NOT A GOOD DAY TO DIE THE UNTOLD STORY OF OPERATION ANACONDA NOT A GOOD DAY TO DIE SEAN NAYLOR BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4V 3B2, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Copyright © 2005 by Sean Naylor Cover design and art by Steven Ferlauto All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission Please not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights Purchase only authorized editions Berkley is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Information Naylor, Sean Not a good day to die / Sean Naylor.—1st ed p cm ISBN: 978-1-1012-0461-0 Operation Anaconda, 2002 I Title DS371.4123.O64N39 2005 958.104'7—dc22 2004057465 For my brother, Mark ACKNOWLEDGMENTS book could not have been written without the help of scores of people, the vast majority of whom are U.S servicemen and servicewomen THIS Thanks are due to all the people I interviewed—in Afghanistan, the United States, and elsewhere —most of whom are listed at the end of this book Their willingness to patiently recount events to me is one I truly appreciated Their stories form the core of this book Even those not quoted by name in the text helped frame issues and events for me, or provided invaluable photos, documents and maps I owe a particularly large debt of gratitude to the troops who came forward to be interviewed against the wishes of their chains of command, in order to help me get the full truth Others deserving of special recognition are Captain Kevin Butler, the commander of A Company, 2-187 Infantry, and his first sergeant, Jonathan Blossom, who were gracious hosts when I and Army Times photographer Warren Zinn embedded with their company for Operation Anaconda Lieutenant Colonel “Chip” Preysler of 2-187 and his command sergeant major, Mark Nielsen, were also very supportive of my project when it would have been easy for them not to be The same can be said of their brigade commander, “Rak 6,” Colonel Frank Wiercinski Many military public affairs officers went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that I had access to the right people and information The names on this honor roll include: Commander Kevin Aandahl of Special Operations Command, Central Command; Lieutenant Colonel Hans Bush, U.S Army Special Operations Command; Carol Darby, U.S Army Special Operations Command; Colonel Garrie Dornan, Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, U.S Army; Major Karen Finn, Air Force Special Operations Command; Major General Larry Gottardi, Chief of Public Affairs, U.S Army; Major Rob Gowan, U.S Army Special Operations Command; Major Bryan Hilferty, 10th Mountain Division; Major Stephanie Holcombe, U.S Air Force Public Affairs; Lieutenant Colonel Tim Nye, U.S Special Operations Command; Captain Jeff Poole, Coalition Forces Land Component Command; Walter Sokalski, U.S Army Special Operations Command Kathryn Meeks of U.S Special Operations Command’s Freedom of Information Act office was always courteous and patient in dealing with my frustration at her command’s slowness in processing my requests Brigadier General John Brown, Richard Stewart and the rest of the staff at the Army Center for Military History were also extremely helpful Army Vice Chief of Staff General John M “Jack” Keane and officers at U.S Central Command helped open doors that might otherwise have remained firmly closed to me Retired Colonel Mike Kershner read through most of the first section of the book and provided invaluable suggestions on how to improve it He and retired Lieutenant Colonel Kalev Sepp also broadened and deepened my understanding of special operations I am profoundly grateful to my editors at Army Times Publishing Company—especially Elaine Howard, Tobias Naegele, Robert Hodierne and Alex Neill—for allowing me so much time away from the office to complete this project In addition, Robert Hodierne, senior managing editor at the company, helped cut my manuscript down to size Chris Broz, also of the Army Times Publishing Company, brought enthusiasm and expertise to the essential task of drafting the maps to help readers navigate the geography of the Shahikot Valley and its environs Army Times photographer Warren Zinn was my partner in crime during Anaconda whose boundless energy and sense of humor made the long separation from home so much easier to bear I could never have accomplished this project without my agent, Scott Miller, whose sage counsel has been my guide since I returned from Afghanistan Natalee Rosenstein, my editor at Berkley Books, has, like Scott, shown enormous patience and understanding from the moment she acquired the rights to my book Finally, I would like to thank Kristina Maze—who