Delta Force Narrative

Force CCT Chapman. The aircraft was able to insert the team but again came under heavy fire

On December 7, 1941, a little before 7 a.m. Lieutenant William W. Outerbridge saw an object in the water and told his crew to fire at it. The unknown object was soon realized to be a midget Japanese submarine. This is one warning that was ignored. At 7 a.m. U.S radar picked up blips on their screens showing that aircraft was flying in. They were thought to be signals from flying fortresses that were expected to arrive at any moment from California, said Deborah Bachrach, the author. This was yet another warning that was

The units participating in Apache Snow knew based on existing intelligence and experiences in the A Shau that they were in for a hard fight. Beyond that, however, they had little proof as to the enemy's actual strength and dispositions. The NVA completely concealed their bases from aerial surveillance. When the NVA moved at night along trails covered by triple-canopy jungle which blocked observation from above. They effected their command and control mainly by runner and wire. There way of communication left no electronic mark for the Americans to observe or trace. Therefore, technology provided limited assistance to the American Battalion Commander trying to "see the enemy" during Apache Snow. The Battalion Commander had to produce his own tactical intelligence. Patrols that captured equipment, installations, documents, and prisoners provided commanders with the raw data that technology couldn’t at the time. The commanders would utilized this information to come up with their assessment of the enemy order of battle and dispositions. Moreover, intelligence about the enemy's strength and dispositions did not necessarily illuminate his

Through the overcast skies appeared a silver bomber, the largest aircraft anyone had ever seen. It was the Boeing B-29 Dinah Might, crippled in a raid over Tokyo, seeking an emergency landing on the island's scruffy main airstrip. As the Americans in the vicinity held their breaths, the big bomber swooped in from the south, landed heavily, clipped a field telephone pole with a wing, and shuddered to a stop less than 50 feet from the end of the strip. Lt. F. Malo and his 10-man crew were extremely glad to be alive, but they did not stay long. Every Japanese gunner within range wanted to bag this prize. Mechanics made field repairs within a half-hour. Then the 65-ton Superfortress lumbered aloft through a hail of enemy fire and headed back to its base in Tinian Island. The Marines

The Bradley’s took position on the woods, about a quarter mile from their objective. They waited for the tanks to get into their over-watch position, which took another ten minutes. Each vehicle was fitted with radios that allowed for them to communicate up to two miles. Once the tanks were in position they gave the ‘go’ to the Bradley’s. The Bradley’s made their final checks, and then moved out, because their target was Fifth Brigade’s Command Post and its accompanying vehicles. Once near the CP the Bradley’s stopped. They had a new type of low powered beacon on top of their respective vehicles, which would identify the vehicle as friend or foe. Word went out over the radio net to engage, engage, fire at will!

Lt. Colonel Honeycutt, commander of 3/187, ordered two of his companies to the north and northwest ridges of the hill. Bravo company started pushing up the hill while meeting large amounts of North Vietnamese soldiers. Because of the resistance, they called in close air support to aid in moving up the hill. Miscommunication caused the air support to confuse the landing zone for an NVA camp resulting in them opening fire and killing two and injuring thirty-five of their own. Unfortunately, this was the first but not the last friendly fire incident during this battle. The thick vegetation caused for so much miscommunication and inability to properly identify targets. Honeycutt continued to launch assaults against the NVA. Theses assaults would face heavy resistance with many casualties. Lt. Colonel Conmey, commander of the 1st Battalion 506th Infantry regiment shifted his assaults to the southern base of the hill. American pushes were caused to fall short due to the thick vegetation, this also effected the capabilities of the American’s heavy weapons. Those hindrances gave huge advantages to the NVA. Because of all the vegetation, they called in approximately 270 Air Strikes in a ten-day period. These strikes dropped 890 tons of explosives and 115 tons of napalm. These air strikes and napalm eliminated many of the NVA bunkers and trenching system (Hickman,

In Saigon as the situation unfolded, the general of the ARVN asked the US for help. First the US and Vietnamese Air Force were able to airlift in supplies, fresh bodies, and remove the wounded. The AH-1 Cobra were able to stop most of the tank advancement and infantry men allowing the ARVN troops on the ground to continue to defend their positions10. The VNAF, along with the US Air force and US Navy brought in planes to engage and thwart the ability of the VNA/VC advancement. Though this was successful it was found that there was not any form of battle space de-confliction. In this the pilots found themselves not only dodging the Anti-Aircraft Artillery from the VNA/VC, but as well as other aircraft in the fight. Aircraft were seen flying into direct fire from other aircraft and no one was talking to each other. Ground troops were not on the same frequency so they would stumble into the engagement area as well.

