Thread by @tobyharnden

THREAD: One of joys of being an author is choosing chapter titles. I spend lots of time on them - they help shape a book’s character. Often I work them out literally on the back of an envelope (one of these was chosen). Here are the chapter titles in First Casualty, and why - 1

Chap. 1 - ZERO HOUR. Book opens on 9/11, with members of @CIA’s Team Alpha in air, underwater, & on land. On 9/12, an Arabic conversation in Afghanistan that took place on 9/10 was translated by NSA - “tomorrow is zero hour” - 2

Chap 2. - BLUE SKY. This is ref. to the Blue Sky Memo, drawn up at end of Clinton admin., outlying what was to become @CIA plan to pursue AQ in Afghanistan after 9/11. Is also a nod to the azure blue skies we saw on east coast on 9/11. Version by NSC later declassified - 3

Chap. 3. - THIRD OPTION. Motto of Special Activities Division (Alton: Tertia Optio). Mike Spann & 3 more of 8 in Team Alpha were SAD paramilitary officers. Refers to covert action as 3rd option after diplomacy & mil. force. This is challenge coin given to me by ex SAD officer - 4

Chap 4. - SHOWTIME. When Cofer Black, CTC director, went to @CIA 7th floor late morning of 9/11 to brief George Tenet & @CIA leaders, he knew CTC would be at forefront of coming war. He was about to outline what response should be. Told himself: “Guess what? It’s showtime.” - 5

Chap 5. - KILL BOX. Initial @CIA Afghanistan campaign plan was for “kill box” centered btw. Mazar-i Sharif, Taloqan, Kabul, & Bamiyan. Nearly called this chap. KILL FILE - term @CIA officers used for file left at home containing their will & details of funeral arrangements - 6

CHAP. 6 - TALISMAN. Before Team Alpha’s David Tyson left for Afghanistan, his daughter Kara, 11, placed in his backpack a homemade Native American sacred bundle. The talisman was made of feathers, a rock, a beetle’s head, & an Uzbek evil eye charm. He carried it for 40 days - 7

CHAP. 7 - TWO CADILLACS - This was part of a joke told by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum to Team Alpha chief J.R. Seeger. Dostum was aware of his reputation for savagery & lack of education. Not sure about two, but it’s documented that he once owned an armored Cadillac - 8

CHAP. 8 - WILD THING. From the D.H.Lawrence poem, recited by Master Chief Jack Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen) in “G.I. Jane.” Relates to an observation about the hardship & suffering endured by Afghans in the mountains - 9

Chap. 9 - DEVIL’S WATER. Afghan fighters’ term for vodka. Flown into Darya Suf Valley for Team Alpha by Tashkent station chief Charlie Gilbert, along with $3 million in non-sequential $100 bills (original $3 million was running low) & supply of condoms (why? Read the book!) - 10

Chap. 10 - THE FORT. This was original book title, until @vanessamobley came up w First Casualty. Qala-i Jangi, - “fort of war.” 19th century mud citadel nr. Mazar-i Sharif. Team Alpha got there Nov 10, 2001. Former HQ of Dostum, Taliban, Soviets. Place of intrigue & death - 11

Chap. 11 - GOAT RODEO. “a slang term for something going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, & there’s nothing left to do but to sit back & watch.” Came from observation by Team Alpha’s Justin Sapp on visit of Gen. Tommy Franks (w Atta, Mohaqeq, Dostum) to Mazar - 12

Chap. 12 - NOT SURRENDERED. - the words of a Pakistani prisoner in Qala-i Jangi, evening Nov. 24, 2001. He was 1of 400+ Al-Qaeda who’d supposedly surrendered outside Mazar - but hadn’t been searched. As he spoke, ano prisoner blew self up & 2 x Dostum commanders w a grenade - 13

Chap. 13 - THE IRISHMAN Spoiler alert: “Irishman” = John Walker Lindh. At Al Farooq Al Qaeda training camp, Lindh was instructed to tell fellow AQ fighters he was Irish (had Irish grandmother). Iraqi prisoner told @CIA’s Mike Spann (questioning Lindh here) Lindh was Irish - 14

Chap. 14 - PINK HOUSE. This building, erected by Soviets as classrooms, was epicenter of Qala-i Jangi uprising & battle. 400+ AQ prisoners in its cellar (a fortified bunker) & brought out on Nov. 25, 2001. Mike Spann killed yards fm. building. Remarkably, still stood in 2020 - 15

Chap. 15 - TROJAN HORSE. Refers to Taliban/AQ plan to re-take Mazar-i Sharif - centerpiece was Qala-i Jangi uprising. At same time, Tal/AQ forces moved fm Balkh & Kunduz twd. Mazar. Mastermind was Mullah Fazl, mass killer of Hazaras in north & now(as then) Talib dep def min - 16

This Twitter thread is briefly interrupted by breakfast - 17

Chap. 16 - CLEARED HOT. This was go ahead fm USAF combat controller MSGT Bart Decker (fm his sleeping bag) to AC-130 navigator Allison Black (aka Angel of Death) outside Kunduz, Nov 25, 2001. Crucial to survival of @CIA & Green Berets. Here’s famous photo of Bart on a horse - 18

Chap. 17 - ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Words of Afghan translator Najibullah Quraishi after USMC F-18 dropped 2,000lb JDAM on friendlies. Flipped T-55, killed Afghan allies, wounded SBS,US (1st Purple Hearts of war - Betz, Beck, Leahy, Syverson, Sciortino). Investig found pilot error - 19

Chap. 18 - YEAH BABY! Words of LTC Greg McMillan, AC-130 mission cdr, after Grim 11 took out AQ mortar position w 105mm, setting off chain reaction & sight reminding @CIA’s J.R. Seeger of Apocalypse Now. Was demonstrated to me thus in Cracker Barrel in Chattanooga TN in 2020 - 20

Chap 19. - LUCKY BOOTS - David Tyson based Tashkent - couldn’t get @CIA HQ gear. Grabbed Deer Stags, made 4 leisure, & wore for 40 days. Got so beaten up, Mike Spann joked were like his Alabama gt-gfather’s. Mark Tyson, 8, dubbed them “Dad’s lucky boots.” Now in @CIA museum - 21

Chap. 20 NO SECRETS. Oddly for @CIA director, these were instructions fm George Tenet to Team Alpha dep. Alex Hernandez on arrival Andrews AFB w Mike Spann’s casket Dec 2, 2001. Alex was to meet Shannon Spann to tell her circumstances of Mike’s death at Qala-i Jangi Nov. 25 - 22

Chap. 21 - After his ordeal at Qala-i Jangi (comrade killed, had to kill dozens of AQ at close quarters to survive), David Tyson & family did a v.unTyson thing - went to Disney World. Later, DT could remember nothing of Cinderella Castle, Space Mountain, or Tomorrowland - 23

Chap. 22 - DAYS OF THUNDER. These days, as David Tyson reflects on 2001, Brooks & Dunn song “Days of Thunder” makes him weep for Mike Spann patriotic son of Alabama: “Looking back on those days of thunder; Shake my head & I have to wonder.” - 24 END THREAD