Thread by @tobyharnden

THREAD - 20 years ago today 8 men became first Americans behind enemy lines after 9/11 - @CIA’s Team Alpha. Landed in Darya Suf Valley 2 a.m. local after flight in 2 Black Hawks from K2 base. Only 7 returned. Their story is told in my book “First Casualty” by @littlebrown - 1

There had been four days
of delays due to poor weather and debates among Task Force Dagger
staff over different routes to get the CIA into the Darya Suf Valley to
link up with General Abdul Rashid Dostum - “First Casualty” p. 71 - 2

Before settling on Black Hawks, crossing into Afghanistan on foot had been considered. Team Alpha had been told they might be parachuted from plane launched from aircraft carrier in Arabian Sea. “You might have to wear a burqa,” Tm Alpha’s Capt. Justin Sapp had been informed. - 3

Another plan had been to swim across the Amu Darya from Uzbekistan and be met on Afghan side by smuggler who would drive the team to Dostum. Instead, two MH-60Ls would transport them fm. crumbling former Soviet air base of K2 in SE Uzbekistan via Tajikistan to n.Afghanistan - 4

Accompanying to Afghanistan border was Chinook helicopter, also from 160th Special Operations Aviation
Regiment - the Night Stalkers. Chinook’s role was emergency refueling should Black Hawks be unable to refuel from Hercules that would R/V with them just inside Uzbekistan- 5

Written on the side of the 160th SOAR Black Hawk that Team Alpha posed in front of at K2 before departure were words adapted from the 1987 movie The Untouchables, about Al Capone: “Don’t Bring a Knife to a Gunfight.” 6

Capt. Justin Sapp, 29 - only Green Beret on Team Alpha - was poised to become first American service member among almost 1.4 million in uniform to enter enemy territory in Afghanistan after 9/11. He felt the weight of history & national expectations on his shoulders. - 7

In Justin Sapp’s pocket was a silver ring etched with the Special Forces motto, DE OPPRESSO DE LIBER—to liberate the oppressed. A former Green Beret had stopped him in a corridor at CIA headquarters to ask him to take it into Afghanistan with him. (First Casualty p. 72) - 8

Sapp was whispering a prayer on runway as COL John Mulholland (ex-Delta Force) arrived to bid farewell to @CIA men. Sporting bushy mustache, Mulholland had named K2 base “Stronghold Freedom” & given Task Force Dagger motto STRENGTH AND HONOR (he still signs emails this way) - 9

The intensely patriotic and normally loquacious Mulholland seemed to be grasping for something stirring to say. Struggling to make himself heard over din of the Black Hawks, the towering colonel leaned down to shout into the young captain’s ear: “Don’t get fucking killed!” - 10

Wasn’t exactly poetry, Sapp thought. “I’ll try not to let you down, sir!” he responded. Was clear Mulholland thought some of Team Alpha wouldn’t survive. Alex Hernandez had tried to dampen fear among the team, telling them in final briefing, “No one dies on this mission.” - 11

Black Hawks - call signs Sponge 05 and Sponge 06 - were Direct-Action Penetrators, configured as gunships to support SF troops in action. Presence of DAPs in Uzbekistan was secret cos President Karimov had not authorized US combat missions to be launched from country - 12

Cover story was DAPs were regular Black Hawks on standby for CSAR. Smaller, lighter Black Hawks chosen over Chinooks (callsign Razor) for @CIA Team Alpha insertion - there is still controversy over this. Here are Black Hawk crews & Team Alpha (photo never b4 published) - 13

Normally, DAPs had weaponry such as 30mm cannons, heavy machine guns, Hellfire missiles. But extremely high altitudes of C Asia mountain ranges affected lift power, & requirement to carry passengers, kit meant everything possible had to be sacrificed to bring down weight - 14

There were no seats in the Black Hawks; most of the CIA men sat on Pelican cases (contained satellite radios, power cables, folding antennae, Panasonic Toughbook laptops, US & Soviet maps). Andy perched on large green sack stuffed with $3 million in non sequential $100 bills - 15

The night of Oct 16/17, 2001 was clear and moonlit. Flying east toward Tajikistan, the trio of helicopters had to thread their way through an 8,000-foothigh pass in the Baisun-Tau mountain range, nicknamed “the Bear” because of its shape. - 16

The crew doors were open so miniguns could fire, making the cabin freezing cold. To avoid Taliban antiaircraft sites, circuitous flight route cut due east into Tajikistan, passing south of 15,000-foot-high peak Khazret Sultan on border, skirting Tajik capital of Dushanbe - 17

Suddenly, Hercules appeared. Drought used to refuel at 120 mph - tricky maneuver even in daytime. “Congratulations, gentlemen” came ethereal voice from Hercules cockpit. “You just completed the first combat in-air refueling for the 160th Regiment. Good luck and Godspeed.” - 18

Around midnight, the scattered lights of Uzbekistan disappeared. The darkness below was broken only by moon’s reflection on Amu Darya, known in antiquity as Oxus River & now marking the 89-mile-long international border. “Welcome to Afghanistan,” said pilot CWO Ross Childs. - 18

South of Mazar-i Sharif—the prize sought by Dostum and Team Alpha—the two Black Hawks carrying the eight @CIA men flew “nap of the earth,” a low-altitude course using valleys as cover to avoid Taliban antiaircraft guns or Stingers - 19

There were occasional glimpses of orange below from fires inside mud huts. A few times, tracer fire was visible as the Taliban, hearing a helicopter, shot blindly into the air. Rising to 8,000 feet, the two helicopters entered the Hindu Kush - 20

The Black Hawks drew close to Landing Zone (LZ) at Kamach, 14 miles south of the village of Dehi (seen here) Dostum had said the LZ would be marked by a small fire. Instead, it looked like the Afghans had gathered every light bulb and extension cord in northern Afghanistan - 21

Crowded around the LZ were more than 100 Afghans, with their horses and vehicles. “Hey, J.R.,” Childs told him from the cockpit, “I think we’re here.” Sponge 05 stopped moving forward, then descended like an elevator. On each side, the CIA men could see sheer rock faces. - 22

Each man in Team Alpha except David Tyson had been given a new AKMS rifle—a version of the Kalashnikov with a folding metal shoulder stock—and a 9mm Glock 17 pistol. I thought the AKMS’s were Romanian - now believe they were East German. Mike Spann’s is now in @CIA museum - 23

No body armor or helmets would be
worn by Team Alpha (Tyson & Sapp here). The rule was same for ODAs; reasoning was it would be harder for Americans to win over Afghan tribesmen if they were more heavily armed and better protected than
their indigenous anti-Taliban allies - 24

Team Alpha members carried no identification apart from a silk “blood chit” offering a reward to anyone who might help him. In Pashto, Dari, Uzbek, Farsi, and Urdu, it stated: “I am an American and do not speak your language. I will not harm you! I bear no malice.” - 25

CWO Ross Childs, Black Hawk lead pilot, carried American flag on mission. Flag was presented by “The DAP Guys 2nd FLT. D Co 1-160th” to Pres. George W. Bush, w words: “You can be assured we are executing w honor…We pledge to you that we will not stop until this war is won.” - 26

When Black Hawks left, Afghan next to J.R. Seeger pulled down turban wrapped around his face, instantly recognizable as Abdul Rashid Dostum. Warlord said: “Baba Jan. Welcome to Afghanistan. You must have some tea.” His initial payment from @CIA: $1 million - 27 END THREAD

drogue not drought!