# The Battle of Takur Ghar



## Ravage (Dec 9, 2007)

Paktia Province, Afghanistan, March 4, 2002

Operation Enduring Freedom, the military action against Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan, was the catalyst for the largest mobilization of Air National Guard personnel since the Korean War.  It also marked the first time that Air National Guard ground units, particularly pararescue personnel and air combat controllers, were used to support joint ground combat operations.     

As part of Enduring Freedom, in March 2002 a joint military operation named "Anaconda" was mounted in Paktia province to surround and defeat Taliban forces hiding in the area.   On the third day of Operation Anaconda an Army MH-47E Chinook helicopter was fired upon as it attempted to land on a ridge on Takur Ghar mountain.  Taking heavy fire, the helicopter lurched and attempted to take-off to extricate itself from the field of fire.  When the Chinook lurched, one of the Navy SEALs on board, Petty Officer First Class Neil C. Roberts, fell from the rear ramp.  Too damaged to return for Petty Officer Roberts, the Chinook landed further down the mountain.  

A second MH-47E attempted to land and rescue Roberts, but it too was fired upon and forced to leave the immediate area.  The third MH-47E to attempt a landing on what became known as Roberts’ Ridge was hit with automatic weapons fire and rocket-propelled grenades while still 20 feet in the air.  The helicopter, containing an Army Ranger Team and Technical Sergeant Keary Miller, a Combat Search and Rescue Team Leader from the 123d Special Tactics Squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard, hit the ground hard.  Within seconds, one helicopter crewman, the right door gunner, was killed, as were three Army Rangers.  The 17-hour ordeal that followed would result in the loss of seven American lives, including Petty Officer Roberts.  

Technical Sergeant Miller not only managed to drag the wounded helicopter pilot to safety, but also orchestrated the establishment of multiple casualty collection points.  In between treating the wounded, Miller set up the distribution of ammunition for the Army Rangers who were taking the fight to the enemy.  For his extraordinary life-saving efforts while putting himself in extreme danger under enemy fire, Technical Sergeant Miller was awarded the Silver Star by the U.S. Navy, one of the few members of the Air National Guard to be so honored. 

Download a high-resolution copy of this print HERE

http://www.ngb.army.mil/resources/photo_gallery/heritage/Takur_Ghar.html

RLTW
NSDQ
and that others may live...


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 9, 2007)

Any idea which artist painted that?


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## Ravage (Dec 9, 2007)

No idea, sorry...


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## Centermass (Dec 9, 2007)

Boondocksaint375 said:


> Any idea which artist painted that?



Keith Rocco

http://www.keithrocco.com/about_the_artist.php


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## Boondocksaint375 (Dec 9, 2007)

thanks!


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## hidesite (Dec 9, 2007)

NICE. 

I was an acquaintance of a couple of warriors that were on the hill that day... 





Neil Roberts, US Navy SEAL, RIP.


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## car (Dec 9, 2007)

Ravage said:


> Paktia Province, Afghanistan, March 4, 2002
> 
> Operation Enduring Freedom, the military action against Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan, was the catalyst for the largest mobilization of Air National Guard personnel since the Korean War.  It also marked the first time that Air National Guard ground units, particularly pararescue personnel and air combat controllers, were used to support joint ground combat operations.
> 
> ...



There's a book called "Robert's Ridge" about that battle.  I gave a "talk" as a student at the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy based on that battle and used the book and one other as my reference. My boss has a picture on the wall in his office of the boots and rifles from the memorial ceremony in A-stan.


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## DesertDocM33 (Dec 30, 2007)

Thanks...great depiction of heroism


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## Blizzard (Mar 4, 2014)

Remembering the fallen warriors on this day...and the brave warriors who fought to bring them back.

Neil Roberts - SEAL
John Chapman - Combat Controller
Jason Cunningham - PJ
Matthew Commons - Ranger
Bradley Crose - Ranger
Marc Anderson - Ranger
Phillip Svitak - Nightstalker


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## Centermass (Mar 4, 2014)

Bravery, courage in its truest sense that day. We must always remember so that their sacrifice will not have been in vain. 





Raising a glass later on in honor of them all.


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## ZmanTX (Mar 4, 2014)

Rest in peace Gentlemen. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.


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## Blizzard (Mar 4, 2015)

13 years since Roberts Ridge.  Remembering Fifi and the courage and sacrifice of all the Airmen, Soldiers, and Sailors on that day.

