2RHPZ
11-23-2004, 06:29 PM
Observations: ARSOF in Afghanistan
The success and the speed of execution of the war on terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom, or OEF, were a result of years of strategic investment in personnel, training and equipment of United States Army special-operations forces, which consist of Special Forces; Rangers; Civil Affairs; Psychological Operations; the special-operations support units -- the 112th Signal Battalion and the 528th Support Battalion; and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The accomplishments of OEF were possible because of the expertise, commitment, ingenuity, adaptability and warrior ethos of these dedicated soldiers -- a direct result of their personnel-selection processes and their specialized training. The technological advances of the past few years contributed to the victories, but individual soldiers made the difference.
Special Forces verified their invaluable capacity during OEF, fighting alongside Afghani soldiers against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in the austere, mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. Numerous members of SF detachments attributed their success during OEF to the realistic final phase of the SF Qualification Course, exercise Robin Sage. During the exercise, the SF students learn to address a myriad of problems associated with working with "guerrilla forces," ranging from logistical, administrative, financial and operational issues to cultural conflicts and language barriers -- all of which the soldiers encountered in Afghanistan.
SF training encourages ingenuity, autonomy and adaptability because, by design, the 12-man SF detachments infiltrate many miles into enemy territory or into semi-permissive environments, having only each other to rely on. All three SF attributes were brilliantly demonstrated as SF soldiers called in close air support from remote locations, conducted direct actions against the Taliban hierarchy, and performed foreign internal defense -- creating a national army from disparate local Afghan forces.
The Rangers illustrated their lethality as an exceptionally competent Army strike force. Their seizure of the airfield south of Kandahar was an example of flawless execution: They fought as they had trained -- with speed and ferocity. They took no casualties, and they confiscated valuable intelligence information.
At Takur Char mountain, in a firefight reminiscent of the one in Mogadishu, the Rangers attacked an enemy force entrenched atop a 10,000-foot high mountain, neutralized it, and then kept other hostile forces at bay for more than 15 hours until all friendly forces could be extracted at night. The valiant effort cost the lives of three Rangers, and many more were wounded, but no man was left behind.
Civil Affairs units deployed to Afghanistan with a mission to assist the Afghan people, who were suffering from years of restrictive and negligent Taliban rule. Because the CA teams are combat forces, they were able to operate in dangerous and hostile areas that were unreachable by nongovernment organizations. After conducting an assessment of basic survival needs -- water, food and shelter -- the CA teams began providing humanitarian aid to the needy people.
The teams also conducted many construction-project estimates for water wells, hospitals, schools and road repairs. Unfortunately, the funding for these projects was not readily available: The nations that had promised the necessary financial aid were slow in delivering the funds. The delay created resentment among the local governors or chieftains who had believed that if they cooperated fully with the CA teams, the construction projects would begin immediately and endear them to their native populace.
The CA teams also operated as combat forces when necessary. One CA team, Coalition Humanitarian Liaison Cell 2, responded as a quick-reaction force during a crucial mission to recover an explosive-ordnance-disposal team whose members were killed while attempting to destroy an enemy ammunition cache. The CA team performed its military duties with proficiency, in an extremely dangerous situation, on very short notice, and while adjusting its plan en route to the objective.
Psychological Operations units contributed to the strategic and tactical objectives of the war. PSYOP teams demonstrated their ability to produce and deliver leaflets that were culturally sensitive and targeted to specific themes that met the combatant commander's objectives. The strategic importance of the leaflets was immense. The Afghan people needed to know why American and coalition forces were in their country. The PSYOP leaflet campaign provided that knowledge, but the effectiveness of the leaflet campaign was difficult to measure because most of the Afghan people could not read. The leaflets presented simple messages about mine awareness, explained the source of the humanitarian rations that fell from the sky, and stressed that the Americans were friendly and not an occupying force.
The tactical importance of PSYOP was also beneficial. The 910th Tactical PSYOP Detachment educated and warned villagers during tactical operations around their villages. The 910th's soldiers also proved that they were a combat multiplier that could fight alongside infantry forces.
