Editing Operation Anaconda (section)

====TF Rakkasan====
[[File:Soldier with 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), takes a knee and watches for enemy movement during a pause in a road march during Operation Anaconda, March 2002.jpg|thumb|right| A U.S. soldier with 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), watches for enemy movement during a pause in a road march during Operation Anaconda, March 2002.]]
At 05:00, the assault troops of TF Rakkasan boarded their CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters at [[Bagram Airfield|Bagram Air Base]] and flew south towards the Shah-i-Kot Valley. The weather was cold and cloudy, and the soldiers bundled up in cold weather gear to keep warm. The six Chinooks carrying the Rakkasans were accompanied by two [[UH-60 Blackhawk]] helicopters and several [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|AH-64 Apaches]]. The aircraft ran into significant troubles during the flight caused by foggy weather, and somehow the Chinooks passed the valley entrance significantly ahead of the Apaches, forcing the Rakkasans to drop off on "hot" landing zones (meaning that the insurgents were nearby and able to engage them immediately as they dropped off). The six Chinooks spread out and headed for their respective landing zones. As the security team rushed to secure the landing zones, the TF Rakkasan commander observed the valley with concern. He noticed that there were no signs of civilians in the towns below. No colors, no smoke, no animals, no hanging clothes – nothing to indicate people living there. It became clear that the civilians had been moved out and that there were only enemy combatants to be found there.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Donald P. |last2=Dempsey |first2=Martin E. |title=A Different Kind of War: The United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, October 2001 - September 2005 |url=https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/gwot/DifferentKindofWar.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230133024/https://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/GWOT/DifferentKindofWar.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 30, 2016 |publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press, US Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, KS |language=en |date=July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda |date=1 June 2006 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-192946-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vsSINu2ZvO4C&q=not+a+good+day+to+die+sean+naylor |language=en}}</ref>

At 06:30 the first wave of Rakkasans and Mountain troops landed via Chinook helicopter along the eastern and northern edges of the valley to await the fleeing fighters at their assigned blocking positions. The terrorists appeared surprised and did not fire on the Chinooks at first, possibly due to them being distracted by TF Hammer's advance or because of ineffective communication between the foreign fighters themselves. This confusion bought the infantry invaluable time to take up security positions around the helicopter landing zone, and the first shots rang out as the Chinooks lifted off and departed. Due to TF Hammer having aborted the mission, they came under much heavier fire than they had anticipated after landing on their objectives and remained pinned down by heavy mortar fire and found themselves locked in a fierce firefight throughout the day.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command |date=11 October 2016 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=978-1-250-10547-9 |page=192 |edition=Reprint |language=English}}</ref> Orbiting Apache helicopters attempted to suppress enemy mortar teams, but ran into a wall of RPG and 12.7mm fire, with one Apache losing all of its electronics to an RPG hit. Instead of 200-250 fighters in the valley, as originally expected, post-assessment held that the area contained 750 to 1,000 terrorists dug in on the high ground around the valley. The insurgents used their [[ZPU]]-1 antiaircraft guns, DSHK, and small arms fire against the attack helicopters supporting the Rakkasans.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015  {{ISBN|978-1472807908}}, p.56</ref> 
[[File:Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), scan the ridgeline for enemy forces during Operation Anaconda, March 4, 2002.jpg|thumb|left|U.S. soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), scan the ridgeline for enemy forces during Operation Anaconda, March 4, 2002.]]
The Al-Qaeda fighters employed a tactic they had learned from the [[Afghan mujahideen]] during the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet-Afghan war]]. They fired their RPG rockets into the air, aiming for the self-destruct mechanism that automatically detonates the warheads after traveling a specific distance (920 meters). The insurgents used this method to set the rounds to explode near the aircraft and damage its hydraulic and electrical innards with its lethal flak bursts of shrapnel. Furthermore, the terrorists launched RPG barrages just ahead of the Apaches, another old mujahideen tactic that made it challenging for the Apaches to navigate through the valley safely. Two Apaches were taken out of the fight and forced to return to base early on the first day due to the heavy RPG and machine-gun fire. Upon returning to base, the crew discovered more than 30 bullet holes in the fuselage of one of the helicopters, in addition to damage to its left side caused by an RPG.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neville |first1=Leigh |title=Special Forces in the War on Terror |date=20 May 2015 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |pages=90–91 |edition=1st |url=https://www.amazon.com/Special-Forces-Terror-Leigh-Neville-ebook/dp/B01DPPTL2Y/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= |language=English}}</ref> According to journalist Steve Call, due to the intense hostile reception, only two out of the planned eight CH-47s managed to land in their designated landing zones,<ref name="Call"/> although this is disputed as other sources contend that there were only six chinooks, and all of them successfully landed without incident.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda |date=7 March 2006 |publisher=Dutton Caliber |isbn=978-0-425-20787-1 |pages=235–236 |edition=Reprint |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Donald P. |last2=Dempsey |first2=Martin E. |title=A Different Kind of War: The United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, October 2001 - September 2005 |url=https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/gwot/DifferentKindofWar.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230133024/https://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/GWOT/DifferentKindofWar.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 30, 2016 |publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press, US Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, KS |language=en |date=July 2010}}</ref>

