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He pushed hard on the cyclic stick to tilt the helicopter forward. After some time, another group of about 10 Taliban fighters was spotted that we suspected could be Qari Tahir himself fleeing the scene. That June, the U.S. military launched Operation Hammer Down to drive out insurgents entrenched in remote strongholds of eastern Afghanistan. Advertising Notice The hardest LZ Id ever been into, Lee said. The true story behind the recovery of Extortion 17 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. [1][5][6][7][8] At 30 American military personnel killed, the shootdown of Extortion 17 represents the greatest single-incident loss of American lives in Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan, surpassing the 16 lost in the downing of Turbine 33, a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 helicopter, during Operation Red Wings on 28 June 2005.[2]. "The downing of Extortion 17 was a catastrophic and unprecedented tragedy for our nation," Reid testified. This remains the greatest single loss of life to Naval Special Warfare since the Afghan War started in 2001. You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.. Three hours after disembarking from the Chinooks, the assault force had secured the compound and detained a number of Tahirs men, but they hadnt found Tahir himself. Navy SEAL Foundation - Extortion 17 Tragedy Assistance. Honor and His account of the brave pilots, crew, and passengers of Extortion 17 and . Caring is more than just slapping a bumper sticker on your car, he said. extortion 17 crash photos. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. One of the engines flew off, and the other caught fire. Yesterday, the Pentagon released the names of the 30 troops-- Navy SEALs, soldiers, and airmen, killed in the helicopter downed by Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan last weekend. That's the only route, so they took positions on either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. The Tangi Valley is a strategic terrain that connects the two primary highways that lead to Kabul. But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data recorder for maintenance. When the shock subsided, questions arose and persisted. David Tarrant, The Dallas Morning News Several minutes later, a 20-man Pathfinder team (specializing in downed-aircraft rescue and recovery) arrived at the site. The conspiracy theories didnt bother Lee at first. Recovery of wreckage from the crash site lasted until 9 August 2011. I am so proud to be an American and I thank all of the families left behind to mourn their loss. Six minutes from their estimated landing time, Extortion 16 broke away from the lead Chinook and orbited at a location close enough to help if needed. The official statement from U.S. Central Command stated that a Taliban fighter scored a lucky shot with a rocket-propelled grenade. Early media reports suggested that the Army had been tardy to recover flight recorders from the downed Chinook, and, as a consequence, the recorders had been swept away by the flood. [33], The New York Post reported that the Pentagon released 30 names from the crash. Located in a remote and dangerous province in eastern Afghanistan, the base was the target of near-constant rocket attacks from Taliban insurgents. Photo by Jake Simkin for Coffee or Die Magazine. Six weeks later, at around 10:40 p.m., an assault team of Army Rangers and Afghan special operations forces were dropped into an LZ on a mission to capture or kill a Taliban commander named Qari Tahir, who had been responsible for a series of attacks and ambushes in the Tangi Valley, not far from Shank. Extortion 17: Were American Servicemen in Afghanistan Set Up For The helicopter plunged tail first. In this week in military history, we explore the aerial attack on a U.S. Army helicopter with the call sign "Extortion 17" in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. Did Extortion 17 cover-up sink Rep. Chaffetz? - WND Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, California, Tech. Naval Special Warfare support personnel: Two, 3 U.S. Army Reserve personnel (Aircrew) from the, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 20:01. On August 6th, 2011, the helicopter was fired upon and shot down by a previously undetected group of Taliban fighters. According to one Army report, in the three months prior to the Juy Zarin raid, as many as 17 RPGs were fired at helicopters over Wardak and Logar provinces, a relatively small part of the country. Ill try to reply the best I can. He taught helicopter pilots how to fly in high altitudes at an aviation training site in Colorado. Were asking people to do incredible things. Also if an Afghan soldier member of this team opened fire on this seal team then way was all the bodies Cremated and evidence destroyed?? | [9][10], After American intelligence services discovered in 2011 that senior Taliban leader Qari Tahir was possibly in Tangi Valley, Wardak province, Afghanistan, local American forces launched a mission to apprehend or kill him. All content is protected by copyright and may not be used for commercial purposes without prior written permission. The vast majority miss. Are all DEVGRUs saved in a sperm bank? The downing of Extortion 17 spurred a number of conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the shootdown was revenge for bin Laden's death. Now deep in the Tangi Valley, their night vision goggles showing the world around them in greenish hues, the IRF team members readied to hit the ground running as the pilots slowed Extortion 17 and descended toward the village. 