Chapter 29: Extortion 17

1 The moon … approaching quickly. Except where otherwise indicated, all information on the downing of Extortion 17 is drawn from the official investigation interviews and briefings, redacted copies of which were accessed on the U.S. Central Command website at: https://www2.centcom.mil/sites/foia/rr/centcom%20regulation%20ccr%2025210/forms/allitems.aspx?RootFolder=%2Fsites%2Ffoia%2Frr%2FCENTCOM%20Regulation%20CCR%2025210%2FWardak%20CH-47%20Investigation&FolderCTID=0x012000BDB53322B36BD84DA24AF0C8F8BCD011&View={7AED4B57-43F2-4B7D-A38E-4BDDC5BB9BD6}.

2 … Lefty Grove … Robert “Lefty” Grove was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox from 1925 to 1941.

3 … forty-seven-person force … The assault force included thirty-five Rangers, seven APU personnel, a U.S. military female cultural support team member, two interpreters, an explosive ordnance detachment member, and a liaison from the “battlespace owner”—the nearest conventional Army unit.

4 … the Task Force East commander … Gold Squadron’s 2 Troop … A Team 6 source.

5 … fifteen Gold Squadron operators … “DOD Identifies Service Members Killed in CH-47 Crash,” Defense Department Press Release No. 705-11, August 11, 2011, accessed at: http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=14728; “Tragedy Devastates Special Warfare Community,” by Sean D. Naylor, USA Today, August 7, 2011, accessed at: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/military/2011-08-07-naval-special-warfare-reaction-afghanistan_n.htm.

6 … August 8 … “Military Killed Taliban Who Downed US Helicopter,” by Lolita C. Baldor and Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press, August 10, 2011, accessed at: http://news.yahoo.com/military-killed-taliban-downed-us-helicopter-132740655.html.

7 The Naval Special Warfare community reeled in shock. “Tragedy Devastates Special Warfare Community.”

8 In the wake … revealed. The author attended the National Press Club event. “Obama ‘Put a Target on Their Backs,’ SEAL Team 6 Family Members Say,” by Paul D. Shinkman, U.S. News & World Report, May 9, 2013, accessed at: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/05/09/obama-put-a-target-on-their-backs-seal-team-6-family-members-say; “Lawmakers Hold Hearing on Deadly ‘Extortion 17’ Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan,” by Jon Harper, Stars and Stripes, February 27, 2014, accessed at: http://www.stripes.com/news/lawmakers-hold-hearing-on-deadly-extortion-17-helicopter-crash-in-afghanistan-1.270274.

9 At the time … 49 percent. This information is all contained in the in-brief for the Extortion 17 investigation team, included on the Central Command website’s collection of documents from that investigation.