* An isolation facility where Special Forces are sequestered from the outside world to plan their missions in a secure environment. Inside the building, teams are isolated from each other in apartments; if a Green Beret is captured, he will thus have no knowledge of other teams’ locations or missions.
* The Air Force had two different types of forward air controllers, often called battlefield airmen: CCTs and TACPs (tactical air control party). Both air and ground forces often refer to CCTs or TACPs simply as JTACs (joint terminal air control).
* Special Forces slang for guerrilla leader.
* Ahmad Shah Massoud earned the nickname “the Lion of Panjshir” after the region from which his guerrilla tactics drove the Soviets in 1989. He was the commander of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (the Northern Alliance) until he was assassinated on September 9, 2001, by suspected al-Qaeda agents.
* Mohammed Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan. He reigned from 1933 until he was dethroned in a 1973 coup. He went into exile in Rome, where he headed an organization of émigré Pashtun that came to be known as the Rome Group, which lobbied for Pashtun representation in a post-Taliban government.
* Charlie Wilson was a Texas congressman who led Congress to support Operation Cyclone, the CIA’s largest covert operation, in which the United States secretly supplied the Mujahideen with weapons to fight the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan.
* The last confirmed sighting of Osama bin Laden occurred on November 7, 2001, when he gave an interview to a Pakistani reporter somewhere near Kabul. The U.S. government also concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, when U.S. and British forces conducted a series of air strikes against al-Qaeda fighters in the White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
* A Special Operations Forces Laser Acquisition Marker is used to designate targets usually intended to be bombed from aircraft, or to obtain the range or coordinates of a position or target.
* A ravine or channel that is dry except in the rainy season.
* A snub-nosed, or “short,” version of the AK-47.
* Cluster bombs release dozens of mini bombs that cover a large area, and are used to clear minefields and large concentrations of ground troops. A small percentage of the mini bombs fail to explode on impact and are notorious for blowing up as personnel move through the aftermath of a bombing raid.
* During Karzai’s youth, his father, as chief of the Popalzai, had used the family’s guest room almost entirely for local politics. Afghan culture dictates that all guests—even enemies—receive hospitality and protection while in a home.
* Amerine devised this system based on the dearth of vehicles in Afghanistan and questions he asked Karzai regarding driving habits of the locals. In the current climate of war, Karzai and his tribal leaders confirmed Amerine’s conclusion that trucks driving in convoys of five or more were Taliban military, except in specific instances. Each case would be individually scrutinized.
** Modern soldiers no longer announce their “stand to” readiness with only wastes bullets but also enables the enemy to locate soldiers’ positions, and take other advantage of a tactical tipping of one’s cards.
* Dr. Abdullah uses only one name, though he has been widely referred to as Abdullah Abdullah. He was the foreign minister of the Northern Alliance from 1998 forward.
** While the United States was known at this time to be backing Hamid Karzai’s anti-Taliban rebellion militarily, it was also backing various Northern Alliance generals in their rebellion. Thus Dobbins considered these genuine votes of confidence for Karzai.
* Though Americans were not on the ground in the south at the time, the air campaign had been in full swing, hitting Taliban targets based on satellite imagery and air reconnaissance throughout Afghanistan.
* Placing higher-ranked officers on the ground with the important leaders of the Northern Alliance and Karzai was at best symbolic, a political ploy. There was not a single report of an anti-Taliban leader complaining about either the performance or rank of the captains assigned to work with them, nor about the NCOs on the ODAs. For example, Northern Alliance General Dostum raved about the ODA assigned to him, telling National Geographic Adventure reporter Robert Young Pelton, “I asked for a few Americans. They brought with them the courage of a whole Army.”
* The Air Force’s $250 million Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, integrated into the shell of a Boeing 707.
* ODA 574 received an apology from Task Force Dagger the following day. They had supplied turkeys to the teams consolidating in the north, but had run out before the airdrop to the one team operating behind enemy lines in the south.
* The Marines flew almost four hundred miles overland from ships in the northern Arabian Sea to land at what they dubbed Camp Rhino, an event they later touted to the media as historic because it was the longest recorded amphibious “assault” landing in naval history. The lone airstrip was deserted at the time of the “assault.”
* A system of sorting and assigning the wounded priority for medical treatment based on urgency and chance for survival.
* Robin Sage is a training exercise conducted by the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for U.S. Army Special Forces candidates. It is the crux of eighteen months of training that soldiers must satisfactorily complete before being presented with their green berets, during which they fight a realistic unconventional war, complete with guerrillas and enemy regime troops.
* The radio network that linked the team with Task Force Dagger, air support, and quick reaction forces for medevac or search-and-rescue.
* The DShK (called “Dishka” or, more commonly, “Dushka”) is a Russian 12.7 x 108 mm gas-operated, air-cooled heavy machine gun that fires 575 rounds per minute with an effective range topping 2,200 yards, which put the Alamo within range from the north side of the bridge.
* A transport plane mounted with a range of guns on its left-side fuselage—including 25 mm Gatling guns capable of firing 1,800 rounds per minute—and integrated with targeting systems that allow the gunship crews to attack targets with surgical precision. Made famous during the Vietnam War for protecting ground forces and firebases surrounded by the enemy, it is said that no American base protected by one was ever lost.
* An offensive operation in which a unit maneuvers through an area or toward an objective while uncertain as to the location or number of enemy defenders. It becomes a contest of who spots the other first, though the offensive unit is often considered “bait” to flush out the enemy from his hiding places.
* One of the basics in small-unit tactics is for the team leader to move his men physically on the battlefield: point out where men need to go in person, not over a radio where directions can be misinterpreted, leading to fratricide accidents. This ensures full situational awareness.
* Military slang for vehicle commander.
* Amerine was still unaware that Ken had left behind Mag and Wes while fleeing enemy fire.
* A reference to a movie in which Bill Murray’s character relives the same day over and over again.
* Joint Direct Attack Munition is a guidance system kit bolted onto unguided 500-or 2,000-pound gravity “dumb” bombs.
* Expected to die regardless of medical care.
* Air Force para-rescue jumpers specialize in rescue missions behind enemy lines. They are trained medics and airmen who also perform ground security for aircraft at landing zones.
** In this case a fixed-wing “fuel tanker” used to refuel the helicopters while in flight.
* This was the first daytime helicopter mission in the War on Terror.
* In a flameout, one is out of fuel and must land immediately.
* Despite the PJ’s best efforts, the man died from his extensive wounds on the final approach to Camp Rhino. All of the remaining critically wounded Afghans medevaced by Knife 03 and Knife 04 survived.
* All references to
John Doe are to sources who wish to remain anonymous.
* An elite special mission unit that was based primarily in Pakistan, comprising Delta, Navy SEALs, British Special Air Service (SAS), and Army Rangers. Its main role was to capture or kill high-value Taliban and al-Qaeda targets.
Eric Blehm, The Only Thing Worth Dying For
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