160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment

Possibly The Worst Thanksgiving Day Ever, Courtesy of SERE School

Back in the day, we were in a support cycle having come back from a deployment with the 7th Special Forces Group and myself and another guy got ourselves put in a short course the Weapons Committee was running for some reserve Heavy Weapons guys. It was early November and the weather was turning crappy in Ft. Bragg. Rainy, cold and raw.

But then the word came down that the Company was sending me to SERE School as back then it wasn’t part of the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course). Of course, no one wanted to take it because it would entail being out there over Thanksgiving. And back then, I was like the kid Mikey from the Life cereal commercials “Let’s give it to Mikey!, He’ll eat anything.” Yes indeed, “Steve never turns down a school” So off to Camp Mackall I go.

We had a pretty eclectic class. About a dozen guys from 7th SFG, a bunch of pilots from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalkers”, three Air Force PJs, a few crew chiefs from the 160th and two Rangers from the 1st Ranger Battalion. I believe Mike Durant, the pilot from Black Hawk Down was in our class. I saw where he wrote that he attended a SERE Course at Bragg in November of the same year. But I can’t be sure. He may have attended the class prior. Other than the pilots in our patrol, I didn’t talk too much to the other pilots as they and the crew chiefs stuck to themselves during breaks. The 7th group guys did much the same as we all knew one another as well as many of the instructors teaching the blocks of instruction.

One of the best parts of our class was having former SF POW Dan Pitzer speak to us one day. Dan was captured by the Viet Cong in 1963 along with Colonel Nick Rowe who started the SERE Course after he broke his leg during an ambush. He was a tremendous person and totally laid back. He spoke in a quiet steady tone and described his years of “benevolent, humane treatment” by the VC.

During his time with us, as he described his treatment, the room was totally silent. You could hear a pin drop and it seemed that everyone was leaning forward in their chairs to catch the next word. His words were pretty prophetic, which we didn’t realize at the time. “We designed this course in case any of you ever find yourself in the situation we were in,” Pitzer said. “I hope none of you ever does, but surer than anything, someday one or more of you will.” And Durant would sadly fill that role. One of my prized possessions is my SERE diploma and as promised, on graduation day, Dan Pitzer came and autographed my diploma. RIP sir, you were a class act.

The instructors split the class up with each patrol getting a few SF guys, pilots, crew chiefs etc. Ours had one of the Air Force PJs and a total stud named Joe and a Ranger, a huge, red-headed E-4 whose name escapes me. He was a riot. Away from the rigid life in the battalion, he was loving life as instead of standing at parade rest when higher ranking NCOs spoke with him, he was loving the laid-back atmosphere with SF. His answer for everything was, “This is soooo-fucking HOOAH!” We immediately loved the guy and we probably caused the guy to have to go thru RIP again by the time we were done. On every break, he’d cock his patrol cap far back on his head, and stand there with his hands in his pockets, in total SF-mode, “sooo fucking Hooah!”

Doing the Survival training in a group was actually a heckuva lot more fun than doing it on your own. We got checked on by a retired SF NCO who was an expert on edible plants MSG (ret) Phil Salzwedel (probably butchered his spelling), but Mr. Phil was a great guy and teacher. He came up to us and asked how we were doing. As a group, we said, “SOOOO FUCKING HOOAH!” He laughed and told us we weren’t supposed to be having so much fun.

When we did the barrier climb and body rappel, I fucked my left index finger up. As I was getting ready to go down, with the Ranger to follow me, I slipped on the wet concrete and slid off with getting in position. My guide hand (left) had a hold of the rope still and my weight came down right on the edge of the concrete on that finger. Luckily it wasn’t far to the ground. It was bleeding pretty good, Mr. Phil helped me clean it out and bandaged it up. It was quickly forgotten but would later swell up like a bratwurst during our visit to the “benevolent, People’s Republic” …those of you who’ve been to SERE know what that means.