provided unflagging love and support throughout the two-and-a-half years it took me to research and write the book—and my family and friends, who saw so little of me while I immersed myself in the events that transpired on snowy mountainsides half a world away Sean Naylor Washington, D.C October, 2004 CONTENTS Reporting Not a Good Day to Die Cast of Characters> Glossary Prologue IPB REACTION TO CONTACT TAKUR GHAR WINDING DOWN Notes Interviewees Bibliography Index REPORTING NOT A GOOD DAY TO DIE THIS was not an easy book to report Researching and explaining a complex and controversial operation fought by a dozen task forces was always going to be a challenge, despite the advantage I enjoyed having been present at the rehearsals for and some of the combat during Operation Anaconda But even I, after thirteen years of covering the military, had not expected to find so many obstacles placed in my path by a handful of individuals with reputations to protect A deal struck between U.S Central Command and U.S Special Operations Command banned personnel from either command from discussing Anaconda with the press The commands established the ban to prevent disclosure of the truth behind the Takur Ghar episode But the gag order caught all special operations forces, including those who had nothing to with Takur Ghar, in its net, slowing my ability to report on the Special Forces’ side of the Anaconda story Meanwhile, both commands stalled for many months before answering my Freedom of Information Act requests (in CENTCOM’s case even claiming to have “lost” mine) When they finally responded, the results were so heavily redacted as to be almost unusuable Despite the efforts of the generals involved, however, information nevertheless found its way to me from a variety of sources ideally placed to provide a comprehensive view of Anaconda But the climate of fear the ban created forced me to use ambiguous phrases like “special ops sources” when attributing some of these facts While this may seem frustratingly vague, the reader should be under no doubt that these sources knew what they were talking about The ban was only lifted in early 2004, after Generals Franks, Holland, and Dailey had left CENTCOM, SOCOM, and Joint Special Operations Command respectively This allowed me to interview—usually under very controlled conditions—members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Rangers and other special operations units, with the proviso in some cases that their full names not be used in print These interviews helped me confirm information gleaned from other sources and flesh out passages describing events about which I had only scant details Other vital information came from documents, some of which were sent to me anonymously When it became clear that I knew more than they wished, U.S Special Operations Command officials launched an internal investigation The investigation’s ostensible purpose was to probe the alleged release of classified material, but its real goal was to punish those who might have helped me compile the facts, and to send a message to others tempted to break ranks and tell the truth In contrast to CENTCOM and SOCOM, the conventional Army was for the most part refreshingly straightforward and easy to deal with Its soldiers and leaders made themselves readily available for interviews Without their cooperation, I would still be researching and writing Sean Naylor October 2004 Washington, D.C INDEX Abbott, Thomas Achey, Stephen Advance Force Operations See AFO Afghan Military Forces See AMF Afghanistan See also Operation Anaconda; Al Qaida; Shahikot; Takur Ghar Bagram in Chechens in Gardez in Kabul in Khowst in Rasul in Serkhankhel in Tora Bora in AFO (Advance Force Operations) Air base, in Bagram Al Y Alcaraz, Jorge Allen, Brian AMF (Afghan Military Forces) awards for Anderson, Loyd Blayne, Anderson, Marc Andy Antenori, Frank Apaches See also Helicopters, in Operation Anaconda ARCENT (Army Component of Central Command) Ariana Hotel Army Component of Central Command See ARCENT Ashline, Jason Australians Bagram air base in as military headquarters Operation Anaconda relating to Ballard Sean Baltazar, Frank Bardwell, Chad The Bear Went Over the Mountain (Grau) Beaudry, Earl, Jr Bello, Lou Bennett, Sam Bentley, Chris bin Laden, Osama Bishop, Craig Blaber, Pete in Operation Anaconda in reconnaissance mission Takur Ghar relating to Blair, Brett Blocking Positions Amy Betty Cindy Diane Ginger Heather Bob H Bochain, Louis Brault, Robert Brian Briley, Jasey Brossoie, James Brown, Gabe Browning, Charles “Todd,” Burke Ed Burns, Julian Bush, George W Busko, Rick Butler, Kevin in Operation Anaconda at Takur Ghar Byrne, Thomas “Doc,” Calland, Albert Canon, Arin CAOC (Combined Air Operations Center) Carr, Bob Carwazi Casenhiser, Caleb Celano, Justin CENTCOM (U.S Central Command) Central Intelligence Agency See CIA CFACC (Coalition Forces Air Component Command) CFLCC (Coalition Forces Land Component Command) Edwards in Mikolashek in Chapman, Dan Chapman, John death of in Operation Anaconda Chechens Chenault, Rich Chuck CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) Operation Anaconda and reconnaissance mission and “Spider” in Takur Ghar and Cifers, Mike CJTF (Coalition and Joint Task Force) Mountain See Task Force Mountain Clark, Perry Clark, Wesley Coalition Forces Air Component Command See CFACC Coalition Forces Land Component Command See CFLCC Cody, Richard Combined Air Operations Center See CAOC Commons, Matt Contant, Stu Corkran Ron Corley, John Crombie, Roger Crose, Brad Cunningham, Jason Dailey, Dell Daniel, Cory Dave Dave H Deane, John Deaths of Chapman, J of Harriman of Roberts Dedo, David Delta Force See also India team; Juliet team Blaber in “Major Jimmy” in in Operation Anaconda reconnaissance mission and “Speedy” in Takur Ghar and DePouli, Ray DevGru Don Donnelly, Pete Dupuy, Trevor Edwards, Matthew Edwards, Warren Egerer, Fred Ewadzkhal Valley Fichter, Jeff Finch, Thomas Fletcher, Tim “Force cap,” Franks, Tommy as CENTCOM commander, Operation Anaconda and Tora Bora and Freedom of Information Act, Gardez Operation Anaconda relating to reconnaissance mission relating to safe house in Task Force Dagger in Gibler, Michael Gilliam, David, Glenn P Golden, Maurice Goody (Mike) Grau, Lester Gray, David Gray Fox in Operation Anaconda in reconnaissance mission Greg Grim Grim Grim Grippe, Frank Grooms, Christopher Gurgel, Jonathan Guthrie, Bill Haas, Chris Hagenbeck, Franklin “Buster,” Haidar, Gul Halfpipe, battle of Hall, Brandon Hall, Jay Hamilton, John Hans Hardy, Jim Harrell, Gary Harriman, Stanley death of in Operation Anaconda Harry, Chris Harward, Robert, Haupt, Eric Hazrat, Ali Helberg, Glen Helicopters, in Operation Anaconda See also Apaches Henderson, Steven Hendrix, John Henrey, Mark Herman, Joe Higley, Jerry Hodges, John Holland, Charlie Hoskheyar Huber, Reginald Huff, Randy HUMINT (human intelligence) Hurley, Keith Hussein, Saddam HVTs (high-value targets) Hyder, Vic IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) India team in Operation Anaconda in reconnaissance mission Intelligence See also HUMINT; SIGINT IPB (intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield) Isaac H Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan See IMU ISR (intelligence surveillance, reconnaissance) Jason Jay JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) John John B Joint Special Operations Command See JSOC Jones, Mike JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) Juliet team in Operation Anaconda in reconnaissance mission Takur Ghar relating to Kabul safe house in Kalashnikov Kandahar Karzai, Hamid Keane, Jack Kearney, Frank Kernan, Joseph Khowst safe house in Kilburn, Jody Kisner, Frank Koch, Anthony Kraft, Nelson Kris K LaCamera, Paul LaFrenz, Matt Larsen, Jim Lee, William C Leister, Barry Lockwood, Jonathan Lodin, Zia Longoria, Mike Lopez, Raul Luman, Kelly Jack “Major Jimmy” in Operation Anaconda Takur Ghar relating to Mako Mako Mako Mako Marcinko, Richard Mark O Maroyka, Brad Marriott, Gabriel Marye, Jim Masirah Massoud, Ahmad Shah McArthur, William “Buddy,” McGovern, Kyle McGraw, Brian McHale, Matthew McNeill, Dan Mendenhall, Scotty Merkloff, Jim Miceli, Anthony Mikolashek, Paul Milani, Andrew Military headquarters, in Bagram Miller, Keary Mingus, Jim Mohammed, Ali Abdelsoud Moore, Carl Moseley, T Michael “Buzz,” Mujahideen Mulholland, John Murray, Bill Murray, Paul “Dino,” Musella, Justin Nail Nail Naler, Chris National Security Agency See NSA Navarro, Eric Nelson Nielsen, Mark Nocks, Andy Northern Alliance NSA (National Security Agency) Objective Remington Observation posts Ogilvie, John O’Keefe, Aaron Omar, Mullah Mohammed Operation Anaconda, Xi See also Blocking Positions; Shahikot; Takur Ghar; specific Task Force entries Apaches used in Australians involved with Bagram relating to Blaber in Butler in Chapman, J in CIA relating to Delta Force in Franks and Gardez relating to Gray Fox in Haas in Hagenbeck in Halfpipe battle in Harrell in Harriman in helicopters used in India team in issues relating to Juliet team in LaCamera in Lodin in “Major Jimmy” in McHale in Mikolashek in Mulholland in observation posts in planning sessions for preparations for Preysler in Al Qaida relating to Rangers in reconnaissance mission relating to Roberts in Rosengard in SEALs in SF in Takur Ghar and, “Speedy” in “Spider” in