep them in prime condition, despite innumerable combat flights. The two ships ready, the pilots “spun up” the large craft and lifted into the night, one a decoy bird and the other carrying seven NAVSOF personnel, including the four members of the recon team: Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, who would lead the team; Petty Officer Second Class Danny P. Dietz from SDVT-2 (based in Virginia Beach, Virginia); Petty Officer Second Class Matthew G. Axelson from SDVT-1; and Navy Hospital Corpsman Second Class Marcus Luttrell, of SDVT-1. Landing at JAF to refuel, three of the NAVSOF passengers jumped out to aid in liaising, while Kristensen and Wood climbed aboard. Ever concerned about the small team’s success and safety, Wood made certain to pass to both Kristensen and then directly to Murphy six ten-digit grid reference points (a ten-digit grid reference point indicates a location on the ground to a resolution of one square meter) for calls for fire from Doghouse, who had those six coordinates preset into their mission package.