After Survival, they fed us well, too well because we knew what was next. Our Escape and Evasion part of SERE began on Thanksgiving night. It was about 38 degrees and steady cold rain poured down on us. Everyone was quiet, my buddy Tony Forrest from 7th SFG, asked our Ranger buddy, “You ok? you’re quiet tonight.” He answered, if I was home right now, I’d be sitting on the couch fat on turkey watching football, getting a hummer with a beer in my hand.” That broke the ice.

The rain and the cold quickly soaked us to the bone. The movement that first night was slow since our eyes hadn’t grown accustomed to the dark yet and the visibility was about zero. We moved a couple of clicks in the Uwharrie National Forest and stopped for a map check under a pine tree. We made a very tight perimeter where the guy on either side of you was right up against your leg. We were all shivering and it would go around the circle from you, to the guy next to you, until it went all the way around the circle until it got back to you again.

The CW3 that was taking the turn with the map had made a map check under a poncho and we were getting ready to move out. Tony said, “Hey Ranger, this still Hooah enough for you?” Without missing a beat, he whispered, “Hey man, this is soooo hooah, I’m jerking off in the mud down here while we’re waiting!” I had to take my hat off and cover my mouth and the entire patrol went into a quiet fit of laughing.

Our PJ Joe decided to take the point, I was right behind him with our Ranger. We moved about a click and we thought we heard a noise to our right. We stopped for a few seconds and listened. Joe was about 10 feet in front of me, “we good? He asked?” I nodded, we stood and he moved out, I turned to make the hand and arm signal for a second and as soon as I turned back around I was alone.

WTF, I started to scan the horizon and Joe was nowhere to be found. We lost him in a second. I took about two steps and then heard Joe’s voice which sounded very far away. “Don’t take another step!” Looking left and right, I whispered: “Where the hell are you?” Again he answered from far away, “I’m in a fucking well right at your feet.”

We had crossed an old homestead and the people had dug about a 20 foot well. Joe, in the dark, had somehow stepped right into it. Another step and I’d have too and landed right on top of him. We spread out around the well and broke out the flashlights. Joe was well down there and it wasn’t going to be easy getting him out. Worse, he broke his right tibia.

We knotted together our ponchos and lowered them to Joe who wrapped them around his body and tied it as best he could. It took several minutes to get him out. He was in excruciating pain. His tibia had a compound fracture, it was covered in mud and as a PJ and a medic, he was the best guy to treat it. Unfortunately in SERE School during E&E, you don’t have jack shit.

We called on the radio and told them we had a real-world emergency. We gave them our grid coordinates and they told us to move about 400 meters to our east there was a hardball road. We were to get him there and illuminate ourselves since being tactical for the time being was out. We rigged up the best poncho litter we could and carried Joe to the road. About 45 minutes later a crackerbox ambulance arrived with two regular medics who didn’t have a clue. Joe took over his own treatment and we got him inside, where we said a quick goodbye and wished him the best.

Our instructors showed up and wanted us to show them where it happened. They were amazed that we were able to get him out and about the infinitesimal odds of Joe stepping in a tiny well in the middle of nowhere.

We were by now hours behind schedule and had a long way to go to get to our hide site. We hauled ass throughout the night and arrived just before dawn only a few minutes before our window was due. We were just camouflaging the site when our instructors came up inspect the hide. They told us that Joe had a compound fracture and was in surgery back at Bragg. Then two more instructors came up and pulled our Ranger buddy aside. A minute later they put him in the truck and tore out of there. We were pissed. “What the heck is going on?” They tried to give us the stock bs “we can’t answer that” schoolhouse shit. But we weren’t taking no for an answer. That’s when they told us his grandmother passed away during Thanksgiving dinner with his family and they were trying to get in touch with him…which wasn’t easy.

So in the matter of a few hours, we lost two outstanding guys from our team, the second of which we couldn’t even say goodbye to. And no Thanksgiving turkey. It was a suck-ass Thanksgiving all around.

