Into the Fire

0725 — Dog platoon ASV (30,000-pound Army security vehicle) has slipped off road; platoon leader leaves Meyer, returns to trail to CCP, and calls for a wrecker to come forward from Camp Joyce.

0730 — A-Bad PTDS reports enemy at 983 511.

0730 — Swenson (Highlander 5) directs Kiowas that provide covering fire as Command Group pulls back.

0738 — Chosin TOC receives nine-line medevac request for two wounded in action (WIA).

0739 — Dog platoon reports limit of advance at 969 519.

0740 — Fabayo sees Rodriguez-Chavez and Meyer pull in front of Command Group to provide suppressive fire.

0745 — Command Group is out of the wash, away from direct fire.

0745-0845 — Pale Horse delivers ten close combat attacks (CCAs).

0746 — Pale Horse (Kiowas) make contact with Meyer.

0746 — TOC does not respond to Kiowas on Common Air-to-Ground (CAG) net; Pale Horse decides to take his directions from Highlander 5 (Swenson) and Fox 3-3 (Meyer).

0747 — Senior officer in TOC talks directly to neither Shadow 4 nor Dog platoon, although both are in direct voice communications with TOC.

0748 — Shadow repeats request for air medevac at 953 518—one U.S. (Westbrook) and one ANA.

0749 — Shadow again requests medevac.

0750 — Dog platoon reports ASV rolled over twice and landed on its wheels at 954 518; no injuries.

0755 — Dog platoon reports green on all personnel.

0800 — SWT 1 (Kiowas) breaks station over Meyer to escort medevac.

0800 — Capt. Richardson takes over as watch officer in ops center, but is junior to battalion commanding officer (XO) and S-3, who are both in TOC.

0800 — Swenson puts out air panels at CCP; Fabayo does the same.

0810 — Shadow no longer taking fire.

0810 — Dog platoon reports mass casualty situation—six killed in action (KIA), ten WIA; sets up mass casualty evacuation point.

0812 — Rodriguez-Chavez and Meyer are swarmed inside wash by about ten enemy.

0822 — Blackhawk lands under fire to evacuate critically wounded Sgt. Westbrook.

0824 — Pale Horse Kiowas leave to refuel at A-Bad.

0830 — Swenson and Fabayo drive into wash as Meyer and Rodriguez-Chavez drive out.

0830-0910 — Swenson, Fabayo, Meyer, Rodriguez-Chavez, and Hafez make repeated short runs into wash, picking up dead and wounded.

0833 — Dog platoon reports soldier has rib and pelvic pains from rollover of ASV.

0838 — Three wounded Askars arrive at Joyce in a Ranger.

0845-1135 — Two Kiowas continuously on station along the wash; expend 1,800 rounds of .50-cal and fifteen HE rockets.

0845 — No U.S. quick reaction force (QRF) has departed Joyce; XO later said he didn’t keep a QRF on alert.

0846 — Afghan Army at Joyce dispatches a QRF.

0848 — From Asmar, 12 kilometers north, Afghan Border Police dispatch a QRF.

0856 — Dog platoon ASV self-recovered.

0900 — Col. George, brigade commander, departs Jalalabad Air Base, picks up Afghan 2nd Brigade commander, Col. Asval.

0905 — Three more Askar wounded sent by Ranger to Joyce.

0910 — Rodriguez-Chavez and group drive to ORP and get a truck with a working machine gun.

0910 — Swenson asks Dog platoon to help him; platoon leader responds that he has three times asked TOC to send a wrecker and Humvees, and has been told to remain in place.

0911 — Swenson curses platoon leader.

0915 — Meyer talks with Garza and Williams at CCP.

0921 — Dog reports indirect fire being walked toward their position near CCP and so are moving back.

0928 — Dog reports four U.S. advisors and an Afghan squad are missing.

0930 — Tech Sgt. Matzke on own initiative calls 4/4 Brigade TOC to request an air TIC to receive fixed-wing air support.

0930 — Williams, Garza, and reporter leave for Camp Joyce.

0935 — Pale Horse (Silano) orders Meyer not to walk alone back into wash; Meyer halts, with Pale Horse hovering above him.

0937 — Another platoon from Dog and a platoon from Alpha/Attack Co. start toward Ganjigal Valley.

0938 — Swenson, Rodriguez-Chavez, Hafez, and Fabayo drive from ORP to CCP, pick up Meyer, and drive back into wash, with Pale Horse Kiowas in extremely close support (fifteen feet over their heads).

0945 — Swenson and Meyer work with Kiowas to spot and retrieve Askars, who are placed in Afghan vehicles.

0948 — Two F15Es are on station (Dude 01) but refuse to drop bombs because they cannot identify targets.

0955 — Col. George (TF Mountain Warrior) and Col. Asval (ANA brigade commander) arrive TOC at Joyce; neither proceeds forward to battlefield.

1000 — Afghan Army QRF arrives Ganjigal and follows Swenson/Meyer Humvee up wash; no U.S. forces follow.

1005 — U.S. Attack and Dog platoons link up but stay off the battlefield.

1012 — Another platoon from Dog arrives at Joyce.

1015 — UAV on station.

1045 — Afghan border police QRF arrives Ganjigal and joins battle.

1047 — Pale Horse Kiowas heavily engaging Taliban (AAF—Anti-Afghan Forces) at grid 983 511.

1050 — CJTF ops center contacts ISAF Joint Command (IJC Corps Command) to declare “personnel recovery”; DUSTWUN (Duty Status—Whereabouts Unknown); Special Operations forces en route to Ganjigal.

1056 — Williams and Garza arrive at Joyce.

1100 — Special Operations Force Blackhawk on station at Ganjigal; encounters heavy fire when throwing out smoke; cannot land a recovery team.

1110 — Pale Horse hovers over trench line and identifies Team Monti.

1120 — Meyer and Swenson find four U.S. (Team Monti) and one Afghan KIA.

1202 — Meyer and Hafez arrive at Joyce with two bodies.

1220 — Meyer and Bokis prepare the bodies for movement to the rear.

1300 — Sgt. Maj. Carabello tells Meyer to wash the blood from his face.

1335 — Four bodies of Team Monti flown from Joyce.

1400 — Eight bodies of Afghan soldiers driven to A-Bad or kept at Joyce for relatives to claim for burial.

1416 — Swenson, Kaplan, and seven Marine advisors arrive back at Joyce.

1530 — Special Forces prepare to sweep Ganjigal.

1600 — Meyer prepares two Askars for burial, visits the wounded Askars, and eats dinner on the roof with Hafez and several Afghan soldiers.

FRIENDLY FORCE

Thirteen Marine and two Army advisors plus Capt. Kaplan, plus sixty Afghan National Army and thirty Afghan border police, plus one U.S. Army platoon in reserve, plus sixteen U.S. Army scout-sniper soldiers on northern observation post.

VERSUS

Forty-five to sixty enemy, mostly from Pakistan, with some aid from about a hundred villagers.

LOCATIONS AND CALL SIGNS

South OP (Kaplan—Chosin 2, Cpl. Norman—Fox 2): grid XD 970 516.

Scout-sniper South OP (Sgt. Summers—Shadow 4): grid 954 510.

North OP (Miller, Valadez—Fox 7): grid 970 523.