Hunters: U.S. Snipers in the War on Terror (4 page)

AREA OF OPERATIONS: AFGHANISTAN

In Afghanistan, the enemy, the hard corps Tali-
ban and al-Qaeda fi ghters, they’re not scared
of us. They’re just as excited about killing an
American as we are about killing them, but I can
tell you that they fear the unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IN
the winter of 2007, twenty-three-year-old U.S. Army sniper Sergeant Tyler Juden waited patiently for his prey. His team remained cloaked high in the Spin Ghar Mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, and from their hilltop, Tyler kept an eye out for movement below. He was not searching for quail or mule deer like back home on the Kansas plains. Here, in these mountains, the prey was Taliban insurgents.

The sniper team observed into the Khyber Pass, a strategically important stretch of ground bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. The winding valley allowed Coalition Forces to ship vital supplies from Pakistan, but it also allowed enemy fighters to attack Tyler’s base and slip back across the border, which they’d been doing.

The attacks happened every Wednesday morning at 0900. Tyler’s small outpost took mortar fire for a month before his team was dispatched. Unfortunately for the enemy, their pattern of attacks, along with a lightweight counter-mortar radar, gave the U.S. soldiers a fi x on their firing position.

Planning took days. Later, Tyler, his spotter, a forward observer, and a SAW gunner moved from their base. It was after midnight. They hitched a ride with an infantry patrol until they were about seven kilometers (four miles) from the target area. The route to their destination had jagged cliffs and rugged terrain, allowing only foot patrols to enter the area. That seemingly gave the Taliban an advantage, but in the days to come they would no longer be safe there.

For more than two days, the four-man team lay on the mountainside. Tyler and his spotter were fifty yards above the forward observer and SAW gunner. Their weathered Army Combat Uniforms (ACUs) matched the sparse brush and rocks, and the painted M110 blended perfectly with the dirt. A skillful map study had put them on the highest point in the area. From that position they had a perfect view of the canyon and ravines below them. The radar indicated that the mortar team would fire within a few hundred yards of them. When they did, the snipers would be waiting.

On Wednesday morning at 0900, the soldiers scoured the valley for the enemy mortar team, but found nothing. At 0915, Tyler began to question the intelligence they had received. When 0930 rolled around, all was still quiet, until Tyler’s partner spotted something.

Three men strolled into view on the other side of the valley. Tyler’s spotter quickly found the range to targets; it was six hundred meters (two thousand feet) and counting. The snipers knew right away that these were bad guys. Besides the fact that they had AKs and green chest rigs, their Puma tennis shoes were a dead giveaway. The shoes matched those used by other enemy fighters that the soldiers had targeted before. Tyler notified the forward observer, who also saw the men. He immediately contacted two Apaches already in the area and had them start in on an artillery support mission.

Atop the hill, the snipers prepared to engage. Typical in Afghanistan, Tyler’s shots would be difficult ones; a breeze swept over the mountain behind them and met a crosswind from left to right at five hundred meters away. In addition to that, the angle had Tyler aiming downhill, plus the closest fighter, the tail man, was more than six hundred meters away. Before engaging, though, Tyler and the forward observer decided to coordinate the attack to mask Tyler’s shot behind the impact of artillery. The explosions would keep their position concealed in case more fighters were near.

Minutes passed and the artillery did not show. Tyler was forced to engage before the targets moved out of range. By now the men were at six hundred and eighty meters, and Tyler corrected his scope’s elevation and windage. He had been on plenty of deer hunts and won marksmanship contests in high school, but this was the real deal. Four years of sniper training, sniper school, all the “what ifs” and “could I’s” came down to the following few seconds. After a deep breath, Tyler’s natural point of aim put his crosshairs’ center mass on the tail man. Everything felt right and he let the bullet fly.

Traveling at 2,571 feet per second, the round tore through the man’s rib cage and instantly dropped him. In front, his friend turned and stared in confusion while Tyler slowly squeezed the trigger to shoot him also, but in mid-squeeze an artillery round blasted the mountainside two hundred meters away from the three.

