Hunters: U.S. Snipers in the War on Terror (11 page)

Rush and his team joined Echo Company at Camp Blessing on the western front. He was clueless about the country, but it didn’t take long to adapt. The small, remote base sat at on the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains. Atop the mountains were observation posts held by Afghan Security Forces. The base itself contained a few buildings surrounded by concertina wire and dirt barriers.

For operating, Rush trusted that his team was prepared. Sergeant Evers, the team leader, was very experienced and knowledgeable. He’d been through sniper school in the early 1990s and had several deployments, including a trip to Iraq. He was also older, in his mid-thirties, and had been an instructor at the mountain warfare center in California, teaching snipers to shoot, navigate, and survive in the mountains. If anyone knew how to manage in the peaks of Afghanistan, it was Sergeant Evers. Rush’s other teammate was Parish, a corpsman who had recently joined the platoon. He was quiet, but hardworking and listened well.

At Camp Blessing, the snipers were given time to adjust to their surroundings. They climbed the steep hills and stayed at the observation posts a couple of times to feel the effects of the elevation. Sergeant Evers was in great shape; he ran faster than anyone in the platoon, and when it came to humping, the more weight he carried the faster he was, but Rush was behind him all the way, in great shape himself. Parish, though, being fresh to the platoon, hadn’t experienced anything like Afghanistan, and he sat the first few missions out. During the adjustment missions, Evers was behind the scenes requesting for the snipers to run solo missions, and one night they were approved.

From the week they arrived, the marines took enemy fire. Their camp was hit at least twice a week by mortars and small arms. Evers wanted to find the enemy’s attack positions, but the battalion was hesitant to use the snipers. Finally one night the camp commander, a first lieutenant, knocked on their door and informed them that their mission was approved.

Their first mission was a good learning experience. Evers planned to recon “Rocket Ridge,” the hillside from where the marines suspected the anti-Coalition militants shot from. The snipers packed for a three-day operation, with food, equipment, and twelve courts of water, and set out. The climb to the top of the nearest hill was exhausting and the heavy packs wore the snipers out, but they were able to make it into position. When the sun rose, Rush noticed the craters from return attacks by artillery. The dense forest hid small trails, and the most interesting thing the snipers found were early warning devices set by the fighters. The enemy had placed piles of dead branches on the trails, and if the snipers had moved through them, the sound would have been loud enough to alert the fighters.

After the first few missions, the snipers gained confidence. They took to the mountains and began to understand the region more. The only contact that they had made with the enemy was minimal; it happened when their base was attacked. The enemy fighters would not stay long enough for the marines to pursue them, or for the snipers to maneuver on them.

Meanwhile, battalion headquarters began planning Operation Red Wings. The mission was to kill or capture anti-Coalition militias in the Korengal Valley, a place that seemed untouchable to U.S. troops. The Marines wanted to clear the valley of the fighters before the upcoming Afghanistan elections. The main anti-Coalition militia, known as the Mountain Tigers, was led by a local Afghan Arab known as Ahmad Shah. He kept a tight grip on the Korengal, and became a key target. Finding him and his fighters, however, would be a task in itself.

Disaster met the start of Operation Red Wings. A four-man sniper team made up of U.S. Navy SEALs, which coincidently would have been Rush’s sniper team, if the marines were given the mission, infiltrated deep into the valley, but were compromised and subsequently attacked by Shah’s men, who killed all but one, Marcus Luttrell, who escaped. The rescue team sent to the aid of the men were hit while in their helicopter, and all were killed. As a result, a month later the Marines launched Operation Whalers.

In Afghanistan the action was heating up. Back at Kandahar, Stan was relieved as a team leader because of his absence and his injuries. That was unimportant to him; what was important was that he would be fighting soon. Fortunately three days after he arrived back, he learned that they were going to face the enemy soon, as a big operation was at hand. The soldiers were told to prepare, but the specifics were vague.