Despite heavy opposition, Task Force Rakkasan managed to secure its blocking positions to the north by the middle of the morning. The presence of AFO teams in strategic high-ground locations played a crucial role in preventing the infantry from being overrun by the enemy. General Hagenbeck, who was in charge of the operation, was considering calling the mission off. However, Pete Blaber, the AFO commander, got on the radio and convinced him otherwise. Blaber insisted that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on the battlefield and that he intended to keep his teams in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, continuing to decimate the enemy through air strikes until they were no longer a threat.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command |date=1 September 2015 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4668-7622-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWiWBgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> Throughout the day, TF Rakkasan soldiers fought relentlessly with the AFOs providing continuous support by calling in air strikes on Al-Qaeda positions. The Apaches also played a crucial role in protecting the Rakkasans on the valley floor during the intense battle. AFO's only frustration was that Rakkasan ETAC/JTAC had priority for calling in airstrikes over the AFOs requests and the other SOF reconnaissance teams in and around the valley.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015  {{ISBN|978-1472807908}}, p.57</ref>

The troops of the 1st Battalion, [[87th Infantry Regiment (United States)|87th Infantry Regiment]] in the southern [[landing zone]]s faced the heaviest fighting. The men on the floor of the valley then picked up and began to patrol north again moving another 50 or so meters when an RPG was fired off a low foothill to the east.  This round closed in on around 10 men, including the two Australians and most of the American leadership, landing in the snow and mud right amongst them but failing to detonate.  The AQ then opened up with a [[DShK]] as the troops on the ground ran for the only cover on the valley floor in what became known as "Hell's Halfpipe." In this engagement, Staff Sergeant Andrzej Ropel, and Specialist William Geraci, recently transferred in from the Division's [[Long Range Surveillance Detachment]], led the squad under fire to a ridgeline above the "Halfpipe."  Ropel was able to kill the enemy observer calling mortar fire into the "Halfpipe," and he and his squad could now see the surrounding terrain. Ropel was later awarded the [[Bronze Star Medal]] with a Valor device for his actions. The expectation of very limited enemy [[indirect fire]] capability meant that only a single [[M120 120 mm mortar|120mm mortar]] was brought in the first wave. The primary fire support for the troops was provided by two [[McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache]]s of the 3rd Battalion, [[101st Aviation Regiment]], [[159th Aviation Brigade]] ("Eagle Attack").<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015  {{ISBN|978-1472807908}}, p.56-57</ref>

As the AFO scouts investigated the southern area near the base of Takur Ghar, the prominent mountain in the valley, they came across an unusual scene. Among the Al-Qaeda fighters, they spotted a female combatant, a rare occurrence not frequently seen among the Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. This woman, in her mid-thirties, stood out with her ponytailed hair, a long scarf that draped all the way down to her knees, and an AK-47 slung across her back. Despite being armed, she wasn't engaged in combat; instead, she sat on a ledge at the mountain's base, cooking. Other enemy fighters, who had been actively sniping at the US scouts, would come down to join her for meals before returning to their positions. As the scouts prepared to move on, they called for mortar support from the 187th Infantry's mortar platoon positioned in the "Halfpipe," obliterating the woman's position, along with the other Al-Qaeda fighters in the vicinity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda |date=1 June 2006 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-192946-0 |pages=260–261 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vsSINu2ZvO4C&q=not+a+good+day+to+die+sean+naylor |language=en}}</ref>

Signalman [[Martin Wallace (soldier)|Martin "Jock" Wallace]], of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment, was awarded the [[Medal for Gallantry]] for his actions during the fighting. When a mortar team from the 1-87 Infantry was hit by enemy mortar fire, Wallace put himself in harm's way, collecting some of the wounded by dragging them into the creek bed, then dressing their wounds along with another SASR liaison officer. Throughout the day, the [[Tactical Air Control Party|TACP]] [[forward air control]]lers and [[Special forces|Special Forces]] teams that had infiltrated into the area the previous day assisted in calling in airstrikes from [[B-1 Lancer|B-1]], [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]], [[F-15 Eagle|F-15]], [[F/A-18 Hornet|F-18]] and [[F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16]] aircraft, inflicting heavy casualties on the [[Taliban]] and al Qaeda fighters, but by no means silencing them.  After nearly having their position overrun, the men in the southern landing zones were in a desperate position, pinned down all day and short of ammunition.  Salvation came after dark in the form of an [[Lockheed AC-130|AC-130U Spooky]] gunship that unlike the faster-moving jets during the day, was able to loiter over the area and provide sustained firepower so the men could be airlifted out under cover of darkness; the group suffered 35 wounded (two [[Chalk (military)|chalks]] of which were casevaced by PaveHawk CSAR choppers) and none killed.<ref name="Lee">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmmDOQAACAAJ|title=18 Hours: The True Story of an SAS War Hero|author=Sandra Lee|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|location=Australia|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7322-8246-2}}</ref>