leader, was very experienced and knowledgeable. He’d been through sniper school in the early 1990s and had several deployments, including a trip to Iraq. He was also older, in his mid-thirties, and had been an instructor at the mountain warfare center in California, teaching snipers to shoot, navigate, and survive in the mountains. If anyone knew how to manage in the peaks of Afghanistan, it was Sergeant Evers. Rush’s other teammate was Parish, a corpsman who had recently joined the platoon. He was quiet, but hardworking and listened well.
At Camp Blessing, the snipers were given time to adjust to their surroundings. They climbed the steep hills and stayed at the observation posts a couple of times to feel the effects of the elevation. Sergeant Evers was in great shape; he ran faster than anyone in the platoon, and when it came to humping, the more weight he carried the faster he was, but Rush was behind him all the way, in great shape himself. Parish, though, being fresh to the platoon, hadn’t experienced anything like Afghanistan, and he sat the first few missions out. During the adjustment missions, Evers was behind the scenes requesting for the snipers to run solo missions, and one night they were approved.
From the week they arrived, the marines took enemy fire. Their camp was hit at least twice a week by mortars and small arms. Evers wanted to find the enemy’s attack positions, but the battalion was hesitant to use the snipers. Finally one night the camp commander, a first lieutenant, knocked on their door and informed them that their mission was approved.
Their first mission was a good learning experience. Evers planned to recon “Rocket Ridge,” the hillside from where the marines suspected the anti-Coalition militants shot from. The snipers packed for a three-day operation, with food, equipment, and twelve courts of water, and set out. The climb to the top of the nearest hill was exhausting and the heavy packs wore the snipers out, but they were able to make it into position. When the sun rose, Rush noticed the craters from return attacks by artillery. The dense forest hid small trails, and the most interesting thing the snipers found were early warning devices set by the fighters. The enemy had placed piles of dead branches on the trails, and if the snipers had moved through them, the sound would have been loud enough to alert the fighters.
After the first few missions, the snipers gained confidence. They took to the mountains and began to understand the region more. The only contact that they had made with the enemy was minimal; it happened when their base was attacked. The enemy fighters would not stay long enough for the marines to pursue them, or for the snipers to maneuver on them.
Meanwhile, battalion headquarters began planning Operation Red Wings. The mission was to kill or capture anti-Coalition militias in the Korengal Valley, a place that seemed untouchable to U.S. troops. The Marines wanted to clear the valley of the fighters before the upcoming Afghanistan elections. The main anti-Coalition militia, known as the Mountain Tigers, was led by a local Afghan Arab known as Ahmad Shah. He kept a tight grip on the Korengal, and became a key target. Finding him and his fighters, however, would be a task in itself.
Disaster met the start of Operation Red Wings. A four-man sniper team made up of U.S. Navy SEALs, which coincidently would have been Rush’s sniper team, if the marines were given the mission, infiltrated deep into the valley, but were compromised and subsequently attacked by Shah’s men, who killed all but one, Marcus Luttrell, who escaped. The rescue team sent to the aid of the men were hit while in their helicopter, and all were killed. As a result, a month later the Marines launched Operation Whalers.
Anaconda
In Afghanistan the action was heating up. Back at Kandahar, Stan was relieved as a team leader because of his absence and his injuries. That was unimportant to him; what
At Camp Blessing, the snipers were given time to adjust to their surroundings. They climbed the steep hills and stayed at the observation posts a couple of times to feel the effects of the elevation. Sergeant Evers was in great shape; he ran faster than anyone in the platoon, and when it came to humping, the more weight he carried the faster he was, but Rush was behind him all the way, in great shape himself. Parish, though, being fresh to the platoon, hadn’t experienced anything like Afghanistan, and he sat the first few missions out. During the adjustment missions, Evers was behind the scenes requesting for the snipers to run solo missions, and one night they were approved.
From the week they arrived, the marines took enemy fire. Their camp was hit at least twice a week by mortars and small arms. Evers wanted to find the enemy’s attack positions, but the battalion was hesitant to use the snipers. Finally one night the camp commander, a first lieutenant, knocked on their door and informed them that their mission was approved.
Their first mission was a good learning experience. Evers planned to recon “Rocket Ridge,” the hillside from where the marines suspected the anti-Coalition militants shot from. The snipers packed for a three-day operation, with food, equipment, and twelve courts of water, and set out. The climb to the top of the nearest hill was exhausting and the heavy packs wore the snipers out, but they were able to make it into position. When the sun rose, Rush noticed the craters from return attacks by artillery. The dense forest hid small trails, and the most interesting thing the snipers found were early warning devices set by the fighters. The enemy had placed piles of dead branches on the trails, and if the snipers had moved through them, the sound would have been loud enough to alert the fighters.
After the first few missions, the snipers gained confidence. They took to the mountains and began to understand the region more. The only contact that they had made with the enemy was minimal; it happened when their base was attacked. The enemy fighters would not stay long enough for the marines to pursue them, or for the snipers to maneuver on them.
Meanwhile, battalion headquarters began planning Operation Red Wings. The mission was to kill or capture anti-Coalition militias in the Korengal Valley, a place that seemed untouchable to U.S. troops. The Marines wanted to clear the valley of the fighters before the upcoming Afghanistan elections. The main anti-Coalition militia, known as the Mountain Tigers, was led by a local Afghan Arab known as Ahmad Shah. He kept a tight grip on the Korengal, and became a key target. Finding him and his fighters, however, would be a task in itself.
Disaster met the start of Operation Red Wings. A four-man sniper team made up of U.S. Navy SEALs, which coincidently would have been Rush’s sniper team, if the marines were given the mission, infiltrated deep into the valley, but were compromised and subsequently attacked by Shah’s men, who killed all but one, Marcus Luttrell, who escaped. The rescue team sent to the aid of the men were hit while in their helicopter, and all were killed. As a result, a month later the Marines launched Operation Whalers.
Anaconda
In Afghanistan the action was heating up. Back at Kandahar, Stan was relieved as a team leader because of his absence and his injuries. That was unimportant to him; what
Similar Books
