Our plan of action is for you to get us to the high ground as close to the troops in contact as you can, and were going to fight our way downhill, Brady recalled Kristensen saying. Receiving the transmission, Brady couldnt believe it. The task force commander debriefed the men and then focused on planning their next steps. The fallen Night Stalkers of the 160th SOAR included: Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach. Photo courtesy of Matt Rogie. He told Reich pushing the mission back would allow Shah to continue his terrorist activities, likely leading to the death of locals and US military in the area. My finger . Collect, curate and comment on your files. Kristensen applied but wasn't selected for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school out of the academy. They ascended and flew back to Jalalabad to link up with another group of SEALs and standby as a quick reaction force (QRF) in case the SR team was compromised. Soon they learned that their son Erik was among those killed in action. Al and Kip were on the ramp when the RPG impacted, Smith, who witnessed the horrific event, recalled. Erik Kristensen in the command operations center. "The complexity of who he is, to me, is bigger than his being a SEAL. The birds call sign was Turbine 33. WARNING: NSFW footage of dead Navy SEALS and gore. With that, they retired to their rooms to rest for phase two of the operation the following night. Even after a decade, his only child's loss "is still a very raw thing. Based on the non-fiction book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson, the acclaimed, 2013 American biographical military action movie Lone Survivor dramatizes the US Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings which took place on Jun. Commander Erik Kristensen died trying to rescue his fellow SEALs in the Operation Red Wings disaster 10 years ago. Search instead in Creative? The Night Stalkers again loaded their Chinooks with Rangers and SEALs and took off toward the mountains. The JSOC troops, along with their newly arrived reinforcements, went to work recovering those killed in action as well as sensitive equipment that could not fall into enemy hands. As the Night Stalkers slept, the SR team was discovered by a numerically superior force of enemy fighters. The commander explained that the ground force commander had already rejected that plan and didnt want to wait any longer. At the Bagram operations center, Major Stephen Reich approached Brady urgently, asking why he didnt follow abort criteria and fly back with the SR team after the AC-130 had to leave the airspace. When Turbine 33 was shot down, they received orders to fly back along with Turbine 34 and the Apache gunships until the next phase of the mission was developed. It would take them until . They rolled out with a convoy and with some vengeance, and they fought their way up that mountainside, all the way up to the crash site.. Rogie met Eicher on the flight line when he landed after returning from the mission. They finalized plans and sent the Night Stalkers on their way. He asked Graham to repeat, unable to register what he had just heard. Drop us on the high ground, and well make our way to our swim buddies, Kristensen told Brady. There were no survivors. Walking toward the flight line, the SEAL commander quipped, What made you want to fly such ugly helicopters?, Theyre not much to look at, but they get the job done, Brady fired back. The weather was turning bad again as they offloaded Marines to assist with security. Brady told his operations NCO to give him a minute to gather more information to get the next plan of action in place. After several tense moments of struggling to bring in the rope, they decided to cut it loose. Not really sure who they were, but there was more activity than I expected., Brady rushed to the operations center where Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chris Eicher was telling the task force commander that they should wait until dark before sending the QRF because going in during daylight would subject them to more danger. He was well-read and intelligent, into music and literature. "I will never leave a fallen comrade, it read. Pastors from the task force lead the caskets onto the C-17. It can go from 100 degrees to 50 in an hour, Brooks said. Thats not possible, Brady replied, confused at how quickly the SEALs had become compromised. Its in an area where, if someones above you on the high ground, youve got nowhere to go.. SFC Muralles died June 28, 2005, in eastern Afghanistan when his MH-47E Chinook Helicopter was shot down by enemy fire during combat rescue operations, since come to be known by 'Operation Red Wings.' To me at the moment, it was just another mission, we didnt recognize the importance of it until years later.. Part of. Thunder boomed as lightning struck all around them. His parents buried Kristensen -- wearing his beloved Birkenstocks -- at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, which his father had also graduated from three decades earlier. Photo courtesy of Daniel Bell. Once on the ground, they started their search for casualties, potential survivors, and sensitive equipment. In his book, Brooks wrote, I got my first real look at Afghanistan from the side of the mountain after offloading from a helicopter onto the Sawalto Sar, a mountain in Afghanistans Kunar Province. He walked back to the operations center to monitor the situation and provide support from Bagram. After several tense moments of struggling to bring