- Battle of Takur Ghar
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Battle of Takur Ghar Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001-present) Date March 4-March 5, 2002 Location Takur Ghar Result Decisive United States Victory Belligerents 
United States
Taliban insurgents
Al-QaedaCommanders and leaders General Joseph Flagg
Brigadier General Gregory Trebon Lieutenant Colonel Blaber Colonel Robert Drunker Osama Bin Laden[citation needed]Strength 2 SEAL teams
1 Ranger platoon
3 Airmen
4 MH-47 Chinooks
1 AC-130 gunship500-1,000 Al-Qaeda Fighters Casualties and losses 3 Rangers
1 SEAL
2 Airmen
1 SOAR
Total: 7
2 Chinooks lost200 Al-Qaeda Fighters Timeline
2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011
Battles and operationsCrescent Wind · Rhino · Mazari Sharif · Kunduz · Herat · Kabul · Tawin Kowt · Shawali Kowt · Sayyd Alma Kalay · Qala-i-Jangi · Kandahar · Tora Bora
Lejay · Eagle Fury · Lashkar Gah · Mountain Thrust · Sangin · Mountain Fury · Now Zad · Achilles · Musa Qala I · Volcano · Kryptonite · Silver · Pickaxe-Handle · Hammer · Nasrat · Musa Qala II · Garmsir · Eagle's Summit · Red Dagger · Shahi Tandar · Diesel · Mar Lewe · Panther's Claw · Strike of the Sword · Dahaneh · Cobra's Anger · Moshtarak · Tor Shezada
Medusa · Avalanche · Kaika · Panjwaii · Falcon Summit · Hoover · Luger · Kamin · Shah Wali Kot · 1st Kandahar · Spin Boldak · Sarposa Prison · Arghandab · Wech Baghtu · 2nd Kandahar · Nadahan wedding bombing · Kandahar
1st Kabul · Hotel Serena · 1st Indian Embassy · Uzbin · Feb 2009 Kabul raid · 2nd Indian Embassy · Bakhtar guest house · NATO headquarters · Jan 2010 Kabul raid · Feb 2010 Kabul raid · May 2010 Kabul bombing · NATO convoy
Kunduz airstrike · Oqab · Chora · Firebase Anaconda · Shewan · Balamorghab · Derapet ·
Airstrikes
Hyderabad · Sayyd Alma Kalay · Gora Prai · Azizabad · Granai · Deh Bala · Sangin · UruzganInsurgent attacks
Bagram Air Base · Baghlan · Camp Chapman
Location of Takur Ghar
The Battle of Takur Ghar was a short but intense military engagement between United States special operations forces and Taliban insurgents fought in March 2002, atop Takur Ghar mountain, Afghanistan. For the U.S. side, the battle proved the deadliest entanglement of Operation Anaconda, an effort early in the war in Afghanistan to rout Taliban forces from the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains. The battle saw three helicopter landings by the U.S. on the mountain top, each greeted by direct assault from Taliban forces. Although Takur Ghar was eventually taken, eight U.S. soldiers were killed and many wounded. In honour of the first casualty of the battle, Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts, the battle is also known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge.
Contents
The battle
In the late evening of March 3, Lieutenant Colonel Blaber, commander of the AFO task force, received notice from Brigadier General Gregory Trebon , commander of TF 11, that two SEAL teams were to arrive in Gardez for immediate insertion into the Shahi-Kot Valley. The two SEAL teams, Mako 30 and Mako 21, planned to establish an observation point on the peak of Takur Ghar, which commanded the Shahi-Kot valley. Due to time constraints, a helicopter insertion would be needed for the teams to reach the peak before dawn. The AFO forces suggested insertion at a point 1300 meters east of the peak, but circumstances led the SEALs to choose the peak itself as the insertion point.
The two teams were picked up by two MH-47 Chinook helicopters, Razor 03 and Razor 04, at 11:23 PM on March 3. However, Razor 03 experienced engine difficulties, and two new MH-47s were dispatched to replace the original helicopters. This delay meant that the SEALs could not be inserted into the LZ east of the peak until 2:30 AM on March 4, with not enough time to reach the peak before daylight. In the fractured command situation at the time, Blaber was not notified that the SEALs were planning to insert at the peak in order.