After days of E&E in the cold, pouring rain, we finally made contact with a friendly guerrilla element. The sun came out for the first time in a week. They offered us hot food, which we immediately accepted. They brought in a roasted carcass that tasted like pure unadulterated dogshit. After starving for days during an E&E, you know it was awful when it tasted that bad. Tony remarked, “this tastes like road-kill raccoon” as a joke. “That’s exactly what it is,” one of the guerrillas said. “It didn’t look like it was dead too long so we scooped him up.”

So when people talk about what they’re thankful for on Thanksgiving, I always think of my family and how lucky I am. But I also think of that messed up night in the Uwharrie National Forest and how that was about the most messed up Thanksgiving ever. Would I change a minute of it? Not a chance.

Photos: DOD

Night Stalkers Don’t Quit…Only the Best Need Apply

What does nearly every successful mission by Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Marine Raiders, and Green Berets have in common? They’ve probably been carried to and from their missions by members of the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Airborne with the abbreviation of 160^th SOAR (A).

The 160^th SOAR commonly known as the “Night Stalkers” are the US Army’s best aviators and the premiere rotary wing aviation unit in the military’s Special Operations Forces. Their moniker is well-deserved, many pilots in the 160^th have more flight hours with NVGs than commercial airline pilots have flight hours total.

The 160^th operates three different types of helicopters, the Blackhawk, Chinook and Little Bird choppers in different designs depending on the mission. Night Stalkers are experts in flying missions ranging from direct action air assault to fast-rope insertion, overwater helocasting, extraction, and special boat support, as well as urban assault. They can also provide their own Close Air Support (CAS) of these missions and for the supported units.

Assessment and Training: Candidates for the 160^th SOAR undergo a one-week assessment process with Special Operations Aviation Training Battalion (SOATB) where they go thru interviews with military and civilian members of the SOATB and have their character and demeanor assessed. A records check is performed and the candidates are also evaluated psychologically.

Pilots will conduct two flights to test their flying and navigation skills. If at the end of assessment week, they’ve been selected, the pilots will be told what type of aircraft they’ll be flying. They may be chosen to fly a different helicopter than one that they’ve been accustomed to. That may entail further training later.

The first phase of training covers ground-based combat skills; it lasts three weeks for officers and five to six weeks for enlisted personnel. Candidates assigned to the “Green Platoon” receive instruction on basic combat tasks, first responder, land navigation, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and teamwork. Then they must pass qualification in the helicopter “dunker” and do water survival training.

For the pilots the approximately six-month training program takes place in Company B which is responsible for aviators, crew chiefs and medics in two stages. First is a basic navigation course that lasts about a month. It is all conducted in the Little Birds because it is inexpensive to operate, compared to the Black Hawks and Chinooks.

Pilots will then be trained for the helicopters that they will fly in a four-month advanced skills courses. Depending on the birds, the courses will vary. But at the end of this section of the program, a prospective Night Stalker will be proficient in all types of combat situations. They’ll all get experience flying in the desert, mountains, and over water; shipboard deck landing qualifications; as well as urban warfare tasks. They’ll began very proficient at flying with night vision goggles (NVGs). Their final tasks will be becoming proficient in aerial in-flight refueling and nap-of-the earth flying much closer to the ground than conventional Army pilots.

Upon successful completion of the advanced skills course in their aircraft type, they are given a check ride by an instructor pilot. It is a long full mission profile that can last up to five-to-six hours. If they pass, they become basic mission qualified (BMQ) and are assigned to one of the battalions in the 160th.

Once a 160^th pilot has two years completed in an operational unit, he can upgrade to fully mission qualified (FMQ), though to achieve this they need to prove they can command an aircraft in a combat situation. Given the current state of operations within USSOCOM, that requisite will be easily checked off. Once pilots are rated as FMQ they can work with units outside the 160th SOAR.