5 U.S. 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. (Photo Credit: Senior Airman Anthony Nin Leclerec / U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) There were a total of 38 individuals onboard Extortion 17. There are more operations than can be supported by the 160th at any given time," says Major Matthew Brady, a former 160th pilot and company commander. Extortion 17 could be a bigger scandal and betrayal of Americans than Benghazi. 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. Extortion 17: 6 Years Later Retired Air Force Captain Says Pentagon On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (pronounced "one-seven") was shot down while transporting a Quick Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Find the perfect extortion 17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. A typical combat mission in Afghanistan leaves little margin for error, requiring Chinook pilots to land on tiny, makeshift sites on mountain slopes where any tree, bush or rock could be hiding an enemy fighter with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. LOL, Ray Williams 509th RRCUV (Army Security Agency) Feb68-Apr71. Bissonnette also said that there was one DEVGRU Operator on the mission who was not a member of Red Squadron and that he was chosen for the mission because of his linguistic abilities. At the time of the Juy Zarin raid, the battalion had been flying in Afghanistan for about two weeks. 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. He said: "They wanted to attack our Mujahideen who were in a house, but our Mujahideen resisted and destroyed a helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. The team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. 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. Photo by Sgt. Extortion 16 flew empty. He presents the Final Flight of EXTORTION 17 (spoken one seven and seventeen), like a Defense Attorney or an investigator. [7][27][28] During the battle, American forces observed a small group of Taliban trying to flee the scene. Robert J. Reeves: A Navy SEAL who died in Extortion 17 - Spec Ops Magazine Regarding the downing of Extortion 17, all of the DEVGRU Operators aboard were members of the Gold Squadron. The squadron that this SEAL belonged to was never mentioned. 2 U.S. Navy SEALs from a west coast-based SEAL team. Another tactic sometimes employed by gunships, according to Glover, is a show of force, in which pilots and crew fire into an empty field or stand of trees just before a transport helicopter prepares to land, using the sound of a gun alone to keep enemy heads down and fingers off triggers. 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. Two investigations of the incident proved inconclusive. We were on goggles the whole time. The insurgents had no way of knowing the helicopter would be coming in, at the speed it was coming and at the altitude, Darack said. 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. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The downing of a Chinook helicopter gunship (known by its call sign Extortion 17) in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011, has for years been shrouded in mystery, with the . Deadliest Day in Spec Ops History: The Extortion-17 Chinook Crash NFTs Simplified > Uncategorized > extortion 17 crash photos. American, French and Afghan National Police forces carried out a three-day sweep of the area, and the area was then deemed secure. On August 6, 2011, a U.S. Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter was shot down while transporting a quick reaction force attempting to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers in Wardak province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos 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. Please take a moment and pause to honor and remember these heroes. Warnings from her crew to turn the Chinook back or cancel their mission went unheeded. Fact check: Biden did not leak SEAL Team 6 identities - USA TODAY Extortion 17 and 16 werent MH-47s and their crews were not Night Stalkers. The 30 Navy SEALs and other Special Forces personnel, along with the Helicopter flight crew because American Military and Political leaders threw these men under the bus the enemy was driving and then covered it all up with lies and deceit. The helicopter crashed less than 5 seconds later, killing all 38 people on board. There is a lot of controversy and discussion regarding the operators from the Gold Squadron who died abroad. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. It is also the most disastrous incident in the. Published Aug 6, 2018 5:05 PM EDT. The circumstances surrounding the events of Extortion 17 are tragic. Insurgents fired at the Chinook, severed one of. The following was transcribed from the above video press conference. June 5, 2022 Posted by: Category: Uncategorized; No Comments . Chance is still part of the battlefield, says Brady. Create an account. Today. The group fired two or three RPG rounds from a two-story building, the second striking one of the helicopter's three aft rotor blades. 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. 