In the meantime the snipers fine-tuned their weapons. In that climate, elevation and weather have effects on the bullet, and the snipers knew that. They trained to anticipate their weapons’ efficiency by shooting as often as they could, which was every day. Stan became the spotter for his new teammate, Jason. They were able to quickly mesh as a team, and Stan took to his new role well. Within a few days, the snipers were ordered to pack because they were headed north.

As for Stan, he faced his fear for the first time since the wreck by getting on another helicopter. The flight seemed like forever, but soon the soldiers arrived twenty-seven miles north of Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul, to their new home, Bagram Air Base in the Par-van Province. The base was an old Russian airstrip used by the Soviets in Afghanistan, but now it was property of the U.S. military.

Shortly after settling in, the snipers were told of the next big mission; it was dubbed Operation Anaconda. They learned that al-Qaeda fighters were gathering in the nearby Shah-I-Kot Valley and had been doing so for months. Intelligence reports stated that a few hundred fighters, including high-value targets, were in three villages along the valley. The fighters were also preparing a spring offensive against Afghan and U.S. forces, but the plan was to hit them before they could attack.

For the soldiers, the overall plan was fairly simple. Task Force Hammer were Afghan military forces accompanied by U.S. Special Forces troops responsible for pushing through the valley, essentially destroying the enemy or driving him toward the second element of the plan. Task Force Anvil, the second element, were soldiers from the 101st and Tenth Mountain, with support from Canadian troops, and they were to wait in blocking positions on the northern and eastern edges of the valley to prevent escape and deny enemy reinforcements.

Stan’s team was to insert with the ground troops on the eastern ridges. Once there, they were to break off and move around a mountain pass to cover the infantrymen’s blind spot. The soldiers were told that it was to be a two-day mission and to expect some contact but not much.

Before the assault, Stan and Jason learned how dangerous the mission was. They were zeroing their rifle one last time when they ran into a Special Forces soldier with whom they had gone to SOTIC.

“Why are you carrying such a big weapon?” Stan joked, referring to the light machine gun slung around his old friend’s neck. “Doesn’t that slow you down?”

“Well, where you’re going, the only thing they run from is a belt-fed weapon,” said the SF soldier, knowing what Stan and his partner were up against.

He told the two snipers about the terrain and how rugged it was in the valley. He mentioned that the elevation alone was over nine thousand feet, and as if these two factors were not enough, the SF soldier went on.

“Remember, they have the home field advantage. They have every possible route mapped out. They’ve been living in that area for hundreds of years and have fought off invaders dating back to the times of Alexander the Great. It’s going to be a hornet’s nest in there, so just be ready,” said the soldier.

Although he was grateful for the information, the talk didn’t inspire Stan to be brave. In fact that night he did not sleep a wink. The very next morning his team and the other soldiers moved into the Shah-i-Kot valley.

Technically, Operation Anaconda began on March 1, 2002. Special Operations teams infiltrated the valley to begin surveillance on and reconnaissance of landing zones and enemy target sights. On the morning of March 2, as dawn approached, the first wave of birds loaded with soldiers departed Bagram Air Base. Aboard, Stan’s team rode in with a rifle company and were not quite sure what kind of fight they would be facing. Whatever happened, Stan trusted Jason, his friend and partner. The two of them had been in the platoon together for a long time and had attended the same class at SOTIC, which added to their bond. Stan was also glad that Jason was a great shot.

AH-64s, the U.S. Army’s premier attack helicopter, led the way into the valley. They covered the more vulnerable CH-47s loaded with soldiers. The helicopters entered the Shah-i-Kot valley and hoped for the element of surprise, but instead, the door gunners immediately went to work because they were being fired upon.

The sound of the helicopters alerted the enemy from caves and bunkers in the mountainside. They unloaded with machine guns and AKs, hoping to down the choppers. Stan and Jason sat anxiously near the rear ramp, close to the manic tail gunner who was giving the enemy hell with his M60 machine gun.

They flew in low, and Stan saw people gazing at them from the ground. When he turned his head, the bird jerked, and a stream of white smoke rushed past the back ramp. It was a rocket-propelled grenade. The soldiers were given the warning for one minute out, and the two snipers prepared to land. Suddenly, Stan felt one of the crew chiefs grab his shoulder.

“Primary landing zone is hot! We’re moving to the alternate LZ, pass it on!” he yelled.

In his mind, Stan remembered that the alternate LZ was only a stone’s throw away, meaning that it, too, would be hot.

Around him, everyone prepared to exit. It was a mad dash to gather gear and get packs on. Stan and his partner stood up just in time to see the machine gun team opposite them shuffle toward the exit. When they stepped off the back ramp, it was evident that the bird was hovering higher than expected. They were around ten feet off the ground. When Stan stepped off, he fell hard into the dirt below but was not injured.

With the last man off, the helicopters left, along with their loud clatter. The soldiers were at the base of a mountain range, preparing to move. Around them, firefights ensued from the other LZs. As the spotter, Stan was on the radio and put the handset to his ear to hear the traffic. Jason prepared his rifle, while Stan listened to the brigade network and heard that others received contact upon insert. He switched to the battalion network and learned that all of the elements from the Tenth Mountain were in serious fighting.

Suddenly, shots rang out. Everyone hit the deck and scanned the area. Stan saw something move in the distance, around two hundred yards away. At first he could not make out what it was because it disappeared behind objects. Finally he got a good picture of a man with the signature brown Pakol hat dubbed “pizza hats” by the soldiers. The hat was indicative of local fighters, and gave away the shooter’s position to Stan.

Stan crawled to a boulder close by to get a better view. His partner was handling the rifle, and the man was closer now, around 150 meters, in clear sight. The fighter rested on one knee and took aim at the soldiers near Stan. Without warning, Stan sighted in with the M68 Aimpoint scope mounted on his M4. Stan rested in a modified prone position and set his sights center on the man’s chest. But after two quick shots, the man still did not go down.

“Did I miss?” he questioned.

“What do you have?” asked Jason, but Stan did not have time to explain. He glanced back toward the enemy, who was now rushing for him. Immediately, Stan aimed and squeezed off another shot, and hit the man high in his chest, which put him down.

Seconds later the soldiers began to move. As they climbed, Stan figured that he had shot what was to be the first of many fighters, but he also learned that what the commanders had said was true. The altitude was also the enemy.

Their objective was 1,000 kilometers (33,000 feet) up the mountainside. The climb was taxing, especially with ninety pounds of gear. At that altitude it was hard to breathe. Stan and his partner were flanking the platoon to prevent ambushes. They used a few small goat trails that allowed for an easy trudge, but unfortunately the trails did not last. Most of the climbing was with hands, moving nearly vertical.

After some time the men finally reached the top.

“Did you shoot that guy back there?” asked Jason.

“Yeah,” replied Stan, still somewhat out of breath.

Gunfights echoed throughout the valley as the soldiers took positions. Although they’d passed nine thousand feet in altitude, there was still plenty of mountain. The snipers found a position to shield them from above and from across the valley.

Stan and Jason decided to stay with the rest of the soldiers and dig in. Soon the enemy fighters were onto Stan’s element. Other soldiers began taking fire from across the valley, and a machine gun team near Stan’s position received contact.

The two snipers were dispatched to help them, and they scrambled one hundred yards below them to the machine gun team.

“Where’s the fire coming from?” asked Jason.

The soldiers pointed the snipers in the right direction, and Stan used his spotting scope to comb the area. Snow covered some of the rocks and pine trees in the distance, and there were a lot of shadows coming off the landscape. Stan was not able to find the shooter, but fifteen minutes later they all heard the familiar crack of a bullet passing overhead.

Stan immediately examined across the valley again. After another empty search, he narrowed the enemy’s location to three possible areas. From the angle of the passing bullet, Stan knew that the shooter was above them, possibly near one of the tree lines. There he set his sights and scanned back and forth.

The shooter was silent for close to forty-five minutes before he made his last mistake. He took another shot and Stan spotted his muzzle flash. The man was lying in a hole surrounded by snow, with only his weapon and the top half of his body showing.