SEAL of Honor (28 page)

The formal briefing was conducted in the Operations Area and included several members of SEAL Team Eight, including Commander Paro, Lieutenant Commander Kristensen, and Petty Officer Second Class Ben Sauers. Representing the new arrivals were Lieutenant Murphy, Senior Chief Healy, and Petty Officer First Class Luttrell. Murphy’s unit was assigned to SEAL Team Ten, under Kristensen’s command. Kristensen, the son of Rear Admiral Edward Kristensen (ret.), was well known within the SEAL community as a disciplined and highly competent leader. Due to the closeness of the SEAL community, the men were all familiar with each other, their reputations in the teams having preceded them. During the briefing, members of SEAL Team Eight described the terrain, the locals, and the obstacles to be managed. Because of the rugged terrain, many of the missions occurred in the mountains, which were populated with civilian goat herders. These goat herders were very quick covering the rugged terrain and were acutely aware of any changes in the landscape. Any broken twig or branch, overturned rock, bent grass, or new smell would attract their attention.

Due to the frequency of missions into the mountains, the large number of goat herders, and their keen knowledge of the terrain, it was not a question of whether a mission would be compromised; it was only a matter of when and how often. The new arrivals were also informed that most encounters with the local goat herders had been uneventful; despite the language barrier, a PowerBar or other food item usually resulted in them continuing on their way without any trouble. To date, there had been no violent incidents. Everyone looked at each other. No one had to say a word; each knew what the others were thinking.

They were also given the standard operating procedure (SOP) and rules of engagement (ROEs) for such compromises. If the compromise was by known anticoalition militia (ACM), they were to be neutralized. If the compromise was by civilians, they were to be turned loose and moved to a new location.

Brought in to accomplish a list of specific tactical missions, Murphy’s unit was mission ready and within hours of their arrival and briefing were operational, conducting several snatch-and-grab missions and direct-action assignments. Snatch-and-grab missions were quick missions organized on short notice to secure Taliban and other terrorist leaders. Sauers accompanied Murphy on four such missions, and was pleased to have the opportunity to serve with Michael again. He later related, “I developed a tremendous amount of respect for Lieutenant Murphy when we were in BUD/S, jump school, SQT, and SDV training. My respect for him continued to grow during those four missions. He was a great SEAL leader, always concerned about taking care of his men. Like I said, I would follow him anywhere.”

All of the missions were to mountainous eastern Afghanistan near Khost and the Pakistan border, in the areas of Bagram Airfield and two forward operating bases (FOBs), Camp Salerno and Camp Chapman. Camps Salerno and Chapman were about four kilometers apart. On one mission, the men missed their intended target, but obtained actionable intelligence through the target’s father-in-law. Plans were made for the target’s apprehension or elimination.

Of the four missions that Sauers and Murphy were on together, Sauers related, “the officers took turns being in charge of the mission. Lieutenant Murphy had a lot of confidence in his men. On one mission, he knew that I had completed the basic Emergency Medical Technician course, so when we had a guy injured, he called me forward and told me to take care of the situation. Another time, we were on a mission and he knew that I had extensive training in land navigation and tracking, he again called me forward, had me look at some tracks, and asked for my assessment.” As the word got around, the enlisted men began to hold Lieutenant Murphy in very high esteem.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

—CAPTAIN JOHN MCCAIN, USN (ret.),
Why Courage Matters

 

 

 

W
ith the frequency of missions, Michael found it difficult to communicate with his family. However, on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, he was able to send an e-mail to his mother, including with it a picture of his team holding a cardboard sign that read, “Happy Mother’s Day.”

Consuming an increasing amount of his team’s time was Mullah Ahmad Shah, one of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants. He commanded the rebel group known as the Mountain Tigers, a militia force with an estimated strength of 40 to 150 men. Shah, who was fluent in five different languages, was constantly on the move, hiding among the civilian populations of the Pashtun villages in the Hindu Kush along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan in Kunar province.

Kunar, one of thirty-four provinces in Afghanistan, is located in the northeastern-most part of the country on the border with Pakistan’s Bajaur Agency, which is part of the region known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It had long been a favored location of insurgent groups, because of its impenetrable terrain, extensive cave network, and border with the semiautonomous Pakistani North-West Frontier Province. There native Taliban forces mingled with foreign al-Qaeda fighters, while mujahideen militias continued their warring manner with other tribes. As a result of Operation Enduring Freedom, U.S. and coalition forces drove
bin Laden and the remainder of his al-Qaeda forces underground in the Kunar cave network and neighboring Pakistan.

One of the primary missions for which Lieutenant Murphy’s team was brought to Afghanistan was to utilize their reconnaissance skills to neutralize high-profile al-Qaeda and Taliban targets. On June 3, 2005, Shah’s forces ambushed and killed three Marines from Company C, 1st Battalion near Forward Operating Base (FOB) Orgun-E, located outside the town of Orgune in the Paktika province in southwestern Afghanistan along the Pakistani border. Killed were Captain Charles D. Robinson and Staff Sergeant Leroy E. Alexander. Seriously burned was Staff Sergeant Christopher N. Piper, who subsequently died of his wounds. The Marines approached CJSOTF-A’s commanders and requested the capture or elimination of Shah. They in turn immediately contacted Commander Kent Paro, who began the initial planning for the mission.

The first planning session held included Paro, Lieutenant Commander Erik Kristensen, Lieutenant Mike McGreevy, and Senior Chief Dan Healy. As task unit commander, the planning effort was the direct responsibility of Kristensen, assisted by McGreevy and Healy. Although not directly involved in the step-by-step planning of the mission, Paro was intimately involved in the overall planning.

