Core material for this book came from a series of interviews with forty-one former members of Chosen Company along with twenty-five family and friends of those who did not come home. Eleven Army and Air Force aviators who flew over the battles also spoke about their experiences. Additional material for this book, particularly for the Wanat battle on July 13, 2008, was drawn from a series of investigations and studies beginning with an initial Army review of the fight, known as an Army Regulation 15-6 investigation, and followed by a voluminous Central Command probe examining actions by the chain of command. Useful material was also provided by the US Army Combat Studies Institute’s review of the battle, both a draft and final version. Army 15-6 investigations of the Ranch House fight on August 22, 2007; the ambush of First Lieutenant Matthew Ferrara’s patrol on November 9, 2007; the killing of Sergeant First Class Matthew Kahler on January 26, 2008; and the Apache attack on militants on July 4, 2008, were valuable sources.
The book would not have been possible without an extensive file of material graciously provided by Bill Ostlund. The paper and digital records he made available to me were rich with firsthand accounts, including all after-action reports filed by Chosen Company soldiers following the Wanat battle and the entire volume of transcribed testimonies taken during the Central Command investigation. Other material included daily intelligence briefings that were excellent sources for understanding day-to-day enemy activity, and briefings on intercepted enemy radio traffic. Additional material included academic articles on the Kunar and Nuristan culture and insurgencies, PowerPoint briefings on counterinsurgency methodology and operation plans, a bevy of maps and award citations, photographs, and memorials to the fallen.
Erik Haass, who served as radio operator and company clerk for Chosen Company, generously provided a host of material, including copies of rosters that were always evolving because of casualties and replacement arrivals. Erik also provided name spellings, citation narratives, promotion records, stop-loss lists, and a diagram of the Ranch House outpost.
Enemy-filmed videos of the Ranch House, ambush, and Wanat battles offereded valuable insight, as did footage shot from Air Force jets during the Ranch House fight and Apache helicopters over Wanat.
Many live quotes were reconstructed from the memories of those who said or heard them, with the wording cross-checked whenever possible by others who were present. Other quotes were collected from after-action reports where statements were cited with quotation marks.
A large number of direct quotes were drawn from recordings made during Chosen Company’s 2007–2008 deployment, including from gun cameras and the many videos shot by individual Chosen Company soldiers during the deployment. Transcribed interviews with Matt Ferrara and Jonathan Brostrom conducted by Army historians who visited the Waigal Valley during their combat tour captured the sentiments of two men who would later be killed. More direct quotes were drawn from letters, e-mails, and journals.
Some intrepid soldier left a digital recorder running for seven hours in Observation Post One or OP1 above Bella combat outpost during the ambush of Lieutenant Ferrara’s patrol, capturing the radio discussions between soldiers who were pinned down, those up at the observation post relaying communications, and leaders down at the Bella headquarters. The recording was a rich source of direct quotes and allowed for creation of a timeline of events.
Experts at the US Army Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth used satellite imagery to create a virtual tour of the Waigal Valley from Wanat north to Bella and the Ranch House outpost. They offer “staff ride” tours of historical battlefields for military academy students, and as of the writing of this book their most requested class was the virtual tour and explanation of the Wanat battle. Instructors kindly allowed me to take this tour of the Waigal Valley to better understand the physical terrain where Chosen Company fought.
Army Captain Jesse Sheehan provided details on the inner workings of parachute training at Fort Benning. Paul Stevenson, director of public affairs at the US Army Garrison Italy in Vicenza, offered a primer on Camp Ederle and the surrounding area.
Diaries provided by Matt Myer contained details of Chosen Company training.
Chris Cavoli, who commanded the unit that preceded Rock Battalion in Kunar and Nuristan provinces, generously shared an unpublished manuscript he wrote that was an invaluable source for understanding his efforts to set up military bases in the Waigal Valley near Aranas and at Bella. The published writings of irregular warfare expert David Kilcullen were also helpful.
Some details about the combat experience of Chosen’s sister unit, Battle Company, fighting in the Korengal Valley, were derived from excellent accounts written by Medal of Honor recipient Salvatore Giunta in his book Living with Honor and Sebastian Junger in his book War. The videos shot by Jason Bogar and others provided a colorful understanding of off-hours life for Chosen Company paratroopers.
Battalion intelligence briefings and transcripts of intercepted enemy radio communications were important for describing the siege of Bella.
Perhaps the most difficult challenge in writing this book was reconstructing, with as much precision as possible, the movements and actions of individual soldiers during the fighting. In trying to get as close to the truth as possible, I studied official written accounts by each soldier; pored over maps, photographs, and video footage; and interviewed the participants. In many cases I reinterviewed subjects and checked back with them repeatedly to reconfirm facts and discuss discrepancies or conflicting accounts, all with an eye toward understanding events as accurately as possible. Many of those interviewed showed incomparable patience with my repetitive questions about details that in some cases bordered on minutia.
That said, I take full responsibility for any errors in this book.