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, one Afghan interpreter, and a U.S. military working dog. It wasnt preventable. Hs unit called itself Extortion Company. One of his Chinooks, flying under the call sign Extortion 17 (one-seven), was tasked with the special operations mission the night of Aug. 6. At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. (Smithsonian Books, September 2017). 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. Eleven U.S. servicemen aboard Extortion 17 entered the military after the 9/11 attacks, answering the call to arms as so many brave Americans have done throughout the history of our great country. Its like taking a paper towel roll, cutting it in half and strapping it to your eye, Lee said. Extortion 17: What really happened on America's deadliest day in But what really happened that night? Those killed ranked among the worlds most highly trained and experienced commandos, including 15 men from Gold Squadron of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, popularly called SEAL Team 6. 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. Its almost always a miss.. Lee earned his wings at Fort Rucker, Ala., then deployed to Pakistan, where he did humanitarian missions, learning to fly into and out of mountainous terrain. [36][37], After the shootdown of Extortion 17, the insurgent responsible used a two-way radio to brag to others about the act. On the anniversary of the Extortion 17 tragedy, we remember the heroic men who were felled rushing into battle, as they had done hundreds of times . He knew the pilots and crew members aboard Extortion 17. [45] McChrystal cited a previous "overreliance on firepower and force protection" and the need to reduce civilian casualties and win the cooperation of the local population. 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. 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. Your Privacy Rights 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. I find it extremely suspicious that, after the alleged killing of Osama Bin Laden, there was a very suspicious burial at sea for a covered corpse that was alleged to be Bin Laden. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. Six weeks into his deployment, Lee experienced his worst day as a helicopter pilot to that point. The military has worked diligently to more tightly integrate gunship escorts with transport craft, according to Brady. Seconds later, with the Chinook just over 100 feet off the ground and traveling at 58 mph, two or three previously unseen fighters emerged from the tower of a two-story building roughly 220 yards south of the helicopter, shouldering RPG launchers. It was reported that the Taliban fighters had no information of the helicopter's flight path and that they had been in the right place at the right time. A junior, he was ready to fight, but the war would be over, he figured, before he even got out of college. 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. Air Force C-17 Crashes Just After Takeoff in Alaska | Dangerous Aerobatics (With Real Video) TheFlightChannel 2.1M views 1 year ago Feature History - Chinese Civil War Feature History 1.9M views. [9][11], Meanwhile, the group of Taliban fighters split in two. Air Force Officer Speaks Out for First Time About Downing of Extortion 30 US troops died in single deadliest incident of the Afghanistan War One rocket struck a rotor blade, causing the aircraft to crash almost instantly. Their deaths are the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U.S. Special Operations community in the 24-year history of the U.S. Special Operations Command. Why did it happen? Lee and his friend Bryan Nichols flew their Chinook into battle several times the first night, dropping off troops at a landing zone (LZ) almost 10,000 feet above sea level. A chief warrant officer 5, a member of the Colorado National Guard, Carter had over 4,500 flying hours, including more than 1,000 hours during combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support The missions commanders decided to insert another team to go after Tahir while the Rangers held the compound. [11], The mission was deemed high risk; two AH-64 Apache helicopters, an AC-130 gunship, and other additional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft supported the troop transports on their approach and remained with the ground forces afterwards. There are more operations than can be supported by the 160th at any given time, says Major Matthew Brady, a former 160th pilot and company commander. "One. Conspiracy theories started almost immediately. 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. But no one died. "Fallen Angel" - What really happened to Extortion 17? New film probes They may have seen Extortion 17 and its landing zone through their own night vision goggles or simply aimed by sound alone. [11] Seventeen U.S. Navy SEALs remained in reserve at the forward operating base. There's also that little issue that came up when 6 Navy SEALs' funerals were conducted by a Muslim Cleric that condemned them to Hell during the service. Extortion17 hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy Lieutenant Commander (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, Louisiana, Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, California, Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Arkansas, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Connecticut, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Massachusetts, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Missouri, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer(Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, West