in the rope, they decided to cut it loose. As the pilots climbed the last 1,000 feet of elevation, the AC-130 crew providing overwatch on their destination radioed to say they had to leave their position due to a mechanical issue. Kristensen confronted him about the decision to cut the rope at the LZ and asked if the Night Stalkers would go back and retrieve it. Nope, I want you to take my spot as the operations officer and monitor from here, Reich replied. Brady rushed to the operations center where Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chris Eicher was telling the task force commander that they should wait until dark before sending the QRF because going in during daylight would subject them to more danger. And we experienced that on that mountain.. I dont really care, Matt, he told Brady, just get your stuff and get off the airplane. As the Night Stalkers flew back to Bagram, the JSOC ground force that had convoyed to the crash radioed to the task force that they had secured the site. He really didn't give a damn.". He told Reich pushing the mission back would allow Shah to continue his terrorist activities, likely leading to the death of locals and U.S. military in the area. The League of Wives Memorial will be the first public memorial in the country to recognize military spouses, its planners say. Share This: Rangers, Special Forces, and PJs were already moving up the mountain toward the crash site. The projectile flew through the open ramp of the Chinook and exploded inside. He didnt think much of it at the time, but many years later he found out a new platoon leader came into their company within the 160th and was responsible for those Black Hawks. There were 100-foot-tall trees on all sides of the Chinook, and they were so close the pilots had no room to sway as they descended. To cope with the catastrophic loss, she long ago befriended other moms who lost children inside the Pentagon on 9/11 and in Operation Red Wings, and a few years ago began volunteering to be an "Arlington Lady," a liaison to families of the fallen during Navy funerals at Arlington National Cemetery near their home on Capitol Hill. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. The 160th SOAR (A) Night stalkers are the only unit in the world to operate this helicopter (Photo: U.S. Army) A source from the Navy's special operations community described the reaction as "Shock and disbelief. Commander Erik Kristensen was a senior commander in SEAL Team 10 in Afghanistan and didnt go on as many ground combat operations as those in the platoons under him. The order was given to again abort the mission and return to base. Physically, emotionally. The Night Stalkers job was to insert the SEALs on a ridgeline where the terrain left few options for landing zones. "We're so over this. Smith and the others in Turbine 34 watched helplessly as the Chinook full of their fellow aviators their friends crashed into the mountain and erupted in a ball of flames. Approaching the insertion point, the pilots flared the Chinook and came into a hover. Brady stood next to a SEAL commander both had to take command of their respective units when Reich and Kristensen were killed on Turbine 33. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, Long Island, also was killed in action and received a posthumous Medal of Honor from President George W. Bush. The C-17 sat on the runway with the ramp down, waiting to receive the 16 interment cases containing the fallen warriors. Troops searching for the KIA and survivors. Photo courtesy of Daniel Bell. Search instead in. But militants were waiting in ambush and shot down an Army MH-47E Chinook chopper as Kristensen and his men were preparing to fast-rope to the ground, killing all 16 aboard. The loss weighed heavy on the men. We would have to drop a man down with a hoist in that hole of an LZ, Brady explained. At the Bagram operations center, Maj. Stephen Reich approached Brady urgently, asking why he didnt follow abort criteria and fly back with the SR team after the AC-130 had to leave the airspace. You are giving solace to someone other than yourself, and yet you are helping yourself," she said. As Brady approached the Chinook hed be flying, he noticed the tail number: 1-4-6. The rescue operation, known as Operation Red Wings II, continued for weeks. "From a loyalty standpoint, he said he trained those guys and he was going.". Explosives were used to chop down trees due to width of the trees being too big for chainsaws. Grahams aircraft pulled off to the right to circle around and insert their payload of SEALs after Turbine 33 moved off to allow their entrance. Kristensen attended Washington's Gonzaga College High School. . I could see a lot of vehicles with troops armed to the damn teeth, Smith recalled. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Not wanting to leave their brothers, the SEAL team commander hatched a plan with the Night Stalkers to insert higher up on the ridgeline and fight their way down to the crash site so Turbine 34 could fly back to Jalalabad, pick up as many SEALs as he could, and fly back to reinforce the eight SEALs. Its earned. The movie is based on Marcus. I dont really care, Matt, he told Brady, just get your stuff and get off the airplane. Hoisting a man at that altitude on that kind of terrain at night is a dangerous operation. The Afghanistan mountains and forest from the valley where soldiers searched for the remains of the three SEALs who were killed in action. You can't change it, you've got to live with it. As the storm raged, the members of the task force haunted with thoughts of their brothers on the mountain tried to sleep. From left, SGT Carlos Pacheco (3/160 medic, former 3/75), SFC Marcus V. Muralles (Legend 3/160 medic), MAJ Sam Sauer (3/160 flight surgeon), SFC L.E. The memorial service display in Bagram, Afghanistan. The two Chinooks Turbine 33 and Turbine 34 were packed with 16 SEALs each, plus the Night Stalker pilots and crewman. 