The Battle of Takur Ghar

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.
 
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?".
 
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.
 
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.

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