From the AFA Daily Report:
Air Force Special Operations Command recently released the names and pictures of the three airmen who were killed along with 22 other special operators, seven Afghans, and a civilian interpreter Aug. 6, 2011, when a CH-47 Chinook was shot down in the Maiden Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. They are: pararescueman TSgt. John W. Brown, pararescueman TSgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, and combat controller SSgt. Andrew W. Harvell. All three airmen were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Field, N.C.
The SEALs who were KIA received the lion's share of media attention when that helo went down in Afghanistan nearly two weeks ago, and we mean no disrespect by noting that fact. The initial media reports I read and saw mentioned the dead SEALs and noted "other special operations personnel" had perished, as well. Those other Special Operators included TSgts Brown and Zerbe and SSgt Harvell, all members of Air Force Special Operations Command.
The Air Force deploys its Special Operators alongside combat teams in contact with the enemy, most notably its combat controllers. But it's the pararescuemen (PJs) that are arguably the toughest of all USAF Special Operators, mainly because they're the ones who fly low and slow into hot zones to rescue downed pilots and evacuate wounded soldiers and Marines, often under heavy fire. There are a lot of USAF pilots and naval aviators from the Vietnam era who owe their lives to PJs, and there are probably just as many soldiers and Marines who are thankful today for the combat controllers who call in the Warthogs (or other fast-movers) to take out jihadis in close contact.
RIP, Sergeants Brown, Zerbe, and Harvell. Salute.
RIP, with gratitude.
ReplyDeleteMuch gratitude here, as well.
ReplyDeletePJ's are the real deal.
ReplyDeleteAs tough as those PJ's were, it is doubly tough to see them wasted. My personal feelings are that the Chinook is a piss-poor aircraft to insert our nations finest into battle. I would have rather they just parachute in, or have a group of blackhawks.
The threat of an accident is just as high as a SAM missile. Too high in my book.
The mountains are very difficult to fly in. Choppers need a lot of air, and the altitudes are often high enough, there is no air to grab.
All TOO true, Anon.
ReplyDeleteI never trust the news any more. If the rebels got a supply of shoulder launched SAM missiles, we would probably be the last to know.
ReplyDeleteI guess we will know when planes start falling out of the sky daily, like we did to the Soviets.