When a pilot completes an additional three to four years as a FMQ, he is then eligible to become flight lead qualified (FLQ). As one can see, the training never stops in the 160^th and the experience level of the aircrews is outstanding.

History: After the disastrous 1980 Operation Eagle Claw attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran, failed, President Jimmy Carter ordered the Pentagon to plan another rescue operation. At that time, there were no U.S. helicopter units trained to conduct a stealth, no-notice special operations mission. Especially one whose specialty was flying during hours of darkness.

The Army looked to Ft. Campbell, KY, home of the 101st Airborne Division, which had the most experience of the service’s helicopter units. The selected units immediately began intensive training in night flying.

This provisional unit was at first dubbed Task Force 158 since most of the pilots were Blackhawk aviators detached from the 158th Aviation Battalion. The new unit was quickly recognized as the Army’s premier night fighting aviation force, and its only special operations aviation force. The unit was officially established Oct. 16, 1981, when it was designated as the 160th Aviation Battalion.

The 160th first saw combat during 1983’s Operation Urgent Fury, the U.S. invasion of Grenada, and has been a part of every major conflict since. They became the first helicopter pilots to use advanced night vision goggles and forward looking infrared devices in night combat.

090921-N-5126F-006 ADRIATIC SEA (September 21, 2009) An MH-47 Chinook helicopter assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) approaches the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) to conduct a fast-rope evolution during exercise Jackal Stone 2009. Jackal Stone is a series of training exercises in various locations throughout Croatia to promote cooperation and interoperability between the special operations forces of the 10 participating nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Intelligence Specialist Louis Fellerman/Released)

In 1986, the unit was re-designated as the 160th Aviation Group, and became the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment in May 1990.

In June 1988, the unit executed Operation Mount Hope III. Two MH-47 crews flew 490 miles deep into Chad to retrieve a crashed Russian model Mi-24 Hind medium-attack helicopter.

The Night Stalkers spearheaded Operation Just Cause, the 1989 invasion of Panama, where a Little Bird flying members of Delta Force was shot down just after the operators rescued American Kurt Muse from a Panama City prison.

Less than six months later the Night Stalkers were sent to Kuwait for Operation Desert Shield in the summer of 1990 with follow-on combat operations in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

In 1993 the unit was sent to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope, the humanitarian mission where to support the UN’s mission to bring food and aid to the starving people that had been wracked by civil war. Once the clans run by warlords became too violent, the humanitarian mission turned to combat.

Operation Gothic Serpent (the Battle of Mogadishu) in 1993, was next. One of the Regiment’s most known battles was in Mogadishu, commonly known as “Black Hawk Down” in a book title as well as a feature film.

While supporting a team of Delta operators and Rangers trying to arrest top lieutenants of the clan run by Mohamad Farrah Aidid, the unit lost two Black Hawks to RPG fire from the ground. At the second crash site, only one crewman, pilot CW3 Mike Durant survived. Two Delta snipers, Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon deployed to protect him from a Somali mob numbering into the hundreds.

Despite inflicting severe casualties on the Somalis, both Shughart and Gordon were eventually killed in action while Durant was taken prisoner for a short time. Later both Delta snipers were awarded the Medal of Honor.

The war in Afghanistan, and across the Middle East have spawned the unit’s heavy operational use in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn in Iraq.

The unit suffered heavy losses in two separate engagements. During Operation Red Wings in 2005, a Night Stalker Chinook carry a SEAL Team Quick Reaction Force (QRF) on its way to rescue a small 4-man SEAL team under heavy fire was hit by an RPG. All eight SEALs on board and all eight Night Stalkers died in the crash.

Later another Chinook carrying U.S. and Afghan military forces on a night-raid mission in the Tangi Valley of Afghanistan’s Wardak province on August 6, 2011, was shot down by Taliban insurgents using an RPG. Thirty Americans and eight Afghans were killed in the attack and the helicopter’s subsequent crash. Seventeen of the U.S. servicemen killed were Navy SEALs, including 15 commandos from Naval Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), better known as SEAL Team Six.