It is important to say that the HUMVEE had its own agenda and was not part of the resupply of ammo and it is also more important to the story to say that it had the map and radio. Getting to the FASP was easy, I’ve been there hundreds of times and after a certain amount of driving the closer you get to “home” the more terrain you recognize. Once at the FASP I do what I get paid to do, load up and strap down High Explosives. This is where the plot thickens. The Driver of the HUMVEE having his own agenda took one of my marines because he needed him and goes away to do whatever mission he had to do. So including myself I’m down to seven marines. After we finished loading up we stage the trucks getting ready to head out. So after a quick SITREP (review our gear and situation.) We realize that we are an A-driver down, we have no radio or map, its hours away from being dark, and the best part is we don’t even have close to enough gas to get there. These are 7-ton trucks strapped with about 16,000

I, Carson Jones, have been part of these special forces for many years but this was the first time that they would be put on the line to save the country from a huge invasion. The day before on June 2nd, 1944 we had everything prepared for the big day. Everyone involved in the mission was our Captain, John Price, firearm expert, Will Fisher, the new kid, Chris James, and

CENTCOM envisioned that the heavy weaponry brought to bear by the Air Force would be more than enough to get the job done, so all of the Army’s infantry battalions did not deploy with their tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, or artillery. Additionally, the normal allocation of rotary wing and logistical support assets was unavailable. Staff members and commanders were planning for the best case, most likely scenario, not the most dangerous. This left ground forces with a sufficient number of troops, but almost no heavy weapons or equipment. The only heavy firepower that the Army could bring to the fight was six AH-64 Apache helicopters and three AC-130 gunships that were controlled by SOF, but only flew at night.

and sea was underway. Before the sun would rise that day, over 240 planes and 18

But, the aircrafts were eventually used for more than scouting ahead it later turned into a point of emphasis of where the war would take place. Using this source to support my thesis will help give a better understanding of what I will be writing about. I will be using this source to help the development of sub-points that I will be using in my research paper. The context of this source will help out on the claims and development of things I will discuss in my paper, and I will not use this document to disagree

Unfortunately, the mission does not go as planned. One unit of Humvees and helicopters, led by Sargent Jeff Struecker, played by Brian Van Holt, successfully takes the hostages of advisors while Staff Sargent Matthew Eversmann’s, played by Josh Harnett, unit is dropped in by helicopter but, at the wrong drop zone a few blocks away. The operation then begins to fall apart when both units receive heavy gun fire. Each unit then to separates, complicating things further. In the midst of the gun fire and explosions, Black Hawk Super-Six One, piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Clifton “Elvis” Wolcott, played by Jeremy Piven, is hit with an RPG.

Welch and Taylor were two young pilots who had just gotten back from a night out on the town. The two were driving back to the harbor. Welch noticed some black smoke and Taylor saw the red sun on the wing. The boys rushed to see what was going on. Luckily they managed to sneak and get the only two planes that were functional enough to work in the air. “They were still dressed in their tuxedos!” The men on ground were cheering very loudly when they saw the American flag on one of the planes. Welch and Taylor took down a total of 6 planes. (Demuth 86)

Delta give green light to the extraction force lead by LTC McKnight to extract the prisoners already capture. The mission at this point was great it was 1550 and it was supposed to last 30 minutes. While the convoy was waiting for Delta to wrap it up Black Hawk Super 61 piloted by CWO Cliff Wolcott was hit by an RPG. Only two soldiers were able to survive the crash, the pilots didn’t make it. Black Hawk Super 64 piloted by CWO Mike Durant was ordered to fill Super 61 position, then CWO Durant’s helicopter got hit by an