Teams from the 112th Signal Battalion provided rapid and continuous connectivity, across a broad spectrum of communications, between deployed commands and the stateside combatant commander, as well as between intratheater commands. OEF created an enormous demand for bandwidth to accommodate all the secure and nonsecure data -- including voice, data and video -- that was essential to mission completion. Small ARSOF signal teams deployed to remote locations, overcame harsh environments and technical and tactical difficulties, and never failed to deliver communications. The signal teams reacted promptly to the many urgent demands imposed upon them, for each request was of great importance to the requesting customer.
The units of the 528th Support Battalion contributed to OEF in various ways. Company A provided the SOF-specific expertise necessary for equipping and supplying demanding customers. At Task Force Dagger, the 528th's support soldiers established a warehouse system and assisted Air Force personnel in correcting an accountability problem so that they could better control the off-loading of personnel and equipment from aircraft. The 528th soldiers also established accountability for every item transferred or issued to non-Army SOF personnel.
By doctrine, the 528th acts as a medium between special-operations supply channels and conventional supply channels. Unfortunately, the transition from SOF support to conventional support suffered because of a limited availability of SOF personnel, and Task Force Dagger immediately felt the impact as it battled the inflexibility of conventional supply systems. The maintenance-support team from the 528th's Company B distinguished itself by maintaining the decrepit civilian vehicles used by SF soldiers. The mechanics kept the vehicles operational by making "controlled substitutions" from comparable nonworking vehicles. Many times, especially when they were repairing all-terrain vehicles in remote locations, the mechanics could rely on nothing except their tools and their ingenuity.
The Night Stalkers of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment used their vast collection of organic assets -- multimillion-dollar flight simulators, state-of-the-art helicopters, advanced mission-planning programs, and outstanding training -- to execute nearly impossible missions in Afghanistan to the promised standard: time on target plus or minus 30 seconds. Combating some of the harshest environmental conditions in the world, the Night Stalkers doggedly completed many arduous and hazardous aviation missions in support of OEF.
The "Don't Quit" attitude of the Night Stalkers played a crucial role early in the campaign, when the 160th's aviators completed numerous challenging infiltrations of personnel from SF units and from other government agencies. The MH-47E proved to be the most capable helicopter in Afghanistan. Its terrain-following technology enabled it to fly in zero visibility, several hundred feet above the ground, for long durations. The powerful MH-47D/E Chinook provided the primary means of transportation across soaring mountaintops and remote desert locations. The MH-60 DAP provided armed escort for the Chinooks in Afghanistan, a salient source of armed protection.
For months, the mechanics and crew members worked long, grueling hours to keep the machines in the air. The 160th never dropped a mission because of a maintenance problem, and its operational rate was in the high 90s. Whether they were treating troops who had been injured in battle or who had been rescued from aircraft crashes, or whether they were caring for civilians who had been injured by subversives, the 160th's flight medics, all graduates of the Special Operations Combat Medical Course, demonstrated their life-saving skills.
When National Guard and Army Reserve SOF soldiers mobilized to augment active-duty forces, they left behind their civilian jobs and families, well aware that their deployments would last at least a year. The deployments caused financial, family and personal stress, but the recalled SOF soldiers enthusiastically embraced their assigned responsibilities. They experienced the same combat situations as the active-duty soldiers, and they executed their duties to the same standards expected of all SOF personnel.
While the learning curve may have been steeper for the RC soldiers, who had previously practiced their soldiering tasks only on a monthly basis, National Guardsmen and Reservists play a critical role in the implementation of "rotational warfare." Rotational warfare depends upon a competent, well-trained reserve force that can replace the limited number of active-duty SOF personnel in combat after a specified amount of time, usually 3-6 months. The reserve-component forces also contributed to stateside successes by helping maintain helicopters for the 160th SOAR, by augmenting the cadre and staff at SF schoolhouses, and by producing high-quality PSYOP products.
While the phenomenal success of OEF is not due to the efforts of any one SOF unit, the valuable contributions of every individual soldier in each component of the well-trained and dedicated ARSOF community are to be commended. Without the efforts of ARSOF soldiers, the war on terrorism could not have progressed so rapidly and so effectively.