The name of this mission was left to the task unit commander, Lieutenant Commander Erik Kristensen. A big hockey fan, Kristensen liked to name SEAL missions after professional hockey teams. The next team on his list was the Detroit Red Wings.

An initial plan and detailed drawings based on the latest intelligence was drawn up. With Paro’s review and approval, Kristensen, McGreevy, and Healy approached Major Stephen Reich and Captain Myron Bradley of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), known as the Night Stalkers, and enlisted their help with air operations. During this initial meeting, Kristensen, McGreevy, and Healy huddled with Reich and Bradley in the 160th’s Operations Center near the flight line. A large detailed map was laid out, covering the wooden table in the center of the room. At the top of the paper in large red letters were the words “Operation Red Wings.” Kristensen and Healy went over their plan in detail and sought the input of Reich and Bradley, which resulted in a few modifications.

With a command change scheduled for the last week in June, CJSOTF-A commanders made it abundantly clear that Shah was the number one target and absolutely must be neutralized before that time. While Shah was a high-profile target, there were several other concurrent operations being both planned and executed. The highly experienced Senior Chief Dan Healy, a recognized expert in counter-intelligence, spent hours combing intelligence reports, continually pouring over lists, photographs, maps, and charts, which resulted in the modification of several operational plans, including Operation Red Wings. Due to the terrain, the altitude,
and the strength of Shah’s forces, attempts to pinpoint Shah’s location had proved difficult and at times totally unsuccessful. Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell described the terrain in his book
Lone Survivor:
“The steep, stony mountain crevasses and cliffs, dust-colored, sinister places, were now alive with the burgeoning armies of the Taliban.... Up there, complex paths emerge and then disappear behind huge boulders and rocks. Every footstep that dislodges anything, a small rock, a pile of shale, seemed like it might cause an earthshaking avalanche. Stealth, we were told, must be our watchword on the high, quiet slopes of the Hindu Kush.”

Under pressure to neutralize Shah, additional effort and resources were channeled into the planning for Operation Red Wings. On June 10, 2005, Commander Paro was unexpectedly and temporarily reassigned and command of the unit was assumed by Lieutenant Commander Kristensen. However, Paro and Kristensen remained in daily contact about the Red Wings mission planning. Paro later described LCDR Kristensen: “I had every confidence in Erik. He was a highly competent SEAL commander. Highly cerebral, no detail escaped his watchful eye, and he left nothing to chance. He reminded me of someone who in their later years would be in a bulky sweater, smoking a pipe and reading book after book and having highly intellectual discussions with others.”

Kristensen was assisted by Lieutenant McGreevy. Paro also described McGreevy: “They simply did not come any better than Mike McGreevy. Honor Man in his class, highly respected in the teams, detail oriented, a highly competent strategic and operation planner as well as an excellent tactician. When you put both Erik and Mike together it simply did not get any better than that.”

As the plan continued to develop, others were brought into the planning process. Included from the 160th SOAR were Lieutenant Colonel John Dunson, the commanding officer; Major Steve Reich, the acting task force operations officer; Captain Myron Bradley, the air mission commander; and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chad Easter, the senior flight lead. Representing the SEALs were Lieutenant Commander Kristensen, Lieutenant McGreevy, Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Senior Chief Healy, and Marcus Luttrell, who served as leading petty officer (LPO).

Actionable intelligence showed that Shah’s troop strength numbered between 80 and 200 men, and his force was growing. Although the plan was fully developed, on the day of the scheduled mission it was “taken down” due to the lack of adequate air support and indefinitely postponed as commanders placed other missions higher on the priority list.

Throughout their deployments, Lieutenant Mark Hernandez and Lieutenant Michael Murphy remained in frequent communication and planned and
coordinated the remaining missions which they were required to cover down. Mission planning was conducted utilizing the capabilities of the SEAL Mission Support Center (MSC), and the most recent version of SOMPE-E (Special Operations Mission Planning Environment-Maritime), the mission-planning software. A variation of the Microsoft Windows NT Office 2000, it allowed special operations planners a secure platform from which to access information, conduct Web chats and whiteboard sessions, and bring the vast military and special operations databases to operational- and tactical-level planners.

Most special operations missions were conducted in a relatively short period of time, several hours at the most. Red Wings would extend over a minimum of three to four days. The mission called for a four-man SEAL reconnaissance element to find Shah and document his troop strength. Once Shah was located, the recon unit was to call in a SEAL team to act as a combined assault and blocking force. They were to surround and neutralize Shah’s camp, then perform a combined direct-action assault to neutralize anticoalition militia (ACM) throughout the Korangal Valley
.

The Korangal Valley is located on the southern part of the Pech River, a strategic passage the Taliban and al-Qaeda wanted to control. As such, it was among the deadliest pieces of terrain in the world for U.S. forces. Below the Korangal River and across the valley is the dark face of the Abas Ghar ridge and Sawtalo Sar. Sawtalo Sar is a 9,282-foot peak with a ridge that runs north to south and defines the eastern wall of the six-mile-long Korangal Valley. The Taliban essentially owned Abas Ghar and Sawtalo Sar. The Korangal fighters were fierce, knew the terrain, and watched the Americans’ every move.

Despite his busy mission planning and execution schedule, on Sunday, June 17, at 4:58 PM, Michael sent a combined e-mail to his father, his mother, his fiancée, Heather, and his brother John.