Raising a glass to them all tonight.


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## AWP (Aug 27, 2016)

Necrothreading from hell, but this is an interesting read. I won't address the "Chapman was alive" controversy except to say it doesn't surprise some of us here. Years ago I stumbled across some of the Pred feed and am surprised this took so long.

New review of surveillance video of a 2002 Afghanistan firefight generates controversy | Fox News



> A new review of surveillance video of a 2002 firefight between a US special ops team and Al Qeada fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan that left seven Americans dead is now the focus of controversy—with the Air Force secretary pushing the Medal of Honor for one of their own killed during the battle.
> 
> The controversy involves airman John Chapman, the radioman for a SEAL Team 6 reconnaissance unit involved in the firefight.


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## Ooh-Rah (Aug 28, 2016)

Wow.

SEAL Team 6 and a Man Left for Dead: A Grainy Picture of Valor

Britt Slabinski could hear the bullets ricochet off the rocks in the darkness. It was the first firefight for his six-man reconnaissance unit from SEAL Team 6, and it was outnumbered, outgunned and taking casualties on an Afghan mountaintop.

A half-dozen feet or so to his right, John Chapman, an Air Force technical sergeant acting as the unit’s radioman, lay wounded in the snow. Mr. Slabinski, a senior chief petty officer, could see through his night-vision goggles an aiming laser from Sergeant Chapman’s rifle rising and falling with his breathing, a sign he was alive.

Then another of the Americans was struck in a furious exchange of grenades and machine-gun fire, and the chief realized that his team had to get off the peak immediately.

He looked back over at Sergeant Chapman. The laser was no longer moving, Chief Slabinski recalls, though he was not close enough to check the airman’s pulse. Chased by bullets that hit a second SEAL in the leg, the chief said, he crawled on top of the sergeant but could not detect any response, so he slid down the mountain face with the other men. When they reached temporary cover, one asked: “Where’s John? Where’s Chappy?” Chief Slabinski responded, “He’s dead.”

Now, more than 14 years after that brutal fight, in which seven Americans ultimately died, the Air Force says that Chief Slabinski was wrong — and that Sergeant Chapman not only was alive, but also fought on alone for more than an hour after the SEALs had retreated. The Air Force secretary is pushing for a Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award, after new technology used in an examination of videos from aircraft flying overhead helped officials conclude that the sergeant had killed two fighters with Al Qaeda — one in hand-to-hand combat — before dying in an attempt to protect arriving reinforcements.


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## Gunz (Aug 28, 2016)

Incredible. Hope the MOH goes through.


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## Kraut783 (Aug 28, 2016)

I wish news services would get information right, I mean, the information is out there...just look.

John Chapman was not a radioman for SEAL TEAM 6.


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## Totentanz (Aug 28, 2016)

Kraut783 said:


> I wish news services would get information right


This made me laugh out loud (and not necessarily with humor).  Speed > accuracy EVERY time when it comes to the media.


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## Red Flag 1 (Aug 28, 2016)

Kraut783 said:


> I wish news services would get information right, I mean, the information is out there...just look.
> 
> John Chapman was not a radioman for SEAL TEAM 6.



The days of accurate news coverage, are long gone.


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## Ooh-Rah (Aug 28, 2016)

The Daily Mail version. Only posting because it is good to see this story hit a site that the more uninformed read.

US Air Force wants posthumous medal for airman killed in Afghan war


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## BloodStripe (Aug 29, 2016)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/2...for-dead.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

It's always easy to be an arm chair quarterback and blame the team for thinking he's dead without checking him. Shameful? Yes. But I think most in TSGT Chapman's boots would rather see their team make it safely (as safe as possible after taking heavy casualties) off that mountain.


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## DA SWO (Aug 29, 2016)

NavyBuyer said:


> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/2...for-dead.html?referer=https://www.google.com/
> 
> It's always easy to be an arm chair quarterback and blame the team for thinking he's dead without checking him. Shameful? Yes. But I think most in TSGT Chapman's boots would rather see their team make it safely (as safe as possible after taking heavy casualties) off that mountain.


He should have been put in for the MOH in the beginning.
I think inter-service politics is why it wasn't.


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## CDG (Aug 29, 2016)

I think my biggest question after reading this was, "What would they have done if it had been another SEAL in that position, and not an Air Force attachment?".


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## amlove21 (Sep 4, 2016)

CDG said:


> I think my biggest question after reading this was, "What would they have done if it had been another SEAL in that position, and not an Air Force attachment?".


