| READ MORE. [39], Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in April 2011, Tangi valley became a major staging area for attacks on Kabul (located just 60 miles away). We were supporting special operations, but not to the degree of the 160th. Lee remained in Afghanistan flying combat missions for another eight months before returning home in the spring of 2012. [39], During the same Pentagon news conference in which he announced that the F-16 airstrike had incapacitated "less than 10" of the insurgents involved, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan John R. Allen said that the military investigation would also review whether small-arms fire or other causes might have contributed to the downing. There is a lot of controversy and discussion regarding the operators from the Gold Squadron who died abroad. Sgt. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Nebraska, Sgt. August 6, 2017 marks the 6 year anniversary of the downing of Extortion 17, a bigger scandal than Benghazi in large part due to the fact that America lost 30 of its military personnel, including 17 Navy SEALs, the largest loss of life in the Afghan war. Troops", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2011_Afghanistan_Boeing_Chinook_shootdown&oldid=1142506992, 2 U.S. Navy SEALs from Naval Special Warfare Group 1, 4 U.S. These are the words of Billy Vaughn. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. Navy SEAL Foundation - Extortion 17 Tragedy Assistance. Honor and "Fallen Angel" - What really happened to Extortion 17? New film probes A Department of Defense official asserted that there were no leaks from the Afghans. Extortion 17 hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy He taught helicopter pilots how to fly in high altitudes at an aviation training site in Colorado. Extortion 17: The deadliest day in the DEVGRU history - Spec Ops Magazine 360 EXTORTION 17 ideas | extortion, navy seals, seal team 6 The guy was incredibly skilled.. Robert J. Reeves: A Navy SEAL who died in Extortion 17 - Spec Ops Magazine One of the things I vowed, I will never forget. The crash claimed the lives of 38 personnel, including 22 special operations forces in Afghanistan Aug. 6, 2011. With 38 people killed on board, it was the largest single-day loss of life in naval special warfare history and the largest single-day loss of life during the war in Afghanistan. At 23:30, one of the Apache support helicopters engaged in a brief skirmish with a different group of eight Taliban fighters 400m (440yd) north of the compound, killing six. Theyre going after in very hostile environments, who know the terrain very well, who know the battlescape very well, Darack said. NFTs Simplified > Uncategorized > extortion 17 crash photos. Extortion 17: Were American Servicemen in Afghanistan Set Up For Qari Tahir, the man our forces were attempting to capture or kill on August 5, 2011, isone of many Taliban leaders who dedicate their lives to a corrupt agenda that seeks to eliminate freedom, equality, and prosperity in exchange for a medieval society built on violent extremism and wanton destruction. One of the engines flew off, and the other caught fire. We were on goggles the whole time. The second round struck one of the three aft rotor blades of the helicopter, destroying the aft rotor assembly. It means being informed. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, California, Tech. The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicop Should the Apaches, or the AC-130 overhead, have fired upon the groups of suspected Taliban that gathered in the village after the raid began? There was a lot of experience in that cockpit, the flight engineers and the door gunners. According to Glover, improved systems in place enable U.S. forces to monitor a target for days or even weeks prior to an operation, so they theoretically will know of even well-hidden potential RPG shooters throughout a village before transport helicopters first touch down. This is the Group Burial for unidentified remains of casualties of the Chinook helicopter (CH-47D 89-00175) which crashed in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. The SEAL commander assembled his force: 17 Navy SEALs, five Navy combat support specialists, three U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen, seven Afghan Special Forces operators, an Afghan interpreter, and a military working dog. Extortion 17 could be a bigger scandal and betrayal of Americans than Benghazi. Sat 6 Aug 2011 19.08 EDT. The suspicious August 6th, 2011, CH47-D Chinook helicopter crash in Wardak Province, Afghanistan which claimed the lives of 38 American military personnel. The shootdown was the single, deadliest loss of U.S. forces in the war. On this day 11 years ago, 30 American military servicemen and a U.S. military dog were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicoptercall sign Extortion 17was shot down in Afghanistan. The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. About a dozen of the 33 troops in the back of the helicopter suffered broken