American Delta team member AAR:
VIDEO COURTESY OF "HILL OF THE SKULL"
click here to view videoThe following is my account of what transpired based on what I experienced firsthand, and what I could reconstruct from radio communications.
FALCON SWOOP was an ops that will NOT soon fade from the memories of those who were there.
Despite intel to the contrary, the LZ was NOT hot, and the insertion went unchallenged. Looking down from our vintage point on top of the ridge, the valley seemed dark and forbidden. We all had the uneasy premonition that we were fighting our way into the maw of the beast.
Right from the start, the American forces had to negotiate the treacherous woodland terrains on approach to the terrorist compound at the valley floor. We had to “fight” the slopes of the ravine on our way down to where intel reported sightings of the objectives.
The American forces were organized into 2 Striker teams (Striker 1 and 2) and 1 Delta team (Delta). Striker 1 and 2 would move in and execute the blocking maneuver and create distractions, while Delta would infiltrate and acquire the objectives.
Without warning, contact was made with the Red Star forces (hereafter referred to as Reds). The Striker 1/2 engaged the enemy, and the staccato of weapon auto-fire shattered the stillness of the valley’s morning air. Valiantly, Striker 1/2 pushed forward and started to take casualties. Medic calls were echoing up and down the valley.
Seeing that the frontal assaults were met with heavy resistance, the Delta team lead decided to execute a flanking maneuver. We were to circle around the compound where the Reds holed up, and hit them from the other side. Striker 2 was pulled back to run interference for this flanking maneuver.
While Striker 1 was still viciously engaging the Reds, Striker 2 and Delta went up the other side of the valley slopes, fighting the terrain all the way, and made a wide looping trek over the top of the ridge.
This maneuver allowed the American teams to approach the compound from opposite sides. At this point, the Reds appeared to have taken their own share of casualties, as the fighting seemed to have reached a lull.
The American teams took this lull in the battle to wolf down some needed nourishment, and to regroup. With fresh mags and much needed fuel in the body, the American forces redistributed the teams and were prepared for a final effort.
We were quickly losing daylight and none of us relished the prospect of continuing this fight into the night, especially not in such treacherous terrain. With the objective within our grasp, we did NOT know if this golden opportunity will ever present itself again. Striker 1 and 2 made a concerted effort to hit the compound from multiple angles. Delta was moving up the middle while Striker 1 and 2 were hitting the compound from left and right sides respectively. Once more, vicious firefight broke out, but they were short lived.
Striker 2 ran into 2 enemy snipers and suffered casualties. Delta’s rear guard also took a fatal hit from these snipers and went down, leaving the team stunned, but seriously “aggravated”.
Despite casualties, Striker 2 wasted no time in flanking the snipers and prosecuted them with extreme prejudice. With the snipers out of commission, the Reds seemed to have run out of tricks, and their return fire was sporadic at best. Soon afterward, the American teams neutralized the last pockets of resistance from the compound with well-placed shots of their own.
The buildings were stormed and the American team secured one of the objectives: the radio operator with the bomb-chip in his chest. There was however, NO sign of Brian Fox.
With Brian Fox still unaccounted for, the Delta team leader was not comfortable with establishing a perimeter within the compound, and calling in the extraction choppers. Bringing in the birds while Brian Fox was still out there was asking for trouble. Instead, the American teams decided to and escort the prisoner to LZ Bravo for extraction.
Delta and the remainder of Striker 1 and 2 departed the compound with the gagged Radio operator shielded from all sides (it was understood that the Reds would be desperate enough to shoot their own radio man to detonate the bomb in his chest and the radio set). During our hasty retrograde for LZ Bravo, we also had to make sure the booby-trapped radio operator never got separated from his radio; 4-foot separation was all it took to set off the radio and ruin everyone’s day who were within the 20-foot radius. We double-timed up the valley slope, reached LZ Bravo, found it to be a fairly defensible position, and dug in. Looking down the slopes, we knew that any Reds coming after us would face a deadly up-hill battle.
It appeared that the protracted fighting earlier in the mission had put quite a dent in the Red star’s resources, since none of the Reds came after us.
Things were an anti-climax from there on out. The extraction was uneventful, and we survived to fight another day!
Unfortunately, the same could be said about Brian Fox. That terrorist cheated death and survived this engagement, but next time he turns up, he will not be as lucky…
RECONDO! Mission First! We are the hunters, they are the prey!