The explosion scared the enemy off. As they ran, Tyler concentrated with all his might on hitting one more, but his first couple of shots were off. He had only one chance left. More than seven hundred meters away, his target ran at a dead sprint, quickly closing Tyler’s window of opportunity. Then his training kicked in, and he sighted ahead of the man to use the ambush method. Just when the man hit his mark, Tyler shot and recovered in time to see the outcome. His bullet hit just behind the man’s rear leg, so close that if the man had kicked his leg up a little higher, he would have been hit, but sadly for Tyler, he slipped away.

By now, the Apaches were en route, directed by the forward observer. Tyler traversed back to the man he had already shot. The man was on his hands and knees, still alive.

“Shoot him again,” said his spotter, but Tyler didn’t want to. Minutes later, after the man started crawling, Tyler changed his mind.

His windage was slightly off for the second shot. It hit the man’s butt and knocked him onto his stomach. Unbelievably, the man sat up moments later to rest against a rock. Tyler finished him off with one last shot, which penetrated his neck, above the collarbone. Just then, the Apaches arrived and eliminated the two men who had been running. Later, a patrol arrived and inspected the bodies and collected intelligence from them. In the end, the soldiers’ forward operating base didn’t receive any more indirect fire.

In the past eight years, missions like these have become standard for snipers in Operation Enduring Freedom. In the quest to defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and to overthrow the Taliban, U.S. snipers have played a variety of roles, encompassing offensive, defensive, and conventional sniper operations. For the first few years of the Global War on Terror, however, some snipers dreaded deploying to Afghanistan, considering it to be dull. The first of them had arrived after the bulk of the fighting to find that the enemy had been killed, captured, or driven into the most remote areas in the region. That would change in the years to come.

Recently, Afghanistan has become a sniper’s Mecca. The environment is ideal for snipers hoping to test their skills and training. This no-man’s-land introduces many variables that snipers must consider: dangerous landscapes, sprawling distances, unforgiving weather conditions, and a resourceful and hardened enemy fighter.

As it pertains to snipers, defining the enemy can be confusing. Allegiances and packs between tribes and groups can switch in a second, turning friends to foes and vice versa. There are a few certain enemy fighters though, one being the Taliban.

The Taliban is recognized as “the students.” These men implement a strict interpretation of Islamic law and brutally enforce it. Afghan Pashtuns, also traditionally Sunni Islamists, are the bulk of the group, but Pakistani Pashtuns and others have also joined the ranks. Pashtuns have dominated Afghanistan for hundreds of years. Tribal alliances cross geological boundaries into Pakistan, giving the Pashtuns a place to retreat to and rest. The Pashtuns in Afghanistan are conditioned for war and made up most of the Afghan mujahedeen, or
holy warriors
, who fought to prevent Russian occupation in the 1980s. Shorty after that war ended, they formed the Taliban, subsequently taking control of the country.

As of 2009, the Taliban has been relegated to an insurgency, but their influence over civilians and Afghan military is powerful. Geographically, their control covers most of the south and east, but attacks have spread throughout other regions of the country. Like the insurgency in Iraq, Taliban fighters hit and run and employ IEDs as well as indirect fire. Though many conduct cross-border operations or fight from caves and mountainsides, there are also groups living and operating from their hometowns and villages, easily blending in as civilians.

Another enemy is al-Qaeda, translated as
The Base.
Created in part by Osama Bin Laden, this international terrorist organization was initially driven into hiding in 2001, but as of late, they have reemerged. As the self-described advocates and headquarters for future
jihad,
or
the struggle,
al-Qaeda fights to drive non-Islamic agencies and their influences, particularly the United States, from Muslim nations with the purpose of installing fundamentalist Islamic rule.