Virginia, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, Louisiana, Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Michigan, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, California, Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, North Carolina, Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah, Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Nebraska, Cryptologist Technician(Collection)Petty Officer 1st Class(Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Donald Trump Retweeted A Conspiracy Theory that Biden Had Seal Team 6 That night, nearly 10 years after the U.S. had gone to war in Afghanistan, Lee believed they were the best team for this dangerous mission. Flying low, the pilots have to maneuver a machine weighing up to 50,000 pounds over mountains, under cover of darkness, in swirling wind and dust, wearing night vision goggles. 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. In the afternoon of 6 August, a flash flood swept through the area, washing away parts of the wreckage. Theyre going after in very hostile environments, who know the terrain very well, who know the battlescape very well, Darack said. 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. The Chinook helicopter they were aboard was shot down by . Critics blame Biden for Extortion 17 attack. The following passage, published in The Navy Times, seems to support that assertion. Find the perfect extortion17 stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. The Museum Executive Team worked with these men. It means being informed. Worst US loss of life in Afghan war as helicopter crash kills 38 The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, SEAL Team Six, and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan Hardcover - September 19, 2017 by Ed Darack (Author) 223 ratings Editors' pick Best History See all formats and editions Kindle $13.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. It does not fly in a straight line, and there is no way to know what exact path it will takejust a fairly good idea of its trajectory.. A catastrophic crash seemed unavoidable. The helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, was on a mission to reinforce American and coalition special operations troops. Unidentified Remains Extortion 17 (unknown-2011) - Find a Grave American forces continued to carry out operations in the area (mostly via helicopter and using special forces), encountering resistance from Taliban fighters on several occasions. 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. Thirty Americans perished in the blink of an eye, half of which comprised an entire 'troop' from SEAL Team 6's Gold Squadron. 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. We didnt do fast-rope inserts, building insertions, or anything like that. Subsequent to their Iraq deployment, the unit flew the SEALs of Team 6 on practice raids around Fort Carson, Colorado, and during nighttime urban training in Denver, further cementing the 2-135ths reputation with special operations units. Their target was a Taliban commander responsible for ambushes and other attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces. The theories suggest that Afghan forces leaked information to the Taliban about the mission. The Afghan soldiers were an essential part of the package; they were trained to move with our forces to the target. The helicopter carrying the SEALs proceeded to the landing zone alone, without external lighting. 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. Learnt of this today, very surprising after ladens raid was covered in the media here. Im a 25 year veteran involved in many support missions and I find this downing of Ext 17 very suspect indeed! No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. The helicopter made its last radio transmission stating that it was one minute away from the landing zone, then descended to an altitude of 100150ft (3046m) and slowed to a speed of 50kn (58mph; 93km/h) as it approached the landing zone. The first round sailed past the helicopter. Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. Winds whipped through the fir trees. Call Sign Extortion 17 - Wikipedia Forces Killed in Helicopter Crash", "30 Americans Killed in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash", "Pentagon names 30 Americans killed in downed Afghan chopper", "Pentagon releases names of 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash", "22 Navy SEALs among 30 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan as NATO helicopter is shot down", "30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, killed in Afghan copter crash", "Names of Afghan Helicopter Attack Victims Released", "The OBJECTIVE GINOSA strike Payback for the shootdown of Extortion 17", "Military killed Taliban who downed US helicopter", "Afghan soldiers enter a Taliban nest without U.S. troops by their side", "Congress to probe lethal crash that killed SEAL Team 6 members", "A retired Air Force captain says Pentagon covered up real cause of deadly chopper crash", "A Retired Air Force Captain Says Pentagon Covered Up Real Cause of Deadly Chopper Crash", "Rules of Engagement Are a Dilemma for U.S.