bones, heavy bruises and scrapes. For example, on 8 June 2011 another Chinook helicopter was engaged from five to six locations (i.e., points of origin) with 14 rocket-propelled grenades, forcing the crew to abort their mission. Just three months earlier, members of a counterpart SEAL Team 6 squadron successfully raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden. Originally just two people, the group eventually swelled to a total of nine or ten fighters, and the special operations task force commander and the Immediate Reaction Force commander became concerned that it might include Tahir. [43][44], American rules of engagement were tightened by Gen. Stanley McChrystal in 2009 in order to improve American counterinsurgency strategy. Nearby, there were two enemy fighters with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos Its crazy how many times I can think of where me or the guys I was with had to do that.. All rights reserved. unfolded that night are commonly referred to as Extortion 17, which is the call sign for the helicopter transporting the special op-erations personnel. August 2011 Attack on U.S. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. In The Final Mission of Extortion 17, Ed Darack debunks this theory and others and uncovers the truth behind this mysterious tragedy. Located in a remote and dangerous province in eastern Afghanistan, the base was the target of near-constant rocket attacks from Taliban insurgents. Downing of Extortion 17: The Single Deadliest Incident of the US War in In The Final Flight of Extortion 17, Ed Darack debunks this theory and others and uncovers the truth behind this mysterious tragedy. As is routine on such missions, two Apache attack helicopters provided extra cover and security for Extortion 17, while circling above was an AC-130 aircraft, a gunship that also provides surveillance. Setting the record straight: Myths and misinformation about Extortion 17 The worst of the wounded was one of Lees crew members, who suffered what was later diagnosed as a severe traumatic brain injury. This hearing also serves to The mission was flown by conventional pilots flying unmodified CH-47Ds. Gold Star father Bill Vaughn had a heartfelt message to American "leaders" while discussing a documentary that investigates the Extortion 17 helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Extortion17 hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy Lee, now a captain, was placed in command of a Chinook helicopter unit at Forward Operating Base Shank. I am so proud to be an American and I thank all of the families left behind to mourn their loss. [citation needed] Doubts about this story were raised by families and other concerned citizens despite the fact that the Navy SEAL team aboard Extortion 17 was a different squadron than that which had killed Osama bin Laden three months earlier. The Chinook is often used to assist in disaster relief, delivering food and water after earthquakes and floods. They are not the same SEALs, and these two events are not connected to one another. This tactic was highly successful; hundreds of operations were conducted without firing a shot for years. Were asking people to do incredible things. The downing of the Seal Team Six chinook with all of those team members who participated in the Bin Laden raid and the subsequent request by President Obama to destroy the images that were released only adds to the suspicion around the events. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. [1][2][3][4], The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board including 17 US Navy SEALs, two United States Air Force Pararescue, one United States Air Force Combat Control Team member, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan interpreter. They were part of the same Army Reserve unit, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment based in Gardner, Kan. Nichols, with three combat tours of duty, also had plenty of experience flying dangerous missions. [42], In 2017, Air Force captain Joni Marquez, the firing officer on an AC-130 gunship that had accompanied Extortion 17 on the final flight, made a similar claim. Extortion 17 - IMDb It wasnt preventable. EXTORTION 17 COVER-UP OF SEAL TEAM SIX SHOOT-DOWN | BWCentral The theories suggest that Afghan forces leaked information to the Taliban about the mission. What are the odds? At 31 U.S. military personnel killed, the shoot down of Extortion 17 represents the greatest single-incident loss of U.S. lives in Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan, surpassing the 16. The US soldiers killed in the 2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shoot-down with the call sign Extortion 17 (Photo: XY) SGT Alexander J. Bennett SPC Spencer Duncan (youngest onboard) CWO Bryan J. Nichols Here, in silence, are the names and photographs of all 30 men. No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. Copyright 2023 | National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, The Museum is a 501(c)(3) organization. The Afghan soldiers were an