An AC-130 gunship, Nail 22, flew a reconnaissance mission over the peak prior to the landing and saw no enemy activity, but was called away to support other troops before Razor 03 and 04 arrived at the Landing Zone (LZ). At around 0245 hours, Razor 03 landed at the LZ and was immediately struck in the left side electrical compartment by an RPG. The stricken helicopter took off, but Petty Officer First Class Neil C. Roberts fell out of the open ramp. Razor 03 attempted to return and retrieve him, but the damage prevented proper control and the helicopter was forced to crash-land in the valley approximately 4 miles away. Razor 04 returned to the peak to attempt to rescue Roberts, offloading Mako 30. The team came under immediate fire, and Air Force combat controller Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman was believed killed and two SEALs wounded. Mako 30 was forced off the peak due to its losses and requested the assistance of the Ranger quick-reaction force located at Bagram Air Base, led by Captain Nate Self.
The quick reaction force (QRF) consisted of 19 Rangers, a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP), and a three-man USAF special tactics team carried by two Chinooks, Razor 01 and Razor 02. Due to satellite communications difficulties, Razor 01 was mistakenly directed to the "hot" LZ on the peak at 33°20′34″N 69°12′49″E / 33.34278°N 69.21361°E. As Air Force rules prohibited AC-130 aircraft from remaining in hostile airspace in daylight after the crash of an AC-130 in Khafji in the Gulf War, the AC-130 support protecting Mako 30 was forced to leave before Razor 01 reached the LZ. Further communications difficulties meant that the pilot of the AC-130 was unaware that Razor 01 was incoming. At approximately 0610 hours, Razor 01, under the command of Captain Nate Self, reached the landing zone. The aircraft immediately began taking fire, and the right door minigunner, Sergeant Phillip Svitak, was killed by small arms fire. A RPG then hit the helicopter, destroying the right engine and forcing it to crash land. As the Rangers and special tactics team exited the aircraft, Private First Class Matt Commons, posthumously promoted to Corporal, Sergeant Brad Crose, and Specialist Marc Anderson were killed. The surviving crew and quick-reaction force took cover in a hillock and a fierce firefight began.
Razor 02, which had been diverted to Gardez as Razor 01 was landing on Takur Ghar, returned with the rest of the quick-reaction force at 0625 hours. Razor 02 inserted the other half of the QRF with its force of 10 Rangers at an “offset” landing zone, down the mountain some 800 meters east and over 2,000 feet below the mountaintop. The Rangers’ movement up the hill was a physically demanding 2-hour effort under heavy mortar fire and in thin mountain air. They climbed the 45-70 degree slope, most of it covered in three feet of snow, weighted down by their weapons, body armor and equipment. By 1030 am local time, the men arrived completely exhausted, with the enemy at the top of the hill a mere 50 meters from their position. As the ten men of Razor 02 arrived, the Rangers prepared to assault the enemy positions. As the Air Force CCT called in a last airstrike on the enemy bunkers and with two machineguns providing suppression fire, seven Rangers stormed the hill as quickly as they could in the knee-deep snow - shooting and throwing grenades. Within minutes, the Rangers took the hill, killing several Taliban fighters.
The force was able to consolidate its position on the peak. An enemy counterattack midday mortally wounded Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham, a pararescueman. The wounded were refused medevac during the daylight hours, due to risk of another downed helicopter. However, Australian SAS soldiers had infiltrated nearby prior to the first helicopter crash as part of a long range reconnaissance mission. They remained undetected in an observation post through the firefight and proved critical in co-ordinating multiple Coalition air strikes to prevent the Taliban fighters from overrunning the downed aircraft. This, plus the actions of the two SASR operators working with the 10th Mountain, earned the commander of the Australian SAS force in Afghanistan the U.S. Bronze Star for his unit's outstanding contribution to the war on terrorism.
At around 2000 hours, the quick-reaction force and Mako 30 were exfiltrated from the Takur Ghar peak. As a result of this action, both Technical Sergeant Chapman and Senior Airman Cunningham were awarded the Air Force Cross, the second highest award for bravery. U.S. and Afghan sources believe at least 200 Taliban fighters were killed during the initial assault and subsequent rescue mission.
Fate of Chapman and Roberts
It is not certain whether the airman and sailor died immediately or were killed by opposing soldiers. There is a possibility that Roberts was captured by the Taliban fighters, and executed later with a single shot to the back of the head. (One of the feeds showed a group of 8–10 fighters huddling around what appeared to be a body; both GRIM 32 and MAKO 30 noted that an IR strobe was active, a video feed showed the fighters passing the IR strobe around.)[1] This report has not been confirmed. MG Frank Hagenbeck did confirm that Taliban fighters were seen (on live video feed from a Predator drone orbiting the firefight) chasing Roberts, and later dragging his body away from the spot where he fell. Another feed from the same predator showed a puff of heat [from a rifle] and the indistinct figure in front of it fall.[2] Also, the quick-reaction soldiers reported fighters wearing Roberts' gear and finding "a helmet with a bullet hole in it, [from which] it was clear the last person [Roberts] to wear it had been shot in the head".[3] Other reports have Roberts surviving for nearly an hour and inflicting serious casualties on opposing forces with his pistol and grenades before his death.[4]
Predator drone footage also shows the possibility that Chapman was alive and fighting on the peak after the SEALs left rather than being killed outright as thought by Mako 30. A man was seen fighting in a bunker against multiple enemies until hit by an RPG. If this man was Chapman, he succumbed "a mere 45 seconds before... Razor 01 appeared over the mountaintop".[3]
Note: A paper written by Col. Andrew Milani (Former commander of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment) and Dr. Stephen D. Biddle entitled "Pitfalls of Technology: A Case Study of the battle of Takur Ghar" noted that the Predator was on station 90 minutes after Roberts had fallen; the images that were shot before the Predator had arrived were shot by GRIM-32's Infrared Cameras,[5] although this has not been confirmed by commanders.
U.S. casualties
USN SEALs:
Petty Officer 1st Class Neil C. Roberts, born 1970, Woodland, CaliforniaUSAF COMBAT CONTROL:
TSgt John A. Chapman, born 1965, Springfield, MassachusettsUSAF PARARESCUE:
SrA Jason D. Cunningham, born 1976, Carlsbad, New MexicoUSA RANGERS:
PFC Matthew A. Commons, born 1981, Boulder City, Nevada
SGT Bradley S. Crose, born 1980, Orange Park, Florida
SPC Marc A. Anderson, born 1972, Brandon, FloridaUSA 160th SOAR:
SGT Phillip "Spytech" Svitak, born 1971, Neosho, MissouriIn popular culture
The story of the 2010 video game Medal of Honor centers around a fictionalized account of the Battle of Takur Ghar with the character "Rabbit" loosely based on Neil "Rabbit" C. Roberts.
Nate Self, the captain in charge of the Ranger unit Razor 01, who was dubbed a hero and interviewed for both the battle and PTSD suffered from it, wrote a book centering around it, called Two Wars.
Notes
- ^ Macpherson, Malcolm. Roberts Ridge Bantam Dell (New York), 2005.:
- ^ Macpherson, Malcolm. Roberts Ridge Bantam Dell (New York), 2005:
- ^ a b Naylor, Sean. Not a Good Day to Die Penguin Group (New York), 2005:
- ^ Navy SEAL Neil Roberts Afghanistan War death. http://www.ptsdsupport.net/roberts.htm
- ^ Macpherson, Malcolm. Roberts Ridge Bantam Dell (New York), 2005. Page 352:
References
- MacPherson, M. 2005. Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan, Delacorte, ISBN 0-553-80363-8
- Naylor, S. 2005. Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, Berkley Hardcover ISBN 0-425-19609-7.
- Executive Summary of the Battle of Takur Ghar (pdf)
- Self, N. 2008. Two Wars: One Hero's Fight on Two Fronts--Abroad and Within, Tyndale House ISBN 1414320094
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Afghan War at Wikinews · Commons Categories:- Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
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