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Special Warfare The Professional Bulletin of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School PB 80–02–3 September 2002 Vol. 15, No. 3 From the Commandant September 2002 Special Warfare Vol. 15, No. 3 While all U.S. operations in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom have been characterized by the skill and dedica- tion of United States military personnel, the contributions of U.S. special-operations forces have been particularly valuable. To ensure that the contributions of the Army special-operations forces involved do not go unsung, the Army Special Operations Command has undertaken a project that will record the activities of ARSOF units. The USASOC historian’s office has inter- viewed soldiers from a variety of ARSOF units and is recording the results of the research in a book scheduled to be published later this year. ARSOF have been able to perform their In this issue of Special Warfare, we are for- missions in Afghanistan quickly and effec- tunate to be able to present abbreviated ver- tively. It is difficult to read the accounts of sions of many of the articles that will be their activities without feeling a sense of included in that book. While our selections do admiration and pride. not encompass all the articles that will be At the Special Warfare Center and included in the book, our intent has been to School, we have another reason to be proud present vignettes that represent the wide of the operations that ARSOF have per- range of ARSOF missions. formed in Afghanistan. The efficiency and In many of the vignettes, the participants professionalism that have characterized are identified by pseudonyms. The pseudo- ARSOF soldiers’ actions there are a result nyms are used for security reasons, but they of the training programs that we have may have another, unintended effect: By helped develop and administer over the obscuring the identity of the individuals, the past several years. Moreover, the bravery, pseudonyms allow the reader to realize that flexibility and self-reliance demonstrated the activities were those of a team, any of by ARSOF soldiers validates our assess- whose members would have been capable of ment-and-selection procedures. In the end, performing the same actions. ARSOF activities in Afghanistan have The number of vignettes is evidence of the shown the world what we have known for wide range of ARSOF missions and the num- some time — that we are training some of ber of units that have participated in the finest soldiers in the world. Afghanistan to date. Those missions include precision flying at night, disaster relief, psy- chological operations, direct action, unconventional warfare, coalition operations, coun- terinsurgency, and the provision of supplies and communications under extremely diffi- Major General William G. Boykin cult conditions. Despite challenges from weather and ter- rain, from cultural and language barriers, and from a sensitive political situation, PB 80–02–3 Contents September 2002 Special Warfare Vol. 15, No. 3 Commander & Commandant Major General William G. Boykin Features Editor 3‘Find Those Responsible’: The Beginnings of Operation Jerry D. Steelman Enduring Freedom Associate Editor by Dr. Richard L. Kiper Sylvia W. McCarley 6 Into the Dark: The 3/75th Ranger Regiment Graphics & Design by Dr. Richard L. Kiper Bruce S. Barfield 8‘We Don’t Fail’: The 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion Automation Clerk by Dr. Richard L. Kiper Gloria H. Sawyer 10 Meeting the ‘G-Chief’: ODA 595 by Dr. Kalev I. Sepp 13 ‘We Support to the Utmost’: The 528th Special Operations Support Battalion V E R TAS I T R A B E by Dr. Richard L. Kiper S LI E T Special Warfare is an authorized, official quarterly of the 16 Uprising at Qala-i Jangi: The Staff of the 3/5th SF Group United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Its mission by Dr. Kalev I. Sepp is to promote the professional development of special- operations forces by providing a forum for the examination of established doctrine and new ideas. 19 ‘Of Vital Importance’: The 4th PSYOP Group Views expressed herein are those of the authors and do by Dr. Richard L. Kiper not necessarily reflect official Army position. This publication does not supersede any information presented in other official Army publications. 