45. So the enemy is one factor, but the terrain and weather are now a huge factor, and theyre starting to overtake the enemy in terms of danger to the force, Brady said. Eicher looked at Brady and said, Nah, they probably put down for maintenance.. Having walked that ground, it blows my mind that he got out of there alive. His creative outlets include Skovlund Photography and Concentrated Emotion, where he publishes poetry focused on his life experiences. The members of the task force said their final goodbyes. When I met him there on the ground in Jalalabad, Graham was fairly shaken to say the least, Brady recalled. Graham watched from Turbine 34 as Turbine 33s ramp lowered and the crewman walked onto it to observe the landing zone below. He had a look of competence and professionalism like he was ready to live out the Night Stalker creed, Brady said. Ammunition magazines for M4 rifles, springs and un-fired cartridges litter the sooted ground. Cummings, Michael "Multiple Blogs on Operation Red Wings . Navy SEALs operating in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. of 1 It doesnt make sense., But he knew and lived by the Night Stalkers promise to every customer: If we put you in, well stop at nothing to get you out even if its technically someone elses job.. Soldiers and Sailors from the Task Force saying their final goodbyes. Navy SEAL Lt. "It will always be 'yesterday.' Kristensen confronted him about the decision to cut the rope at the LZ and asked if the Night Stalkers would go back and retrieve it. Many of the men suffered scorched hands from gripping the rope through gloves for such a long descent. Our plan of action is for you to get us to the high ground as close to the troops in contact as you can, and were going to fight our way downhill, Brady recalled Kristensen saying. Primary and secondary zones appear to be clear of potential threats.. A lot of guys really wanted to stay on the mission, recalled Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tim Graham, one of the pilots on Turbine 34. One of the SEALs even drew his pistol and attempted unsuccessfully to force the Chinook to land so they could try to save their friends. The Korengal and Shuryak valleysthe geographic region of Operation Red Wingsare sparsely populated and could not support an enemy force of 200 people. Operation Red Wings Day 2: June 29. by Pete Nealen Nov 11, 2013. It didnt look like there was any way anybody could have survived, Graham said. He served as a surface warfare officer at sea before finally making it through BUD/S at 26, considered an "old man" and just under the wire of the SEALs' age cut-off. Monitored and controlled by a Joint Terminal Attack Controller at Forward Operating Base Shank via a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, all six were positively confirmed killed by the bomb strike and subsequent attacks by a Lockheed AC-130 gunship and two Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships. Russell went to work right away getting the crews together to prep the aircraft for the mission. The rescue operation, known as Operation Red Wings II, continued for weeks. They ascended back into orbit and remained there for an hour until the task force commander ordered them back to Jalalabad. Photo by Mark C. Olsen, courtesy of DVIDS. The loss weighed heavy on the men. And that's what happened here. ", "But he wasn't a non-conformist just to be a non-conformist," Ismay explained. Brooks also described the difficulty of navigating the mountain terrain and scrambles up hillsides covered in loose rocky scree as well as dramatic weather changes. Finally, 150 US Marines would come in to establish blocking positions for the SEALs assault on Shahs compound. At Jalalabad, Brady was approached by SEAL Cmdr. The note said that Marcus Luttrell was alive at a nearby village. Graham watched from Turbine 34 as Turbine 33s ramp lowered and the crewman walked onto it to observe the landing zone below. Kristensen's example of leadership and valor has become legend among the midshipmen of the Naval Academy. Theyve got their own quick-reaction force. I will never accept defeat. The three-phase plan called for inserting a four-man SR team the first night, then inserting the second element of SEALs the following night to establish an isolation zone around Shah. Disappointed, Brady followed the order and got off the aircraft. Turbine 33s nose dipped down, and the aircraft slid to the left, appearing to almost recover. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. Photo courtesy of Daniel Bell. Were completely separate commands. Throughout the mission, as his unit patrolled along exposed mountainsides and ravines, Brooks described the feeling that he and his unit could be ambushed at any moment. Some of the fallen members of Turbine 33 prior to being flown out. Jarret Roth, a Naval Academy buddy, said Kristensen was excited about joining his girlfriend in Paris in 2006 after his Afghanistan deployment for an Olmsted Foundation Scholarship to attend the Institute for Political Studies and was thinking beyond his time in the SEAL teams.