The quick reaction force included SEAL Team 6 and other special operations personnel. Donald Trump Retweeted A Conspiracy Theory that Biden Had Seal Team 6 While the goggles are better than nothing, they turn everything green, distort depth perception and limit peripheral vision. All of us know that going into it.". Misinformation regarding the skills of the pilots and crew, and nonsensical conspiracy theoriesoften politically motivatedfollowed, much of which unfortunately continues to this day. Flying 250 feet above the valley floor at just under 70 miles per hour, Dave Carter, the pilot to the right of Nichols, guided the helicopter toward a carefully chosen landing zone just over a mile away. For now, let's assume the Chinook was shot down, and by a rocket. The worst of the wounded was one of Lees crew members, who suffered what was later diagnosed as a severe traumatic brain injury. Nobody involved had overlooked even the most minute detail. Just last week the Afghans arrested an Army officer for aiding Taliban suicide bombers through checkpoints, and doing so under employ by Pakistan. The aircraft jerked. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. Families suspect SEAL Team 6 crash was inside job on worst day in AP sources: Crash kills members of SEAL Team 6 The actual mission, dubbed Operation Neptune Spear, officially started in the early-morning hours of May 2, Pakistan time (afternoon of May 1, Eastern Daylight Time). Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. He taught helicopter pilots how to fly in high altitudes at an aviation training site in Colorado. 4:10 p.m. - A backup helicopter scoops up remaining team members and leaves the area. On such missions, the Chinook pilots nearly always fly at night, wearing night vision goggles, or NVGs. I am afraid that with this FOIA case that the government is purposely delaying turning over documents because they need the time to redact and to delete things they do not want the American public to become aware of.. A catastrophic crash seemed unavoidable. Some news stories reported that investigators couldnt find the helicopters black box, referring to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. A Marine speaks into a radio and troops unload a CH-47D Chinook in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Telling stories about ordinary people involved in extraordinary events is his passion. A number of the DEVGRU SEALs were devastated by this loss . In the immediate wake of the tragedy, the military initiated two investigations. These materials provided much-needed intelligence about bin Ladens role within al-Qaeda and the organizations inner-workings. "We have an ideology problem with this war, and we need to address it. In all, 38 people died that night after the chopper was shot down by a Taliban-owned rocket-propelled grenade or RPG over the Wardak Province on Aug. 6, 2011. ", While not commenting directly on the allegations, he called those who were lost "warriors" who represented "the diversity and talent of America and its military.". Just after entering the Tangi, as Extortion 17 continued to descend and decelerate toward its landing zone, the helicopter passed through the narrowest portion of the valley. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. As reported on by The Daily Beast, Trump retweeted a message posted by an account called Oscar the Midnight Rider 1111, which alleges that Hiden Biden and Obama may have had Seal team 6 killed! "In releasing their identity, they put a target on their backs," said Doug Hamburger, whose son, Army Staff Sgt. All rights reserved. Legal Statement. Darack did extensive research of what happened next. All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although military officials said none of the crash victims was on that mission in Pakistan against the al . But special forces don't get such a cushion: Because they can react more quickly, they undertake more dangerous missions; their risk tolerance is much, much higher. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama.". Extortion 17, Seal Team Six and What Really Happened on the Deadliest They were part of his command. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. The crash sent shock waves throughout U.S. special operations. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. Aug. 7, 2011 -- American communities are mourning the loss of 30 U.S. troops who were killed when Afghan insurgents shot down a helicopter carrying the most elite forces in the US military -- Navy . A volley of three rockets total sped toward the general direction of the approaching Chinook, all launched within a few seconds of each other. The pilots ranked among the most proficient in this type of flying and the Department of Defense. When asked what lessons Americans can draw from the crash of Extortion 17, Lees answer is simple: Americans should care about what happens in Afghanistan because theyve sent Americans to war there. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The crash took the lives of 17 SEALs and five special warfare development group operators, making it the worst one-day loss in the history of U.S. naval special operations. The U.S. military claimed that the Chinook was blown to pieces by a shoulder-fired missile, in which everyone on board was burned beyond recognition. On the fourth anniversary of the worst one-day loss of military life in the war on terror, families of the dead say they are aghast that the government will not honor basic requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that supported the raid, including a Predator drone, and a variety of highly specialized spy planes, had kept continuous watch over the region during the operation. Official Extortion 17 Report States "Our Hands Were Tied From Up Above" If this [operation] was survivable, that was the right crew to have. In the rear of the aircraft, the Chinook's passengers stood and prepared to storm out into moonless night once the wheels touched the ground. These missiles add ultraviolet tracking to infrared seekers, making them less susceptible to the flares that Chinooks fire to try to throw incoming missiles off course. The sheer amount of experience with our pilots, flight engineers and back-seaters and mechanics offered a wealth of knowledge, he said. The story itself is tragic, but tons of war propaganda. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. A Defense Department special operations official told a House subcommittee last year that there is no indication the mission was compromised by the Afghans. One source says the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew. I would say that was the first time that we really had eyes on the LZ.. Aug. 6, 2011— -- A helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents as it was rushing to aid troops in a firefight, killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, most of whom belonged to Team 6, the unit whose members were involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said. In addition to the 30 Americans, the official said there were seven Afghan army soldiers and an interpreter on the helicopter. They have to slow down to land or allow troops to rappel to the ground. By The Newsroom 6th Aug 2011, 6:30pm They start the movie showing George W Bush saying that after 9/11 we will hunt down those responsible. They loaded onto Extortion 17, and then Carter and Nichols lifted the Chinook into the night sky. But the Team Six connection makes it a major symbolic victory for them. The front rotor shattered, and the back pylon sheared off. They believe SEAL Team 6 had a target on its back and that persons inside the Afghan National Security Forces may have tipped off the Taliban that night in Tangi Valley. Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond. Many of these family members are undergoing psychological care over what has become a double tragedy: the deaths of their sons and the cover-up for which these family members feel betrayed by their own government.. Its crazy how many times I can think of where me or the guys I was with had to do that.. Retired Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who served as deputy undersecretary of defense for Intelligence and was a commander in the Army's super-secret "Delta Force," denounced politicized rules of engagement as a "deliberate plot" within the American armed forces that he says puts political correctness above the safety of the troops. Special forces are very selective on who they partner with, but any collaboration with Afghans opens up U.S. In addition to killing the man who was considered the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U.S. forces snagged valuable items from the compound during the raid. The conspiracy has a number of moving parts, all of which have surfaced before, but none of which have any truth to them. The mission itself has proven controversial to some family members. The loss of a helicopter carrying more than 20 U.S. special forces and as many as 8 other U.S. military service members is an unprecedented one in this war. And it even led Robert ONeill, the Trump-supporting Navy Seal who claims to have fired the shot that killed Bin Laden, to tweet that the conspiracy theories both about the Bin Laden double and about the Seals from the raid having been killed arent true. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. But it's often foreign to those who observe combat from afar. Not all will end as well as bin Laden's takedown, as PM noted in July. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. "So much of the war is fought in areas where these helicopters have to fly at high altitudes," where the thin air can strain the performance of the engines and rotor blades, said Ed Darack, author of the recently published book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, SEAL Team Six and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. "SEAL Team" The Graveyard of Empires (TV Episode 2018) - IMDb Extortion 17 - IMDb The compounds unusual and extensive security features, along with further intelligence information, prompted suspicion that the residence was Osama bin Ladens hideout. On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. they won't view it as wrong, just a "necessary" sacrifice for your country. No family members were allowed to testify. SEAL TEAM SIX - Extortion 17 EXPOSED theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 4.7K 394K views Streamed 9 years ago AUGUST 6, 2015 - Today, on the fourth anniversary of the shoot down of. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team -- one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. But why? KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 30 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on. During a press conference on Washington Thursday, family and advocates for the fallen troops called into question the rules of engagement that they say prohibited their sons from being able to return fire, and the White House's decision to announce shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden that SEAL Team 6 was responsible for the raid. Hes also sent more than his fair share of curious retweets, often of the accounts of conspiracy theorists and those associated with QAnon and other outlandish conspiracy frameworks. Today, some family members are not just disappointed in the investigation and the FOIA process, but also in how the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security conducted a brief hearing in Feb. 2014. Navy's SEAL Team 6 Recovered 2 Bodies From Afghanistan Crash An official report was released in October 2011 but family members say it did little to fill in the details and left more questions than answers. This is all, needless to say, completely unsubstantiated if not outright false. "One minuteone minute," transmitted Bryan Nichols, the pilot in command of the helicopter. The former vice president has become the Democratic front-runner with primary victories across the country. At the pilots request, the AC-130 flashed an infrared spotlight, which could be seen only through night vision goggles, to light up the landing zone. At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. [PHOTOS:Fighting in Afghanistan Continues]. By the time the third sped away from its launcher, however, no target remained. Obama stonewalls SEAL Team 6 Extortion 17 helicopter crash probe The had Seal team 6 killed is a likely reference to whats known as the Extortion 17 incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinookmilitary helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing 38 people, 25 of them Navy Seals, in the deadliest day for the U.S. in the entire Afghanistan war. The Chinook was descending on a noisy battlefield where Apache helicopters and a C-130 gunship had been buzzing overhead for three hours, alerting Taliban fighters. The next day, a DNA test confirmed that the body was indeed that of Osama bin Laden. The assassination of Osama bin Laden was a significant victory for the U.S. government and the American people at large. 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