We were literally dragged out of our time off and miserable accommodations in FOB Georgia. When the radio call came in, we could hear the blades of our transport approaching through the valley. When we are needed, we are needed.
The voice tone of this helicopter pilot didn't match the way he treated his controls. At certain points I swear this guy had the collective up to his armpit. They hit a gold mine with this snatch (snatch and grab raid) on Huzru (Huzrutiman) and now they need time to sort out all the high value intelligence found ... Once we get closer you will get your orders SGT!
If I would not been told, I would have never guessed what was going on in the tiny village of Huzrutiman. We overflew the target of the raid and all we could see was SGT Vallarino on the roof of a house, his gun trained on the distance and his head going back and forth between his field of fire and the stairwell below him. He was certainly telling somebody that we have arrived. Who is in charge down there ... Curtis or deLong?
I didn't recognize the voice on the helicopter radio. It must have been something big whatever they found down there because whoever was talking was not from our task force. I chuckled at the thought of getting orders from one of these inter-agency bozos that don't know their place in the team. But we needed a mission ... and the one we got sounded reasonable.
We were tasked with delaying or stopping any insurgents trying to get into the town through the road in the west. One of the nice things of being airborne is that you get a panoramic view of the battlefield. It's not a view that lasts much, at least it didn't this time thanks to our pilot who was getting nervous about the village not being totally cleared.
It was not difficult to choose a point for temporary observation and for an attack by fire.
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| A: probable route of advance of the enemy; B: position not chosen because of its lack of cover; C: this house offers great cover but it can be engaged by the whole enemy force advancing from "A"; D: high ground with moderate cover and our choice for this mission. |
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| Red arrow: enemy probable advance route. Blue rectangle: the kill zone, brought into life by our position northwest of it. Note how the kill zone is located between two hills and how our fire will be delivered towards the enemy's advance route at an angle instead of frontally. |
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| We landed nearby the position we chose. |
Cheers,
5 comments:
"Dead space"
not Dead Ground.
Thanks, Mike.
This is just me but I would go for more of a classic T to have more time on target than with such a slant. Of course the terrain you are setting up in and the available cover & concealment have a ton to do with where you open fire from, however if it were me I would prefer more exposure to their flank.
How about 2 in A and 2 in the little cover of the hill 2335 150 m west of position A. I always divide my teams, because the IA, as equal than the humans, drive nuts with multiple direction attacks. Besides 2335 has little cover but a good one for indirect fire like M-203 grenade launcher with those 4 little rocks, and a quick rifleman who call the attention with quick exposition, meanwhile the team lider and the AR with a M-249 pinned down the enemy. And finnaly all they have the same route for to fall back.
I agreed with your choice in D.
It offers the best egress, provided you cover that left flank.
I set up the same scenario with the same position, but I lucked out. We took out the enemy rear first, thus only one enemy made it to the left flank and he was basically in retreat once he found himself alone.
Great blog and I always look forward to your posts.
James
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