Man, this sort of thing is so dangerous. 

I have talked to, shared letters with, and exchanged Christmas cookies with Chappy's mom (she still supports the entire AFSOC community, and is one of the nicest people I have ever met).

I was also lucky enough to shake hands with and listen to Mr. Slabinski (he goes by Slab) and he was so transparent about the event it made you feel a little bit uncomfortable. 

I read a lot of articles and Sean Naylor's book and basically everything else about Anaconda, Takur Ghar, Roberts Ridge. 

I can't armchair QB it. I can't ask those questions. This isnt a critique, by any means. But even in the vested interest I have in this story, I still won't offer an opinion.


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## CDG (Sep 5, 2016)

amlove21 said:


> Man, this sort of thing is so dangerous.
> 
> I have talked to, shared letters with, and exchanged Christmas cookies with Chappy's mom (she still supports the entire AFSOC community, and is one of the nicest people I have ever met).
> 
> ...



Edited to remove content better suited for a face-to-face discussion.


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## AWP (Sep 5, 2016)

It may well be an interesting question and one to discuss, but I don't think the location should be online for the world to see.


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## Gunz (Sep 5, 2016)

I read Naylor's book and some other accounts by participants and came away with the impression that everybody did pretty goddam good to adapt and overcome a situation that kept throwing curveballs.

And it looked like a few of those curveballs originated at the JSOC.


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## CDG (Sep 5, 2016)

Freefalling said:


> It may well be an interesting question and one to discuss, but I don't think the location should be online for the world to see.



Great point.  I will remove my last post.


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## amlove21 (Sep 5, 2016)

CDG said:


> Great point.  I will remove my last post.


The command  (AFSOC) went so far as to put out specific guidance after the NY Times pieces. I think it's an important conversation to have, but maybe not on an open forum. 

It's just got a lot of emotion attached, that's all. No drama.


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## CDG (Sep 5, 2016)

amlove21 said:


> The command  (AFSOC) went so far as to put out specific guidance after the NY Times pieces. I think it's an important conversation to have, but maybe not on an open forum.
> 
> It's just got a lot of emotion attached, that's all. No drama.



Absolutely.  I should have thought about the implications of the medium a little more before I posted.


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## busdriver (Sep 5, 2016)

Took my formation on a side trip to pay respects back in 2010.


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## AWP (Sep 5, 2016)

busdriver said:


> Took my formation on a side trip to pay respects back in 2010.



Arguably one of the best photos I've seen of the place.


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## RackMaster (Sep 6, 2016)

@busdriver thanks for sharing that photo.

Shitty looking place for a firefight, no matter the season an no matter if shit goes right or wrong.


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## Gunz (Sep 6, 2016)

Incredible photo. Are those the rotor blades of Razor 01 on the hillside?


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## busdriver (Sep 6, 2016)

Ocoka One said:


> Are those the rotor blades of Razor 01 on the hillside?


I think so but I'm not 100%, it's somewhat hard to believe someone wouldn't have carried off the parts after that long or been weathered away.  We were pretty heavy that day and couldn't really get any closer, not that it even came up really.


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## Gunz (Sep 7, 2016)

busdriver said:


> I think so but I'm not 100%, it's somewhat hard to believe someone wouldn't have carried off the parts after that long or been weathered away.  We were pretty heavy that day and couldn't really get any closer, not that it even came up really.




Well, sir, it's a great photo of the mountain and the Shahi Khot and makes me want to re-read the accounts of the battle. I've seen the picture of Razor 01 on the hillside with its rotors intact but maybe it lost them during recovery. Thanks for sharing this with us.


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## busdriver (Sep 7, 2016)

They more than likely would have cut the blades off to recover the bird, they don't sling well with the blades attached.  I just figured a local would have carried them off after ten years, who knows.

I didn't mean to sound snippy, I've always felt like those are the blades it just didn't seem right to go poking around closer like a tourist or something.


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## DasBoot (Apr 21, 2018)

Finally. 


> John Chapman Died Alone On A Mountaintop Fighting Al Qaeda. Now He’s Getting The Medal Of Honor



John Chapman To Be First Airman Since Vietnam To Receive Medal Of Honor


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## Blizzard (Mar 4, 2022)

Remembering today.


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## Kaldak (Mar 4, 2022)

Blue skies, warrior.

The Man Behind The Medal of Honor: John Chapman


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