The success and the speed of execution of the war on terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom, or OEF, were a result of years of strategic investment in personnel, training and equipment of United States Army special-operations forces, which consist of Special Forces; Rangers; Civil Affairs; Psychological Operations; the special-operations support units -- the 112th Signal Battalion and the 528th Support Battalion; and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The accomplishments of OEF were possible because of the expertise, commitment, ingenuity, adaptability and warrior ethos of these dedicated soldiers -- a direct result of their personnel-selection processes and their specialized training. The technological advances of the past few years contributed to the victories, but individual soldiers made the difference.
Special Forces verified their invaluable capacity during OEF, fighting alongside Afghani soldiers against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in the austere, mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. Numerous members of SF detachments attributed their success during OEF to the realistic final phase of the SF Qualification Course, exercise Robin Sage. During the exercise, the SF students learn to address a myriad of problems associated with working with "guerrilla forces," ranging from logistical, administrative, financial and operational issues to cultural conflicts and language barriers -- all of which the soldiers encountered in Afghanistan.
SF training encourages ingenuity, autonomy and adaptability because, by design, the 12-man SF detachments infiltrate many miles into enemy territory or into semi-permissive environments, having only each other to rely on. All three SF attributes were brilliantly demonstrated as SF soldiers called in close air support from remote locations, conducted direct actions against the Taliban hierarchy, and performed foreign internal defense -- creating a national army from disparate local Afghan forces.
The Rangers illustrated their lethality as an exceptionally competent Army strike force. Their seizure of the airfield south of Kandahar was an example of flawless execution: They fought as they had trained -- with speed and ferocity. They took no casualties, and they confiscated valuable intelligence information.
At Takur Char mountain, in a firefight reminiscent of the one in Mogadishu, the Rangers attacked an enemy force entrenched atop a 10,000-foot high mountain, neutralized it, and then kept other hostile forces at bay for more than 15 hours until all friendly forces could be extracted at night. The valiant effort cost the lives of three Rangers, and many more were wounded, but no man was left behind.
Civil Affairs units deployed to Afghanistan with a mission to assist the Afghan people, who were suffering from years of restrictive and negligent Taliban rule. Because the CA teams are combat forces, they were able to operate in dangerous and hostile areas that were unreachable by nongovernment organizations. After conducting an assessment of basic survival needs -- water, food and shelter -- the CA teams began providing humanitarian aid to the needy people.
The teams also conducted many construction-project estimates for water wells, hospitals, schools and road repairs. Unfortunately, the funding for these projects was not readily available: The nations that had promised the necessary financial aid were slow in delivering the funds. The delay created resentment among the local governors or chieftains who had believed that if they cooperated fully with the CA teams, the construction projects would begin immediately and endear them to their native populace.
The CA teams also operated as combat forces when necessary. One CA team, Coalition Humanitarian Liaison Cell 2, responded as a quick-reaction force during a crucial mission to recover an explosive-ordnance-disposal team whose members were killed while attempting to destroy an enemy ammunition cache. The CA team performed its military duties with proficiency, in an extremely dangerous situation, on very short notice, and while adjusting its plan en route to the objective.
Psychological Operations units contributed to the strategic and tactical objectives of the war. PSYOP teams demonstrated their ability to produce and deliver leaflets that were culturally sensitive and targeted to specific themes that met the combatant commander's objectives. The strategic importance of the leaflets was immense. The Afghan people needed to know why American and coalition forces were in their country. The PSYOP leaflet campaign provided that knowledge, but the effectiveness of the leaflet campaign was difficult to measure because most of the Afghan people could not read. The leaflets presented simple messages about mine awareness, explained the source of the humanitarian rations that fell from the sky, and stressed that the Americans were friendly and not an occupying force.
The tactical importance of PSYOP was also beneficial. The 910th Tactical PSYOP Detachment educated and warned villagers during tactical operations around their villages. The 910th's soldiers also proved that they were a combat multiplier that could fight alongside infantry forces.
