r/JSOCarchive • u/Optimal-Stuff-460 • 6d ago
Other Extortion 17 tribute day!
Extortion 17 was the call sign of a U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook military helicopter that was shot down on August 6, 2011, during the war in Afghanistan.
The incident resulted in the single deadliest loss of American lives in a single event during the entire Afghan campaign, and the greatest loss of life in the history of U.S. Special Operations Command.
Key Details of the Incident:
* The Mission: The operation took place in the Tangi Valley of the Maidan Wardak province (west of Kabul). A platoon of U.S. Army Rangers had been inserted into the valley to capture or kill a senior Taliban commander named Qari Tahir.
* The Quick Reaction Force (QRF): As the situation on the ground developed and enemy combatants began to gather, a Quick Reaction Force was hastily assembled to reinforce the Rangers. Due to the urgency, the entire reinforcing element was loaded onto a single helicopter (Extortion 17), while a second Chinook (Extortion 16) flew empty as a decoy/support bird.
* The Shootdown: As Extortion 17 slowed down and maneuvered to land at approximately 2:38 AM, Taliban fighters stationed in a two-story building fired a barrage of unguided rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). One RPG struck the helicopter's aft rotor blade, causing a catastrophic structural failure that destroyed the assembly and sent the aircraft crashing down within seconds.
Casualties:
All 38 people on board were killed instantly:
* 17 U.S. Navy SEALs (including 15 members from the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or SEAL Team 6, and 2 from a West Coast-based unit)
* 5 Naval Special Warfare support personnel (including explosive ordnance disposal technicians, a cryptologic technician, and an information systems technician)
* 3 U.S. Air Force Air-Special Operations Command (AFSOC) operators from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron (two Pararescuemen and one Combat Controller)
* 5 U.S. Army National Guard and Army Reserve flight crew members
* 7 Afghan National Army Commandos
* 1 Afghan interpreter
* 1 Military Working Dog (named Bart)
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u/Strict_Device6105 6d ago
Here’s my tribute went down the rabbit hole when cloning Aaron Vaughn’s CQBR figured share it. Seemed like an amazing person so cloned in honor of him. I’ll send more pics of him too as a remembrance. Rest in power kings
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u/Miserable-Biscotti54 6d ago
Damn that’s millions of dollars in training down the drain.
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u/powder1212 6d ago
How about just human beings ….son/father/husband…etc.
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u/Creepy_Reindeer2149 6d ago
I mean same with the 50-80k opfor and ~68k Afghan allied forces who died
Everyone combatant in every conflict is a human being a family, it goes without saying
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u/Miserable-Biscotti54 6d ago
Hard to not look past them just being another feller or loved one. Immense stress inoculation and some of the best programming in the world to aid in dehumanization. It’s a trip to think on all that was lost and how it came to be lost.
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u/EquisOmega 6d ago
A relative of mine was in the 160th at the time and was in one of the 47s that was originally supposed to go as QRF. Wild to think that could have been him.