Sean Naylor - Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda

THIS book could not have been written without the help of scores of people, the vast majority of whom are U.S. servicemen and servicewomen.

Thanks are due to all the people I interviewedin Afghanistan, the United States, and elsewheremost of whom are listed at the end of this book. Their willingness to patiently recount events to me is one I truly appreciated. Their stories form the core of this book. Even those not quoted by name in the text helped frame issues and events for me, or provided invaluable photos, documents and maps. I owe a particularly large debt of gratitude to the troops who came forward to be interviewed against the wishes of their chains of command, in order to help me get the full truth.

Others deserving of special recognition are Captain Kevin Butler, the commander of A Company, 2-187 Infantry, and his first sergeant, Jonathan Blossom, who were gracious hosts when I and Army Times photographer Warren Zinn embedded with their company for Operation Anaconda. Lieutenant Colonel Chip Preysler of 2-187 and his command sergeant major, Mark Nielsen, were also very supportive of my project when it would have been easy for them not to be. The same can be said of their brigade commander, Rak 6, Colonel Frank Wiercinski.

Many military public affairs officers went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that I had access to the right people and information. The names on this honor roll include: Commander Kevin Aandahl of Special Operations Command, Central Command; Lieutenant Colonel Hans Bush, U.S. Army Special Operations Command; Carol Darby, U.S. Army Special Operations Command; Colonel Garrie Dornan, Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, U.S. Army; Major Karen Finn, Air Force Special Operations Command; Major General Larry Gottardi, Chief of Public Affairs, U.S. Army; Major Rob Gowan, U.S. Army Special Operations Command; Major Bryan Hilferty, 10th Mountain Division; Major Stephanie Holcombe, U.S. Air Force Public Affairs; Lieutenant Colonel Tim Nye, U.S. Special Operations Command; Captain Jeff Poole, Coalition Forces Land Component Command; Walter Sokalski, U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Kathryn Meeks of U.S. Special Operations Commands Freedom of Information Act office was always courteous and patient in dealing with my frustration at her commands slowness in processing my requests. Brigadier General John Brown, Richard Stewart and the rest of the staff at the Army Center for Military History were also extremely helpful. Army Vice Chief of Staff General John M. Jack Keane and officers at U.S. Central Command helped open doors that might otherwise have remained firmly closed to me. Retired Colonel Mike Kershner read through most of the first section of the book and provided invaluable suggestions on how to improve it. He and retired Lieutenant Colonel Kalev Sepp also broadened and deepened my understanding of special operations.

I am profoundly grateful to my editors at Army Times Publishing Companyespecially Elaine Howard, Tobias Naegele, Robert Hodierne and Alex Neillfor allowing me so much time away from the office to complete this project. In addition, Robert Hodierne, senior managing editor at the company, helped cut my manuscript down to size. Chris Broz, also of the Army Times Publishing Company, brought enthusiasm and expertise to the essential task of drafting the maps to help readers navigate the geography of the Shahikot Valley and its environs. Army Times photographer Warren Zinn was my partner in crime during Anaconda whose boundless energy and sense of humor made the long separation from home so much easier to bear.

I could never have accomplished this project without my agent, Scott Miller, whose sage counsel has been my guide since I returned from Afghanistan. Natalee Rosenstein, my editor at Berkley Books, has, like Scott, shown enormous patience and understanding from the moment she acquired the rights to my book.

Finally, I would like to thank Kristina Mazewho provided unflagging love and support throughout the two-and-a-half years it took me to research and write the bookand my family and friends, who saw so little of me while I immersed myself in the events that transpired on snowy mountainsides half a world away.

Sean Naylor
Washington, D.C.
October, 2004.

THIS was not an easy book to report.

Researching and explaining a complex and controversial operation fought by a dozen task forces was always going to be a challenge, despite the advantage I enjoyed having been present at the rehearsals for and some of the combat during Operation Anaconda. But even I, after thirteen years of covering the military, had not expected to find so many obstacles placed in my path by a handful of individuals with reputations to protect.

A deal struck between U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command banned personnel from either command from discussing Anaconda with the press. The commands established the ban to prevent disclosure of the truth behind the Takur Ghar episode. But the gag order caught all special operations forces, including those who had nothing to do with Takur Ghar, in its net, slowing my ability to report on the Special Forces side of the Anaconda story. Meanwhile, both commands stalled for many months before answering my Freedom of Information Act requests (in CENTCOMs case even claiming to have lost mine). When they finally responded, the results were so heavily redacted as to be almost unusuable. Despite the efforts of the generals involved, however, information nevertheless found its way to me from a variety of sources ideally placed to provide a comprehensive view of Anaconda. But the climate of fear the ban created forced me to use ambiguous phrases like special ops sources when attributing some of these facts. While this may seem frustratingly vague, the reader should be under no doubt that these sources knew what they were talking about.