Moore - Delta Force in Afghanistan

Afghanistan 2009

Another night and another typical takedown - we had got ourselves up at 1530 hours to get ourselves prepared for the nights operation. The plan and the target changed at least three times before we were due to go. Much to the annoyance of us and the supporting aircrew tasked with getting us in and out. We set off in the early evening darkness in a Pave Hawk with two Apaches providing top cover. It was about 80-mile journey to the target area some 40 miles from Laskar Gah in Helmand province. It was a very hot location in terms of enemy activity. We all knew would all need to be on our toes and out the side of the Pave Hawk. As we got in close and I looked out of the window, I could see tracer fire coming up from the Taliban fighters below. Our target tonight was another intelligence officer, which was part of a much larger CIA effort targeting terrorism working alongside the British Mi6. There are strong links between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Fighters from across the world have joined the Taliban as part of their Jihad (religious duty) to help drive the allied forces out of Afghanistan. Delta, along with the rest of the SF (Special Forces) in Afghanistan are prime targets for the Taliban to kill; their hatred of us was much higher than the average soldier and a source of propaganda to kill one of us.

The mission was all about trying to find out further information regarding the pipeline of foreign fighters into Afghanistan. Many fighters came across the Pakistan border to the front line in Afghanistan. B Squadron who had been in Afghanistan prior to us and found some of these raids very difficult, on many occasions as they approached the target locals had spotted them, using anything they could find to make a noise to alert the Taliban of their presence. This led to a hard assault, with the Taliban now alerted and firing assault rifles at B Squadron from only a few feet, in what became very short-range firefight.

Quick thinking was essential - you had to think and fire pretty much at the same time or be shot. We have tried to blend in often by disguising ourselves as locals. By blending in and choosing the correct time and day to perform an assault helped us become much more covert. On a couple of occasions, we did not even get to fire a single round - getting in making a hard arrest, before getting out without anyone knowing.

Tonight was similar fair, although Rangers and a SEAL team were on hand to support us. Resistance was expected to be high on this assault. The Taliban here had a mixture of light and heavy weapons along with RPGs. This particular target had been tracked by the CIA for some months know including various moves around the globe to Pakistan and other Arab countries.

In total, there was eight Delta operators involved in this assault along with a SEAL team and American fire support in the form of several Bradley tanks and an AC-130 Spooky on station to both observe and offer fire support if required. There was a mutual respect between the SF forces, if a little rivalry when it came down to individual missions. The American planners do hold Delta Force in high esteem, we have proven time and time again to get the job done and are every bit as good as SEAL Team Six. They know we are a highly skilled and capable force. Although, politics do enter into who gets what missions, with SEAL Team Six and not Delta getting to capture Osman bin Laden in Pakistan.

The assault tonight was made slightly more complex due to a minefield in some open ground just to the left of the compound. This meant that the assault options were narrowed and would need to almost zigzag up to the objective.

The Pave Hawk came down steeply before settling on the deck before we all ran down the ramp into the helicopters downwash. The first priority was to find some cover before the Pave Hawk took off again and silence descended on our LZ. Via the net the SEAL team was already in their FUP (Forming Up Point) and the C-130 Spooky on station gathering intelligence and acting as an overwatch for all the ground forces.

We made our way to our own FUP, from where we would launch the attack. The SEAL team was acting as spotters and would also capture anyone trying to flee the compound. As we got to about 200 metres from the objective, we held firm for a short period of time - to get eyes on the target and formulate a final plan. We would then break up into two patrols of four and move on the compound from two different angles.

The patrol I was with, would go from the right and the other team circled round to the left, circumventing the minefield before moving onto the compound. It was a dark starless night, which helped with us being covert, at the same time, made it harder for us to see even with the help of night vision goggles. Night vision goggles are great, but they do rob some of your peripheral vision.