As fighters, al-Qaeda members are a collective mix. These men come from as far as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Chechnya, and Jordan but also include local Afghan Arabs. Their grasp of tactics and weapons instructions is taught at internal training camps. In these camps, individuals learn the use of small arms, explosives, intensive guerrilla warfare, and small unit tactics. A fierce devotion to their ideology makes them more fearless, disciplined, and willing to fight to the death than their Taliban counterparts.

Other fighters fall under the term ACMs or Anti-Coalition Militias. ACMs are groups of fighters and tribes who battle Afghan and Coalition troops. They are found in most regions of the country and have proven to be formidable enemies. Though these groups are not particularly involved with al-Qaeda or the Taliban, some do cooperate with them.

In facing the enemy, U.S. snipers have an integral role in the success of combat operations. Large- scale offensive maneuvers have demonstrated the benefit of snipers supporting the infantry, while individual covert sniper missions have been instrumental in demoralizing and destroying enemy personnel. In Afghanistan, snipers are the unknown factor, killing some while striking fear in the rest. However, that does not mean that they are in any less danger. There, a sniper must be strong, patient, and courageous because there is no telling in what situation he might find himself.

IAN
Baker was in Australia when his life changed. His sniper platoon from the First Battalion, First Marines, part of the Fifteenth Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) had spent time with the Aussie military patrolling and shooting on a sniper range outside of Darwin. When they finished, the marines were able to do what they loved best, enjoy liberty.

It was Baker’s second deployment. At twenty years old, he had spent all three of his years in the Marines within the battalion’s scout sniper platoon. Two years earlier, he had graduated from First Marine Division Scout/Sniper School, learning what it meant to be a certified sniper or HOG. By his second deployment, he was one of the most experienced snipers and a team leader.

In Darwin, after training, the snipers were set free on the town. It meant that Baker could gamble, and at a nearby casino he tested his hand at blackjack, winning a few thousand dollars. The next day, his platoon met at a local tavern to help Baker blow some of the money that he had won. It was September 11, 2001.

Inside the tavern, Baker ordered a pitcher of beer before heading for the bathroom. As he did, he noticed the World Trade Center attacks on television.

“What movie is this?” he asked a local, unaware that it was actual footage.

“It’s not a movie. You guys shouldn’t be here,” he said.

Baker stopped and watched a little longer, realizing the situation. Soon everyone in the bar was glued to the television, completely in shock. Shortly afterward, shore patrol from the Fifteenth Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived and announced that everyone needed to report back to ship. On the boat, Baker’s company commander told them about the terrorist attacks, and the next morning, the ships pulled out of port.

MEUs were just the type of strike force fit for fighting terrorism. An MEU is made up of 2,200 marines and sailors, with artillery, tanks, amphibious vehicles, attack helicopters, fighter jets, and many more elements all built around the main asset, a single Marine infantry battalion. The First Battalion, First Marines, from Camp Pendleton, California, were the current battalion landing team with the Fifteenth MEU, and they had spent twenty-six weeks training in several environments and scenarios to receive the label Special Operations Capable (SOC). Once they did, they were able to fight in every clime and place, and that is just what they expected to do when the news broke about a War on Terror.

After leaving Australia, however, the Fifteenth MEU steamed toward East Timor. They continued with their original schedule to provide humanitarian assistance to the struggling nation. When they arrived, Baker’s sniper team climbed onto the rooftop of a clinic to provide security while other marines gave medical assistance to civilians. All the while, Special Operations forces infiltrated Afghanistan to begin Operation Enduring Freedom. With other American forces fighting, the marines itched to get into the fight, and after a week in East Timor, the Fifteenth MEU aimed for the Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan.

On ship, Baker learned that his battalion had received a mission. The Pakistan government agreed to U.S. forces utilizing airfields in Pakistan, providing that none be used for staging attacks into Afghanistan. Vital for U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan, Air Force Combat Search and Rescue needed a secure airfield to operate from, and Jacobabad, near the Afghanistan border, was the perfect solution. For the marines of the Fifteenth MEU, it meant that that they and their Maritime Special Purpose Force (MSPF) team would move in to establish a perimeter and provide security at the airfield in Jacobabad.