Teams from the 112th Signal Battalion provided rapid and continuous connectivity, across a broad spectrum of communications, between deployed commands and the stateside combatant commander, as well as between intratheater commands. OEF created an enormous demand for bandwidth to accommodate all the secure and nonsecure data -- including voice, data and video -- that was essential to mission completion. Small ARSOF signal teams deployed to remote locations, overcame harsh environments and technical and tactical difficulties, and never failed to deliver communications. The signal teams reacted promptly to the many urgent demands imposed upon them, for each request was of great importance to the requesting customer.
The units of the 528th Support Battalion contributed to OEF in various ways. Company A provided the SOF-specific expertise necessary for equipping and supplying demanding customers. At Task Force Dagger, the 528th's support soldiers established a warehouse system and assisted Air Force personnel in correcting an accountability problem so that they could better control the off-loading of personnel and equipment from aircraft. The 528th soldiers also established accountability for every item transferred or issued to non-Army SOF personnel.
By doctrine, the 528th acts as a medium between special-operations supply channels and conventional supply channels. Unfortunately, the transition from SOF support to conventional support suffered because of a limited availability of SOF personnel, and Task Force Dagger immediately felt the impact as it battled the inflexibility of conventional supply systems. The maintenance-support team from the 528th's Company B distinguished itself by maintaining the decrepit civilian vehicles used by SF soldiers. The mechanics kept the vehicles operational by making "controlled substitutions" from comparable nonworking vehicles. Many times, especially when they were repairing all-terrain vehicles in remote locations, the mechanics could rely on nothing except their tools and their ingenuity.
The Night Stalkers of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment used their vast collection of organic assets -- multimillion-dollar flight simulators, state-of-the-art helicopters, advanced mission-planning programs, and outstanding training -- to execute nearly impossible missions in Afghanistan to the promised standard: time on target plus or minus 30 seconds. Combating some of the harshest environmental conditions in the world, the Night Stalkers doggedly completed many arduous and hazardous aviation missions in support of OEF.
The "Don't Quit" attitude of the Night Stalkers played a crucial role early in the campaign, when the 160th's aviators completed numerous challenging infiltrations of personnel from SF units and from other government agencies. The MH-47E proved to be the most capable helicopter in Afghanistan. Its terrain-following technology enabled it to fly in zero visibility, several hundred feet above the ground, for long durations. The powerful MH-47D/E Chinook provided the primary means of transportation across soaring mountaintops and remote desert locations. The MH-60 DAP provided armed escort for the Chinooks in Afghanistan, a salient source of armed protection.
For months, the mechanics and crew members worked long, grueling hours to keep the machines in the air. The 160th never dropped a mission because of a maintenance problem, and its operational rate was in the high 90s. Whether they were treating troops who had been injured in battle or who had been rescued from aircraft crashes, or whether they were caring for civilians who had been injured by subversives, the 160th's flight medics, all graduates of the Special Operations Combat Medical Course, demonstrated their life-saving skills.
When National Guard and Army Reserve SOF soldiers mobilized to augment active-duty forces, they left behind their civilian jobs and families, well aware that their deployments would last at least a year. The deployments caused financial, family and personal stress, but the recalled SOF soldiers enthusiastically embraced their assigned responsibilities. They experienced the same combat situations as the active-duty soldiers, and they executed their duties to the same standards expected of all SOF personnel.
While the learning curve may have been steeper for the RC soldiers, who had previously practiced their soldiering tasks only on a monthly basis, National Guardsmen and Reservists play a critical role in the implementation of "rotational warfare." Rotational warfare depends upon a competent, well-trained reserve force that can replace the limited number of active-duty SOF personnel in combat after a specified amount of time, usually 3-6 months. The reserve-component forces also contributed to stateside successes by helping maintain helicopters for the 160th SOAR, by augmenting the cadre and staff at SF schoolhouses, and by producing high-quality PSYOP products.
While the phenomenal success of OEF is not due to the efforts of any one SOF unit, the valuable contributions of every individual soldier in each component of the well-trained and dedicated ARSOF community are to be commended. Without the efforts of ARSOF soldiers, the war on terrorism could not have progressed so rapidly and so effectively.