essential part of the package; they were trained to move with our forces to the target. The official statement from U.S. Central Command stated that a Taliban fighter scored a lucky shot with a rocket-propelled grenade. Intelligence had revealed Tahir to be the senior Taliban chief of the Tangi Valley region, with probable ties to upper-echelon Taliban leadership in Pakistan. Were handing rifles to 20-year-olds and asking them to shoot people. On Aug. 6, 2011, on the deadliest day in special operations history, 30 Americans, including 17 Navy SEALs, died when a Chinook helicopter crashed. Oct 26, 2016 - Explore Concerned Citizen's board "EXTORTION 17", followed by 829 people on Pinterest. Every mission is potentially life-threatening. Or when something went terribly wrong. Air & Space/Smithsonian contributing editor Ed Darack is the author of The Warriors of Anbar; War Moments; The Final Mission of Extortion 17; Victory Point; and three other books. American intelligence officials identified this individual as "OBJECTIVE GINOSA." THIS COMBAT MARINE SALUTES YOU ALL WE ALL GET A NEW STATION WHEN GOD OKS OUR TRANSFER I AM QUITE CERTAIN THAT GOD LOVES WARRIORS A BIT MORE THAN WE MIGHT REALIZE, I always suspected ObamaTard had something to do with this tragedy. Near the site of the Extortion 17 crash stands a memorial to Taliban fighters killed in the August 2011 battle during which Extortion 17 was shot down. Having studied and directly observed the counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan, Ive watched commanders and individual American troops consistently lean far to the side of restraint to encourage Afghans to side with American interests long after U.S. forces have left. 2 U.S. Navy SEALs from a west coast-based SEAL team. A Taliban fighter shot the helicopter out of the sky with a rocket-propelled grenade and all aboard were killedthe single greatest loss of American life in the Afghan war. The SEAL task force was monitoring this activity, and they were soon called upon to deploy quickly into the northern end of the valley to intercept Tahir and capture him and those moving with him. On his right wrist, he wears a bracelet with the names of the five crew members of Extortion 17. A catastrophic crash seemed unavoidable. I had to learn how to land while browned-out, wearing NVGs, on the side of a mountain or an uneven field, Lee said. Directors Karl Horstmann Stephen Spivey Writer Stephen Spivey Stars Sean Hannity Raj Kala On Aug. 6, 2011, insurgent forces in Afghanistan shot down an American aircraft. Monday, 06 August 2012, marks one year since the tragic downing of EXTORTION 17 in Tangi, Afghanistan. Less than five seconds after the RPG round hit, the helicopter spun uncontrollably, plummeting into a dry creek bed and erupting in a ball of fire that killed all on board. In July 2010, an RPG-wielding fighter put a round into the tail boom of a Marine AH-1W Super Cobra, downing it and killing both pilots. To remove the risk of rocket-propelled grenades downing helicopters in Afghanistan 100 percent, youd have to remove the opposable thumbs of every fighting-age male in the objective area, and thats not how we win a counter-insurgency., Ed Darack A few minutes past 2 a.m.on August 6, 2011, at a dusty forward operating base40 miles south of Kabul, Afghanistan, the rotors of two U.S. Army CH-47D Chinooks began to turn. While Benghazi resulted in four American deaths, Extortion 17 resulted in 38 deaths, including nearly two dozen Navy SEALs. [11] Going forward, the two AH-64 Apache helicopters would be engaged in tracking those two groups of Taliban, and hence unable to provide surveillance or fire support to the inbound helicopter carrying the SEAL team. One of the best crews in my company. Don Brown, a former U.S. Navy JAG officer stationed at the Pentagon, and former Special Assistant United . When the Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter was hit, all 38 onboard were instantly killed. Its almost always a miss.. Will this ever be exposed! Some sources state that at the shootdown, the two AH-64 Apache helicopters were engaged in tracking another Taliban group and were thus unable to provide surveillance (of the landing zone and infiltration route) and fire support the inbound CH-47D helicopter carrying the Navy SEAL team. The helicopter fell from the sky, killing all 38 on board. To reach the crash site, one must wind slowly through the ancient, narrow streets of the villages of Logar to reach the Tangi Valley in Wardak. In fact, the conflict was heating up. | Terms of Use Thirty-eight boarded Extortion 17 Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilots from the 159th General Support Aviation Battalion. A body went into the ocean, but Ill bet it wasnt Bin Ladens. Buy images; Sell images; First, the Obama administration's Defense Department's crash report stated that there were no eyes in the sky over the Chinook . [25][original research? An Afghan official, speaking anonymously a few days after the attack, speculated that the Taliban had laid a trap, that they had purposely