Taliban relating to Wiercinski in Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Payback The Other Side of the Mountain (Grau) Overbaugh, Justin Pacha Khan in reconnaissance mission Pakistan Paktia Pazder, Randy Pebsworth, Stanley Pecawul Ghar Pentagon Perez, Randel Peterson, Michael Pierre, Emanuel “Manny,” Preysler, Charles “Chip” in Operation Anaconda Takur Ghar relating to Prickett, Shawn Pushtun tribesmen Al Qaida Operation Anaconda relating to reconnaissance mission relating to Takur Ghar relating to Quinlan, John Rakkasans See Task Force Rakkasan Rangers in Operation Anaconda Self in Takur Ghar relating to Rasul Razor Razor Razor Razor Reconnaissance mission, in Shahikot See also Operation Anaconda; Shahikot AFO working with Blaber involved with CIA involved with Delta working with Gardez relating to Gray Fox in India team in Juliet team in Pacha Khan working with Al Qaida relating to SF working with “Speedy” involved with Taliban relating to weather during Renuart, Gene Rich Roberts, Neil death of helicopter fall of at Takur Ghar Ropel, Andrzej Rosengard, Mark Rumsfeld, Donald Ryan, Bill Sabus, Greg Safe house in Gardez in Kabul in Khowst Sakisit, Bill Sate Kandow pass Savusa, Iuniasolua Schmitz, Henry Schwartz, Mark “Screaming Eagles,” SEALs Hyder in Kernan in in Operation Anaconda Roberts in “Slab” in in Takur Ghar Self, Nathan Serkhankhel SF (Special Forces) Haas in in Operation Anaconda Takur Ghar and Shahikot See also Operation Anaconda attack on Carwazi near Ewadzkhal Valley near Franks and intelligence about Masirah near operation in Pecawul Ghar in reconnaissance mission in Sate Kandow pass near Takur Ghar in Task Force Dagger in Task Force Rakkasan relating to Tergul Ghar in terrain around Upper/Lower Shahikot Valleys in Yuldeshev in Zawar Ghar near Zermat in Shawn Shinseki, Eric “Ric,” Short, Kevin W “Speedy” in Operation Anaconda in reconnaissance mission SIGINT (signals intelligence) “Slab,” Smith, Joe Southworth, John “Speedy.” See Short, Kevin W “Speedy” “Spider” in Operation Anaconda Takur Ghar relating to Stebner, Eric Stratman, Hank Svitak, Phil Sweeney, Brian Takur Ghar Blaber relating to Butler at CIA relating to Delta Force relating to helicopter down at Juliet team relating to “Major Jimmy” relating to in Operation Anaconda Preysler relating to Al Qaida relating to Rangers relating to Roberts at SEALs in SF and in Shahikot “Spider” relating to Task Force 11 at Task Force Blue at Task Force Brown at Task Force Dagger at Task Force Hammer at Task Force K-Bar at Task Force Mountain at Task Force Rakkasan at Whale near Taliban Operation Anaconda relating to reconnaissance mission relating to Task Force planning of preparation of at Takur Ghar Trebon in Task Force Blue preparation of at Takur Ghar Task Force Bowie Harrell in planning of preparation of Task Force Brown at Takur Ghar Task Force Dagger in Gardez Mulholland in planning of preparation of in reconnaissance mission Rosengard in in Shahikot at Takur Ghar in Tora Bora Task Force Hammer friendly fire attack on McHale in planning of preparation of at Takur Ghar Task Force K-Bar planning of preparation of at Takur Ghar Task Force Mountain Bentley in preparation of at Takur Ghar Wille in Ziemba in Task Force Rakkasan Larsen in planning of preparation of Ropel in Shahikot relating to at Takur Ghar Wiercinski in Task Force Sword Tergul Ghar Terrain, around Shahikot Texas Thomas in Thomas, Glenn Thomas, Tony Thompson, James “Fred,” Thor Tink, Rowan Tora Bora Totten-Lancaster, Aaron Trebon, Gregory Turner, D.J Understanding Defeat (Dupuy) Upper/Lower Shahikot Valleys U.S Central Command See CENTCOM U.S Special Operations Command, Van Antwerp, James Vance, Kevin Vela, Omar Wadsworth, Larry Wahl, Eddie Wald, Chuck Walker, Joshua Warfare, unconventional Weather, during reconnaissance mission Whale White, Tom Wiercinski, Frank Wille, Paul Wilmoth, Harper Wilson, Jason Winters, Ed Wolfowitz, Paul World Trade Center Yates, Dennis Yuldeshev, Tohir Zachran, Pacha Khan See Pacha Khan al-Zawahiri, Ayman Zawar Ghar Zermat Zia See Lodin, Zia Ziemba, Francesca ... conventional forces in a battle for Kabul, in case the Alliance’s attack stalled at the gates of the Afghan capital The plan was to airdrop a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division to seize Kabul’s airport,... After torturing them, the Taliban death squad murdered the brothers and then their bodies from a makeshift scaffold in the traffic circle in front of the Ariana Thereafter, the Taliban used the. . .NOT A GOOD DAY TO DIE THE UNTOLD STORY OF OPERATION ANACONDA NOT A GOOD DAY TO DIE SEAN NAYLOR BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP Published by the Penguin Group