22 ‘Have Tools, Will Travel’: Company D, 109th Aviation Battalion Articles, photos, artwork and letters are invited and by James A. Schroder should be addressed to Editor, Special Warfare, USAJFKSWCS, Fort Bragg, NC 28310. Telephone: DSN 239-5703, commercial (910) 432-5703, fax -3147. Special 24 The Campaign in Transition: From Conventional Warfare reserves the right to edit all material. Published works may be reprinted, except where to Unconventional War copyrighted, provided credit is given to Special Warfare by Dr. Kalev I. Sepp and the authors. Official distribution is limited to active and reserve special-operations units. Individuals desiring private 27 Change of Mission: ODA 394 subscriptions should forward their requests to: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government by Dr. Kalev I. Sepp Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Special Warfare is also available on the USASOC internal web 30 Caves and Graves: The 19th SF Group (https:asociweb.soc.mil/swcs/dotd/sw-mag/sw-mag.htm). by Dr. Richard L. Kiper By Order of the Secretary of the Army: 32 To Educate and to Motivate: The 345th PSYOP Company Eric K. Shinseki by Dr. Richard L. Kiper General, United States Army Chief of Staff 34 Armed Convoy to Kabul: The 3/20th SF Group Official: by Dr. Kalev I. Sepp 36 Coalition Humanitarian Liaison Cells and PSYOP Teams in Joel B. Hudson Afghanistan Administrative Assistant to the by Dr. C.H. Briscoe Secretary of the Army 0219002 Headquarters, Department of the Army (Contents continued next page) Contents PB 80–02–3 September 2002 Special Warfare Vol. 15, No. 3 39 Ambush at 80 Knots: Company B, 3/160th SOAR by James A. Schroder 42 An Army for Afghanistan: The 1st Battalion, 3rd SF Group, and the Afghan Army by Dr. Richard L. Kiper 44 ‘Deminimus Activities’ at the Bagram Clinic: CA Team A-41 by Dr. Kalev I. Sepp 46 Forty-Five Seconds on a Hot LZ: The 2/160th SOAR by James A. Schroder 50 Observations: ARSOF in Afghanistan by James A. Schroder 53 Vigilant Warrior 2002: War Game Demonstrates ARSOF’s Value to the Objective Force by Major General William G. Boykin 56 As I Saw It: The Eyewitness Report of a Soldier Who Fought During World War II and Survived by Colonel Vernon E. Greene, U.S. Army (ret.) Departments 62 Foreign SOF 63 Enlisted Career Notes 64 Officer Career Notes 66 Update 68 Book Reviews ‘Find Those Responsible’: The Beginnings of Operation Enduring Freedom by Dr. Richard L. Kiper aliban, al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden — tions there. Two-thirds of the country is as the rays of the early morning sun covered by mountains that rise to almost Treflected from the twin towers of the 17,000 feet. Only 15 percent of the land can World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001, few support agriculture. Three major lan- Americans had ever heard those names. guages and 30 minor languages, religious Within hours, however, few Americans divisions between the majority Sunni Mus- would not have heard them. lims and the minority Shi’a Muslims, trib- Not since Dec. 7, 1941, had the United al cultures, oppression, illiteracy, famine, States been attacked directly by a foreign drought, and the lack of infrastructure power. Within 24 hours, intelligence reports have severely hampered military and linked Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden diplomatic attempts to destroy the al- to the attacks, and congressmen and mili- Qaeda terrorists and to remove the Taliban tary officials were calling for retaliation. from power.5 Of no small import are the President George W. Bush characterized the millions of undocumented land mines that attacks as “acts of mass murder” and are strewn about the country. pledged “to find those responsible and bring “We will rally the world,” declared Presi- them to justice.”1 While Secretary of State dent Bush, and Secretary of State Powell Colin Powell mounted a diplomatic offen- immediately launched a diplomatic offen- sive to garner support for action by the U.S., sive to rally support from both the United Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld pre- Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty pared an order to mobilize reservists and Organization, or NATO. “We’re building a members of the National Guard. Deputy strong coalition to go after these perpetra- Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz warned tors,” Powell told reporters. Within days, that the military was “entering into a cam- the U.S. had received pledges of support paign against terrorism.”2 from Russia, China, NATO and the Euro- On Sept. 15, the U.S. Senate adopted a pean Union.6 Such coalition support would resolution that authorized “the use of prove invaluable. United States armed forces against those Any doubt as to the legality of military responsible for the recent attacks launched action against the terrorists and their sup- against the United States.”3 Bin Laden porters was laid to rest when the U.S. Con- quickly became the focus of an unprece- gress passed a joint resolution authorizing dented manhunt, and Afghanistan was the the president “to use all necessary and prime area of attention.4 appropriate force against those … [who] Afghanistan’s geography and demogra- aided the terrorist attacks.”7 To establish a phy are significant challenges to opera- secure footing for further coalition support, September 2002 3 Secretary Powell invoked Article 51 of the told the American people in a nationally U.N.

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