put out false information about a meeting involving the Taliban commander. Mission commanders, believing that Tahir was likely among one of the groups, deployed an Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) to interdict them while the Rangers held the compound. Austin Williams visits the gravesite of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher C. Campbell in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. Why did it happen? The night before he left to go to Fort Hood, where he would board a plane to Afghanistan, the biggest event of the 10-year war occurred: Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan during a raid by Navy SEALs. At the time of the Juy Zarin raid, the battalion had been flying in Afghanistan for about two weeks. In June 2005, a rocket-propelled grenade connected with the rear transmission of a 160th MH-47E Chinook as it attempted to come to a hover, downing it; all 16 on board were killed. ], Four years after the downing of Extortion 17, there were many theories about a possible government coverup. They may have seen Extortion 17 and its landing zone through their own night vision goggles or simply aimed by sound alone. The "had Seal team 6 killed" is a likely reference to what's known as the "Extortion 17" incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinook military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan,. At 10:58 p.m., they were inserted by the same CH-47D helicopters that would later conduct the mission to insert the SEAL team. REMEMBERING EXTORTION 17 - Survive the News The crash killed all 38 people on board including 25 American special operations personnel, five United States Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen, seven Afghan commandos, and one Afghan interpreter as well as a U.S. military working dog. She had just given birth to their first child. The two may have been those who escaped Apache cannon fire, or they may have split away from either of the groups that formed after the start of the raid. First images of mangled Chinook crash revealed as Pentagon names all 30 130 Extortion 17 ideas | extortion, seal team 6, navy seals Extortion 17 119 Pins 9y K Collection by Kim&Pauly Us Soldiers Troops Fallen Soldiers Military Personnel Military Men American Soldiers American Heroes Naval Special Warfare Fallen Heroes We were told at that time we were the first unit to make it through a rotation without having anyone killed.. "Over two years after Extortion 17 was shot down, the families still have these unanswered questions," said Klayman. For every one that gets lucky, there are hundreds, even thousands, that zip by you., As weve seen a number of times, theres a point that a lucky shot is going to get you and there is only so much you can do to mitigate it, says Glover, the Marine aviator. [11] Seventeen U.S. Navy SEALs remained in reserve at the forward operating base. Joining the 15 members of SEAL Team 6, two pilots and three-man crew inside Extortion 17: ten other Navy and Air Force personnel, eight Afghans and a combat assault dog named Bart. Austin Williams visits the gravesite of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher C. Campbell in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. Published Aug 6, 2018 5:05 PM EDT. Restrained by strict rules of engagement in force at the time, the helicopter crews could not have fired without a strong indication of hostile intent. There are a lot of bullets out there that say To whom it may concern,says Major Doug Glover, a U.S. Marine F/A-18D weapons and sensors operator who was a senior watch officer for the Marine air operations center in southern Afghanistan. And why was the fire control officer of the AC-130 Gunship flying above denied permission . An official investigation found no evidence of a pre-planned ambush, though it did suggest that other helicopter activity in the area could have tipped off Taliban fighters that more helicopters could be approaching, according to the report. Two of the SEALs were from a West Coast SEAL unit, but the others were from the Gold Squadron of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU, sometimes known as SEAL Team 6, said the NSW source.. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Florida, Staff Sgt. Immediately after Ryan shared an intimate photo of his own, the cybercriminal demanded $5,000, threatening to make the photo public and send it to Ryan's family and friends. A hearing was set to get answers to questions surrounding the high-profile shoot-down of an American helicopter in Afghanistan and how the remains of the fallen service members were handled. He would not have hesitated to fly with any of them. A source from the Navys special operations community described the reaction as Shock and disbelief. Though both noted that airborne sensor coverage and closer AH-64 gunship escort should be considered in future operations, nothing could have kept the shooters from firing their RPGs that night. Cookie Settings, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds. Fallen Angel: Extortion 17 Facts and Documentary In the afternoon of 6 August, a flash flood swept through the area, washing away parts of the wreckage. The call sign for the Chinook was Extortion 17. All topics Extortion 17 Documentary Soon after US Navy Cryptologist Michael Strange and the elite SEAL Team 6 capture and kill Bin Laden, they are deployed to Afghanistan, where their Chinook is shot down. One of the most significant tactical evolutions of the Afghanistan conflict is the ever-heavier use of unmanned aerial systems and other airborne intelligence-gathering systems. Some news stories reported that investigators couldnt find the helicopters black box, referring to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. See more ideas about extortion, navy seals, seal team 6. So many unsettling details are coalescing with the resurgence of Extortion 17. In order to speed disembarkation, all troops were loaded on a single CH-47D helicopter for transport; the other Chinook would approach the landing zone second as a decoy. Naval Special Warfare support personnel, two EOD technicians, one MWD Handler, one Cryptologic technician, and one Information systems technician. Ryan Last. Its the worst day in our history by a mile.. After some time, another group of about 10 Taliban fighters was spotted that we suspected could be Qari Tahir himself fleeing the scene. Find the perfect extortion 17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. And while all military helicopters carry countermeasures for guided missiles, nothing can interdict the dumb luck of an unguided RPG round sailing through the air. The missions commanders decided to insert another team to go after Tahir while the Rangers held the compound. Should the Apache pilots have fired into the stand of trees after the two fighters ducked out of sight? One rocket struck a rotor blade, causing the aircraft to crash almost instantly. Many of these SEALs were made famous, credited with the killing of Osama bin Laden. by FighterSweep Staff Apr 25, 2017 Retired Air Force Captain Joni Marquez is claiming the Pentagon hid the truth and lied about the circumstances that led to a Chinook helicopter crash that. [11][12], As the Rangers approached the target compound, ISR aircraft observed several people leaving the compound. He said that insurgents had assumed a strong tactical position without knowledge of the helicopter's flight path. As the Chinook CH-47 transport helicopter (call sign: Extortion 17) carrying 30 U.S. troops, seven Afghan commandos, an Afghan civilian interpreter and a U.S. military dog approached, the. 2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown - Wikipedia Insurgents fired at the Chinook, severed one of. Extortion 17 was attached to a mission to capture or kill a senior Taliban leader, Qari Tahir, near Kabul, Afghanistan. The helicopter plunged tail first. Caring is more than just slapping a bumper sticker on your car, he said. The 30 American Servicemen killed in action (KIA) with the downing of Extortion 17. [11], By 16:25, all of the remains were taken from the crash site via ground convoy and transported to Combat Outpost Sayyid Abad. Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron Vaughn was one of the SEAL Team 6 operators who died in the crash. "It's a math problem. Worst US loss of life in Afghan war as helicopter crash kills 38 Their target: an Afghan named Qari Tahir and his group of fighters. 5 U.S. The landing zone had been examined for a previous mission but had not yet been used. The mission was flown by conventional pilots flying unmodified CH-47Ds. Privacy Statement Call Sign Extortion 17 : The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six In 2006, he was called into Afghanistan, where he turned 25. The immediate reaction force Extortion 17 carried should have been flown in two helicopters: Senior JSOC and aviation planners both agreed that the best course of action was to put the entire . [7][27][28] During the battle, American forces observed a small group of Taliban trying to flee the scene. Sometimes the enemy succeeds in delivering one of these To whom it may concern projectiles. August 6, 2017 marks six years since 30 American military servicemen and a U.S. military dog were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter call sign Extortion 17 was shot down in Afghanistan. As he did, he felt the craft leveling off. For the last two years, hes been an attorney with the law firm Jackson Walker. In April 2011, American forces turned over control of Combat Outpost Tangi to Afghan government forces. Regarding the downing of Extortion 17, all of the DEVGRU Operators aboard were members of the Gold Squadron. The Chinook helicopter they were aboard was shot down by . This would not be the first time that an Afghan military member has been an undercover Taliban Terrorist and shot our US Military! Save up to 30% when you upgrade to an image pack. The second slammed into one of the Chinooks rear rotor blades and exploded, severing 10 feet of it.
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