But perhaps the unit’s best-known success story was Operation Neptune Spear. A combined force of the 160^th’s Chinooks and specially modified “stealth” Black Hawks carried SEAL Team Six (DEVGRU) from Afghanistan into Abbottabad, Pakistan on a mission to kill Osama bin Laden. One of the Black Hawks crashed into the compound and had to be subsequently destroyed by the crew and the SEALs to preserve the stealth secrets and avionics but the unit completed their mission and everyone was returned to Afghanistan safely.

On a personal aside, I’ve flown with Night Stalkers on all three types of their aircraft. We conducted fast rope missions out of Black Hawks and Chinooks and flew on the Little Birds which is an adrenaline rush that may be even better than being a jumpmaster on a C-130. My Night Stalker coin, given to me by a Company Commander in the 160^th is one of my prized possessions.

Today there are more than 3,000 specially selected and trained Night Stalkers in the Regiment. So the next time you see a Special Operations unit conducting a high-profile mission on television or read about it in a newspaper, you can be sure who brought them to the target and who brought them home safely. “Night Stalkers Don’t Quit.”

Photo courtesy DOD

Army PAO SGT Faces QMP Over Flap for Trying to Secure Information

In a SNAFU of epic proportions, an Army PAO SGT is facing being forcibly removed from the service for trying to safeguard classified information. SGT Ricardo Branch was serving in the PAO office of the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers).

Members of the Night Stalkers were to visit the Boeing aircraft company site in Mesa Arizona back in 2014. Boeing scripted a press release stating the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment was the unit that carried the Navy commandos from SEAL Team 6 in to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He sent his commander a private email on the Army .mil server that basically alerted his boss that the company should remove that line as the Department of Defense (DOD) had never acknowledged that.

A higher up in the chain of command saw the email thread and alerted Army intelligence that a breach had occurred. He was ordered home and was facing a court-martial for the crime of actually trying to safeguard information.

The irony of the entire episode is that President Obama visited Ft. Campbell after the bin Laden raid and publicly thanked the 160^th Night Stalkers for their role in the raid.

Offered the choice of a court-martial or nonjudicial punishment (Article 15), Branch opted for an Article 15 and was reprimanded. He was then transferred to Korea where he took up editing a newspaper for the troops.

But with the Army downsizing right now, Branch’s Article 15 showed up for the Army’s Quantitative Management Program (QMP), which immediately put him up for separation after 13 years of service. The QMP looks for any black marks on a soldier’s record.

“I love the Army,” he said. “I like my job. The reason I’m so in love with the Army is I’m a career soldier. I’ve done three tours in Iraq. I’ve survived cancer twice. The Army is my career. It’s what I know. It is my life. My dad was a soldier. My brother’s a soldier. My grandfather was a soldier. I like telling the Army story because I’m a writer. That’s what I do.”
In recent months, Sgt. Branch’s cause has been taken up by a former Army judge advocate, Jeffery Addicott, who directs the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Addicott represents, pro bono, military personnel he believes are unjustly prosecuted.
“At a time when President Trump is calling for the buildup of our military, and rightfully so, it is ironic that the Army is seeking to jettison a dedicated, three-time Iraqi War veteran,” Mr. Addicott told The Times.
“In my professional opinion as a JAG officer with 20 years in service and having tried over 150 cases, they would have not brought this to a court-martial if he had turned down the Article 15,” Mr. Addicott said. “There is no way the government would get a conviction, particularly based on the fact that President Obama had already released the information to the public. If they did bring it to a trial, Sgt. Branch would exercise his right to demand a jury, and they would never get a conviction.”

Branch is appealing the decision and attempting to remain in the Army. Based on the public airing of the raid by President Obama, it is crazy to think that Branch’s situation has ever reached this level.

To read the entire article from The Washington Times, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD