US History Battle Analisys

Disrupt and Destroy

Platoon Patrol in Zhari District, September 2010

by Matt M. Matthews

On the morning of 5 September 2010, 1st Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment (1/HHT/1-75 CAV) of the US Army’s 2d Brigade Combat Team (2BCT), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) embarked on its first combat patrol south of Highway 1 in the Zhari District, Kandahar Province. The mission would take 1st Platoon into the heart of Taliban territory as part of the initial 1-75 CAV effort to dismantle the enemy infrastructure and force its withdrawal from Zhari. As the HHT commander pointed out afterwards, “The fight in Tiranan set the tone for the rest of the year and let the Taliban know that the unit they were fighting would not withdraw under sporadic or even heavy fire.” To be sure, the enemy was taken aback by the aggressive character of the operation and immediately realized that its Zhari stronghold was not impenetrable. The mission proved a learning experience for the platoon leader and his young Soldiers and demonstrated what a well led, highly motivated, extremely competent platoon can accomplish against an entrenched and determined foe. 

Figure 1. First Platoon embarking on its first combat patrol south of Highway 1 in the Zhari District, Kandahar Province. Photo courtesy of Captain Riley E. McEvoy

Background

By the early summer of 2010, a resurgent Taliban had enveloped Kandahar Province. Across large swaths of the province, explosions and billowing plumes of smoke revealed the presence of a determined and resilient enemy. Indeed, by the beginning of the spring fighting season of 2010, the Taliban had assembled a formidable force around Kandahar City. In a series of offensive actions dating back to 2003, they had captured key terrain around the city which allowed them to intimidate the population and launch attacks against the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan security forces. A relative paucity of soldiers in Kandahar Province during the period 2003-2010, significantly restricted the efforts of ISAF and its Afghan partners who had endeavored for years to destroy the Taliban in the Province.

As the Taliban increased its attacks in the province, ISAF in early 2010, prepared to strike back with a hard hitting and wide ranging counteroffensive to drive the Taliban away from the city. This action, made possible by the recent troop surge, aimed to strike directly into several crucial districts in Kandahar Province. One of the targeted districts, Zhari, dubbed the “heart of darkness” by apprehensive Soviet troops sent there in the 1980s, was also the birthplace of the Taliban. One specialist in the field pointed out the importance of the operation when she stated, “To strike at the heart of the insurgency, strike at the historical and spiritual home of the Taliban sends a very clear message – with the resources we have, we are on the offensive.”

Figure 2. Kandahar Province, Zhari District.

By 1 September 2010, two infantry battalions and one cavalry squadron of 2BCT, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) had occupied positions in Zhari along Highway 1. The 1-75 CAV occupied 2BCT’s center sector moving into Forward Operating Base (FOB) Wilson in early September. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas McFadyen, the unit was responsible for a sizable portion of Zhari. As a Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) unit, 1-75 CAV was not as large as the infantry battalions in 2BCT and its Modified Table of Organization and Equipment (MTOE) differed greatly. Alpha and Bravo Troops of 1-75 CAV were, for the most part, made up of cavalry scouts while Charlie Company (also known as “Chaos” Company), was an infantry element.

Prior to deploying to Afghanistan, Chaos Company’s 1st Platoon trained with HHT. The Platoon Leader, First Lieutenant Riley E. McEvoy, wrote that, “During JRTC [Joint Readiness Training Center] they made the decision that HHT needed a maneuver element.” Halfway through their training at JRTC, McEvoy’s platoon was assigned to HHT but at the end of the training program they were sent back to their own company. Within weeks of the Squadron’s arrival in Afghanistan however, 1st Platoon was reassigned to HHT and given the unit designation 1st Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry (1/HHT/1-75 CAV). 

There were two important reasons for attaching McEvoy’s Platoon to HHT. The first object was the need for four maneuver companies as partners with the Afghan National Army (ANA) Kandak (Afghan Battalion) which was attached to the 1-75 CAV. There were four ANA companies and without the attachment of 1st Platoon to HHT there would be only three maneuver elements to partner with the Kandak. First Platoon was also assigned to HHT because the Squadron Commander wanted a maneuver force which could work with his Intelligence Officer (S2). McEvoy recalled that McFadyen sought “to have a maneuver force partially controlled by the Squadron S2 and himself to action high-value intelligence targets and time-sensitive targets.” The S2, Captain Matthew A. Crawford, described 1st Platoon’s mission as “unique.” They were used “to specifically disrupt, target HVIs (high-value individuals), and destroy known insurgent infrastructure. Their mission statement almost always had the words ‘disrupt’ and ‘destroy’ in them.” McEvoy used few words to explain why his platoon was chosen, simply stating, “We were the best.” 

McEvoy’s Platoon contained some of the most experienced Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and enlisted men in the US Army. His Platoon Sergeant, Sergeant First Class Derek Leach, was a solid combat veteran and a superb leader, so much so that McEvoy pointed out their relationship “was perfect.” The Platoon Leader wrote that Leach, “brought a fresh attitude and perspective to the platoon. He was…gung-ho and ready to train and fight.” The Squad Leaders, Staff Sergeant Timothy McKinnis and Sergeant Victor Faggiano, were also first rate combat veterans. McEvoy stated that McKinnis was “just a wealth of experience, [an] amazing NCO, and it was a great mix between Sergeant Faggiano …a young fire breather, ready to go at all times and then Sergeant McKinnis… [an] old crusty NCO that has so much perspective about everyone in the squad, and just so much experience and intelligence to share, and just a great, calm combat leader.” McKinnis’ 2d Squad also contained two excellent Team Leaders, Sergeant Jesse Hattesohl and Sergeant Zachary Fraker. In Faggiano’s 1st Squad, Team Leaders Specialist Joseph Lee and Specialist Cody Chandler imparted a wealth of knowledge, skill, and leadership. Chandler was also one of the most popular soldiers in the platoon. McEvoy’s weapons squad was led by Staff Sergeant Robert Singley who had just returned from drill sergeant duty. Like the others, he was a solid combat veteran and leader.

The Mission

By 1 September 2010, Crawford had produced intelligence packages on numerous enemy compounds, fighting positions, meeting locations, and bed-down locations. He had also accumulated a massive amount of intelligence material on Taliban Improvised Explosive Device (IED) caches and IED production facilities. All of the sites had been identified either by historical reporting or other intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) means. With the addition of full-motion video shot by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), it did not take Crawford long to identify certain enemy patterns. “So we had a…patterned enemy in Zhari…he was so comfortable with the terrain and the fact that they owned it that they just…became almost lazy in their movement patterns,” the S2 remarked.

The Squadron’s initial objective was to force the enemy away from Highway 1 and Route Summit in order to set conditions for an impending 2BCT operation dubbed Operation DRAGON STRIKE. “We wanted to shape the AO, so once DRAGON STRIKE started we could go in and not have to slug it out,” Crawford recounted. The entire operation was intelligence-driven, targeting Taliban compounds, cache sites, and bed-down locations near Highway 1 and Route SUMMIT. “We wanted to open up those two major routes in our AO…and we were running patrols 750 meters in, 1,000 meters in, making contact, and then trying to kill the enemy with artillery and UAV strikes,” Crawford recalled. 

Early in the first week of September, McEvoy received orders to prepare his platoon for a mission south of Highway 1. The operation would take place on the morning of 5 September. Although they had performed combat patrols north of the highway, 1st Platoon had yet to conduct operations to the south. It would be an extremely dangerous mission. The Taliban owned the ground, and the terrain which was a jumble of dense grape fields, wadis, tree lines, and open grassland and this only served to increase the strength of the enemy. As Crawford pointed out, “you couldn’t get 300 meters south of that highway without getting attacked.” Crawford wanted McEvoy’s platoon to check a possible IED cache site west of Route SUMMIT. The S2 was also convinced that the enemy was using at least one building along Route ST. JOHN’S, a dirt road running north of Tiranan, as a Command and Control (C2) point. 

As soon as they received the warning order, McEvoy and his NCOs began their pre-combat checks (PCCs) and pre-combat inspections (PCIs). They received reliable intelligence on possible routes and the locations of recent IED attacks. “We actually got really deep into finding intelligence about this area,” Hattesohl recalled. First Platoon would be supported for this mission by UAVs, 155mm howitzers, and 120mm mortars from FOB Wilson and Close Combat Attack (CCA) aircraft. With all necessary preparations in place, McEvoy’s platoon and their ANA counterparts were fully prepared by the night of 4 September. 

The Patrol

At approximately 0700 on 5 September, 1st Platoon and the ANA platoon started moving south from FOB Wilson. The patrol should have moved out earlier but the ANA contingent arrived late. Hattesohl, the 2d Squad A Team Leader, led the dismounted platoon through the Afghan National Police (ANP) gate. Following behind Hattesohl were his two team members, Private First Class Steven Craythorn and Private First Class Joseph Arvizu. Hattesohl’s team advanced south toward Highway 1 in a staggered road-march formation. They were followed by about half of the ANA platoon along with 2d Squad Leader McKinnis and Fraker, the B Team Leader. Fraker was the lone man in B Team, as two of his soldiers, Specialist Ryan Johnson and Private First Class Yeng Her, were on leave. 

Toward the center of the column, McEvoy maintained a watchful eye on the balance of the ANA intermingled with the rest of the patrol. “It was one of our first patrols,” McEvoy recalled, “so controlling the ANA was a bit difficult.” With the platoon leader was Captain Michael Krayer, the HHT Commander, who had come along as an observer and Private First Class Mark Drake, the forward 

observer (FO). Private First Class Anthony Surrett also traveled with McEvoy serving as his radio telephone operator (RTO). 

Behind this element, the 1st Squad A Team Leader, Chandler, advanced with Private Michael Iacoviello and Private First Class Kyle Hall. In the center, 1st Squad Leader Faggiano and attached HHT Medic Sergeant Timothy “Doc” Peterson moved forward. Behind Faggiano, 1st Squad B Team Leader Lee and his two soldiers, Private First Class Anthony Thompson and Private First Class Hector Bonilla, followed their squad leader through the front gate. Also moving with Faggiano was Weapons Squad Leader Singley and his M240G gun team members, Private First Class Spencer Harris, Private First Class Rigoberto Soto and Private First Class Corey Doty. 

Bringing up the rear of the patrol was Platoon Sergeant Leach, Medic Private First Class Robert Kruse and the designated marksman and ammo bearer (AB) from Weapons Squad, Specialist Andrew Ingram. Ingram carried an “assault pack” of 500 rounds of 7.62 ammunition for the gun team and he also carried an M14 rifle. As the platoon began to stretch out between the front gate and Highway 1, Leach and Kruse, along with Ingram, began moving toward the front of the long column. “As usual,” Leach stated, “we would patrol up and down between everyone ensuring everyone was good and also for my situational awareness and coordination with the platoon leader and squad leaders.” As his platoon marched through the ANP gate, McEvoy called the command post (CP) to announce their departure. He remembered the day as “hot, over 100 [degrees], sunny [and] cloudless.”

At Highway 1, 1st Platoon set up left and right security, stopping all traffic and quickly moving across to the south side of the highway. Once there, the platoon changed from a staggered road-march formation into a squad wedge formation and headed west through an open field toward Route SUMMIT. Hattesohl remained on point during this phase of the movement. Crossing Route SUMMIT McEvoy’s soldiers cautiously approached the rural community of Pasab. “We continued with this movement until we made it closer to the village of Pasab where we set in security watching every avenue of approach and especially Highway 1,” Leach recalled. Ever mindful of the threat from IEDs, Hattesohl continued to select the “hardest and safest route possible” for the platoon. Moving north of Pasab, Leach remembered that, “Once we started moving between buildings we switched to a bounding and traveling overwatch [formation] to ensure security was set with one element while still being able to push on with the other element.” McEvoy stated that he gave few instructions up to this point.

 

Figure 3. First Platoon Patrol to Tiranan.

“The squad leaders knew their route and what they were supposed to do.” 

The patrol moved west past Pasab about 600 meters and then turned south toward the first wadi line. When Hattesohl approached the wadi, he called a halt to check for “danger zones.” He recalled that there was little water in the wadi but there were “a lot of trees a lot of bushes” and “You couldn’t see more than maybe 15 [or] 10 feet in front of you.” After the brief pause, the platoon began crossing the riverbed. “For this mission we came up to the wadi [and] walked through the water roughly 100 meters or so,” Leach stated. “For this movement we were in single file, but spaced well enough apart and mutually supporting each other. We would push a team up, find the crossing, set in security while bringing up a gun team, [and] then move everyone else up.” 

While the rest of the platoon made its way across the first wadi line, Hattesohl and his team moved farther south into an open field about 100 meters long. About halfway through the field, Hattesohl noticed a small piece of plastic. Believing it could be an IED the team leader called another halt and moved to clear it. “Everything’s a hazard for us,” he later stated. After checking the piece of plastic Hattesohl declared, “It was nothing,” and his team moved out once more in the direction of a tree line to the south.

Making their way past the tree line, Hattesohl’s team proceeded about 200 meters to the next wadi line. The team leader described this obstacle as a “creek wadi.” Entering the creek, McKinnis’ 2d Squad, with Hattesohl’s team on point, moved northeast toward a large mud hut with an oval roof. While 2d Squad moved on the structure, Faggiano’s 1st Squad set the gun teams to provide security for the other squad. “We had learned from [past experience] the terrain is so dense that a machine gun [placed] in [a] grape orchard can’t really cover anybody,” Faggiano noted. The gun teams and Faggiano’s 1st Squad provided overwatch for McKinnis’ 2d Squad as they approached a large mud hut with a small open courtyard surrounded by damaged walls. As 1st Squad moved up to the structure, Faggiano’s Soldiers and the gun crews continued to provide overwatch. McKinnis’ squad found nothing at the house. McEvoy recalled “visually” cleaning the house. “Nothing was really there,” Hattesohl reported. “Our leadership talked with the locals that were living in that village…we asked them questions like where have the Taliban been…has there been any activity in the area?” It was all for naught. The platoon received no actionable intelligence from the local population. Finding neither IED caches nor IED production facilities in the vicinity, McEvoy made the decision to move south to the objective.

Once again, Hattesohl led the way for McKinnis’ 2d Squad, south toward the third wadi line and the objective. At the same time, Faggiano’s 1st Squad headed in a southwesterly direction toward the third wadi line. Making their way through the dense underbrush, Faggiano’s soldiers emerged on the south side of the wadi. “Just south of me, it was wide open, there was tall grass, and then a village just off to the south,” the 1st Squad Leader recalled. Faggiano’s squad quickly set up an overwatch position to cover 2d Squad as they worked their way toward the third wadi line. Lee and his team faced north to provide security for 2d Squad. McKinnis stated that 1st Squad’s mission was “to overwatch movement and deny the enemy use of the wadi line to the west while my squad went to the objective to confirm or deny it as a cache site.”

After working their way through the wadi, McKinnis’ men emerged onto an open field near the objective, which McEvoy remarked, “turned out to be a well.” With 2d Squad were McEvoy, the FO Drake, Leach, Krayer, his security element, as well as 10 ANA soldiers and the gun teams. A quick search of the well turned up nothing. “[The] primary objective was the well, which was believed to have been a cache site,” McKinnis recalled. “After discovering that the objective was not a cache site, we moved about 50-75 meters further southwest to the northern corner of the grape field in order to set a small perimeter.” Hattesohl and his A Team, along with Harris and his M240G from the gun team, took up an overwatch position in the southwest corner behind a wall near the grape field. Fraker also took up a position behind the wall. Other soldiers in the element pulled security to the northwest and east. Hattesohl was soon joined by McKinnis who crouched behind the wall. While this was taking place, the other gun team which included Singley, Doty and Soto, set up rear security on the north side of the wadi.

The Fight

As McKinnis’ men took up their positions, an ANA soldier fired a warning shot at an Afghan “farmer” in the grape field. The farmer turned and fled whereupon several ANA soldiers bolted into the grape field after him. At this point, McEvoy decided to wait and to keep pulling security until the ANA returned from pursuing the man. The ANA soon led the farmer out of the grape field. Hattesohl remembered talking to the man, tactfully questioning him about the Taliban presence in the area. Seated nearby on a haystack, McEvoy recalled McKinnis and the ANA chatting with the farmer. To the west, Faggiano stated that his squad was “kind of obsessing over what was going on” in the 2d Squad area.

About five to eight minutes into the questioning of the farmer, Hattesohl heard another gunshot. “I heard a snap. I thought it was one of the ANAs shooting again but it sounded a little bit different. Then it was on. It was game on from there. I called the direction and distance. I saw that there were two lone buildings just to my southwest, about…300, 350 meters and that’s where we were taking the fire from.” Fraker also heard the gunfire from behind the wall north of the grape field. “We heard a couple pop shots and then everything broke loose,” he stated. From their rear security position north of the third wadi, Singley, Soto, and Doty could hear the rounds going over their heads. Kruse recalled that the fire was so intense that “we were pinned down.” He remembered being exposed to the initial enemy fire and sprinted to the wall north of the grape field under a hail of bullets. “There [were] rounds hitting the grape field in front of us [and] behind us,” he later stated. Although under a storm of small arms fire, 1st Squad, the gun team, and the headquarters element struck back swiftly against the enemy. Hattesohl and Harris with his M240G were the first to return fire from north of the grape field. 

Sergeant Fraker could see about 20 enemy fighters in and around two buildings to his southwest. He recognized instantly that the squad’s weapons could not fire effectively on the Taliban locations. Under a withering barrage of bullets from enemy small arms and machine guns, Fraker and Hattesohl moved from their defensive position behind the wall about 25 meters into an open field. As they moved forward, other members of the squad laid down a suppressive volley with their M4s and M249Gs. Once in the open field Hattesohl put down suppressive fire while Fraker fired his M320 at the enemy to his front. As Fraker’s 40mm high explosive grenades burst around the Taliban defensive positions, Hattesohl continued to direct his team and coordinate its fires.

To the west, Faggiano’s 1st Squad also came under a torrent of gun fire. He immediately called up a contact report to McEvoy and began to study the situation. “There was really nowhere to maneuver,” he later noted. “These guys were the masters of their terrain. They knew we weren’t going to come at them. They knew we were going to have to slug it out with them, from wadi line to wadi line.” Faggiano quickly discerned that he needed to gain fire superiority over the enemy and began coordinating with his team leaders Chandler and Lee.

Most of the fire was coming from the wadi line directly to the south of 1st Squad and from two buildings on the north side of Route ST. JOHNS. Faggiano recalled listening to McEvoy on the radio. The platoon leader had already called in a contact report to the troop command post (CP). He thereupon assisted the FO Drake in coordinating his radio calls to the squadron for Close Combat Attack (CCA) aircraft (OH-58 Kiowas), along with indirect fire support. For now, McEvoy was determined to let his squad leaders “fight for a while” until he could acquire more air and artillery. Faggiano remembered McEvoy saying, “All right, we’re going to get CCA. Let’s hold up right here.” Bolstered with the knowledge of the  

enemy’s locations, McEvoy determined to bring air and artillery down on them while his squads attempted to gain fire superiority.

As Faggiano’s 1st Squad fired back, they immediately drew added attention from the enemy to their south. “They obviously were the ones that the Taliban saw first so they took most of the rounds,” Hattesohl noted after the fight. “Then when 1st squad opened up, that’s when the enemy shifted fire towards them.” Indeed, Faggiano’s squad was engulfed in a hail of small arms fire which whizzed over their heads, ripped into the dirt and sliced through the vegetation along the wadi line. The enemy fire was so intense that Faggiano was not certain he could maintain fire superiority. The squad leader now called on Lee, who with Thompson and Bonilla, had been covering the rear on the north side of the wadi. “I wanted to bring more [M]320’s and team leaders…I wanted to bring more of their gunners over, so Lee jumped over and we left two guys facing north,” Faggiano stated. 

Although the enemy was outside the range of the M320, Lee recalled firing HE rounds as a scare tactic. On the east side of Faggiano’s line, Chandler, Iacoviello, and Hall laid down a steady stream of fire with their M203s, M320s, and the SAW. Chandler could see large groups of the enemy running in and out of a building directly south of his position. As the enemy ran out of the structure, they would try to establish firing positions and then duck back into the house. As the firefight grew in intensity, Lee began rotating his team from rear security to the firing line in order to conserve ammunition. To Lee’s great consternation, the enemy continued their withering assault on 1st Squad. “They weren’t trying to bound back and leave. They were actually sticking there and fighting with us. They just had all the buildings that they could hide in where we had a berm with trees and basically a couple walls, nothing major to really stop anything,” Lee remembered.

In the east, 2d Squad continued to fire back at the buildings to the southwest. From his position in the open field, Fraker noticed about 10 enemy fighters attempting to move east along Route ST. JOHNS. Realizing the Taliban was attempting to flank 2d Squad’s position, Fraker instantly reoriented a portion of the squad’s fire on the enemy’s flanking party. The intense gunfire quickly halted the flanking movement. While this was taking place, Hattesohl continued to move back and forth between the open field and his team’s defensive position. Hattesohl alternated between these two positions in order to engage the enemy with the squad’s highest-caliber weapons. He also continued to provide his team with tactical instructions and direct their fires, as the tempo of the fight increased. 

Remarkably, a few of the ANA soldiers at McEvoy’s location were wandering around approximately 30 meters in front of 2d Squad’s fighting positions. With bullets flying everywhere, the platoon leader promptly ordered an ANA officer to take all of his men back to a small bike trail about 50 meters north of 2d Squad’s position. By this time, Drake had already fired several indirect fire missions on enemy positions to the south. As he called in these missions, CCA arrived overhead. While Drake coordinated with the OH-58 Kiowas, McEvoy informed McKinnis that he was concerned about the proximity of the artillery fire and that he planned to pull the platoon back to the bike trail. McEvoy recalled that this was their first real combat patrol and he was greatly concerned about having enough stand-off room. He remembered that during later deployments they called artillery in with less stand-off range, “but this time…we backed off a full 100 meters, which is way more than we should.”

As the platoon leader continued to coordinate the planned movement, Faggiano’s squad faced new tribulations. The struggle continued to rage on the 1st Squad firing line. Through the heat and uninterrupted enemy fire, Faggiano’s squad fought back with skill and determination. The squad leader worked his way up and down the line, repeatedly exposing him to enemy gunfire as he directed his squad’s defenses. As 1st Squad fired back at the enemy to their south, Faggiano noticed a slackening in the fire from Lee’s team. Bonilla’s SAW had malfunctioned and he was unable to correct it. Faggiano rushed to Bonilla’s position and attempted to fix it. After feverishly attempting to correct the problem with the SAW, the squad leader discovered that the firing pin was broken. Scrambling back down the wadi line, Faggiano learned that Thompson’s M203 had also malfunctioned, the result of a broken plunger. Although confronted by this adversity, 1st Squad remained calm and continued to fight back. “Two weapons systems down and they were completely inexperienced at the time, completely inexperienced in the sense of a firefight…they did amazing…everyone kept their cool,” Faggiano recalled.

As 1st Squad took stock of its situation, their adversaries maintained a deadly barrage of machine-gun and small-arms fire. In spite of everything, 1st Squad kept up a blistering fire on the enemy. On the left, Chandler, Iacoviello, and Hall fought back with a vengeance while on Faggiano’s right, Lee, Thompson, and Bonilla put up the same determined resistance. Looking down the line and shouting out fire commands, Faggiano saw an enemy bullet bounce off the ground and fly right between Thompson’s arms as he fired his M-4. The squad leader watched in amazement as Thompson momentarily slid back behind cover and then quickly popped back up to engage the enemy. “They did a great job,” Faggiano stated afterward.

Both Faggiano and Chandler could still see a large group of fighters running in and out of the building southwest of their position. Neither soldier knew it at the time but Captain Crawford, the Squadron S2, had already confirmed that the structure was in fact, a hardened Taliban fighting position and a command and control point. Crawford had amassed data on the building dating back to 2007. Now, with one Predator UAV and one Reaper UAV flying overhead, along with other fixed-wing aviation assets, the TOC could clearly see numerous 5-10 man enemy elements moving forward from south of Tiranan and Route ST. JOHNS. The fighters were clearly reinforcements. 

The building was certainly a lucrative target and Chandler yelled to Faggiano, “Hey, see where they’re shooting from?” The squad leader saw the fire coming from the building and shouted over the deafening gunfire, “Go and shoot the SMAW-D [Shoulder Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon-Disposable]. Wreck that building!” Chandler immediately clutched the SMAW-D, brought the weapon to his shoulder, aimed and fired. As the round careened toward the building, Chandler thought the back blast from the weapon would clearly expose his position. Unfortunately the round missed the target. Turning to grab his M203, he continued to fire HE rounds toward the enemy. As Faggiano started to move down the line in order to help Lee spread his team out along the brim of the wadi, the squad leader turned to tell Chandler where he was going just as the team leader closed the breech on his M203. At that moment, a bullet slammed into Chandler’s left arm as another struck his lower abdomen. “It sounded like an explosion,” he recalled. The blow knocked the young team leader down into the wadi. “I just remember trying to climb back up to the berm to get my weapon and to get back to where I was at but my legs just gave out on me and I collapsed into the wadi.” 

In an instant, “Doc” Peterson, the headquarters medic, ran down into the wadi to help Chandler. Lee quickly followed. Faggiano, the 1st squad leader, was next on the scene. Doc told the squad leader that one bullet had gone through Chandler’s arm and the other through his lower abdomen. As Peterson applied pressure on the wounds, he told Faggiano that Chandler was “urgent surgical” and gave the squad leader a hasty 9-Line MEDEVAC request. Wasting no time, the squad leader called the report up to Leach. “Chan’s shot. Urgent surgical,” he told the Platoon Sergeant. 

McEvoy heard the MEDEVAC call and directed Leach to handle it. McEvoy recalled later that the order was unnecessary because Leach and the platoon medic, Kruse, were already in motion. Running through a gauntlet of small arms fire, Leach and Kruse hurriedly made their way to Chandler. “We had to run through the field to the tree line,” Kruse noted. When they reached Chandler, Kruse remembered a torrent of enemy gunfire going over their heads. He could also hear the bullets hitting the trees around them.

With Leach, Peterson, and Kruse treating Chandler, Faggiano and Lee returned to the fight. With two weapons systems down and one team leader out of action, the squad leader knew he needed every weapon on the firing line. Climbing back up to the berm, Faggiano saw Iacoviello firing away at the enemy. Iacoviello asked Faggiano about Chandler and then “turned and started shooting again,” the squad leader stated. Enemy bullets continued to hit the trees and dirt around them but Faggiano’s squad fought back with a renewed vigor.

With the MEDEVAC helicopter on its way, McEvoy grew concerned about the amount of enemy fire on 1st Squad’s position. The MEDEVAC would be forced to land in a large meadow just behind their location. As the helicopter approached, the platoon leader told Leach to mark the landing zone (LZ) with smoke and directed his soldiers to lay down a sheet of fire as soon as the Blackhawk came into view. “I just need everyone to lay down cycling, just pretty much hold the trigger down toward the enemy so they keep their heads down while we evacuated Specialist Chandler,” McEvoy reported. With the MEDEVAC on its way, Drake had the artillery stop firing. “I had the guns go cold as I was using the birds,” he later pointed out. 

As the MEDEVAC approached the LZ, 1st and 2d Squads, along with the weapons teams, laid down a sheet of fire on the enemy positions to the south. However, as the Blackhawk set down in the meadow, the enemy fire increased. Lee noted that, “They picked up the rate of fire and so did we.” When the Blackhawk landed, enemy rounds smacked into the trees and several bullets kicked dirt into Thompson’s face. Lee recalled that 1st Squad “was pretty much pinned down.” Chandler stated afterward that, “once the bird started coming in, all hell just broke loose. The Taliban just started shooting at the bird.” As soon as the MEDEVAC landed, the crew chief jumped off and helped “Doc” Peterson, Leach, Kruse, Hall, and Lee carry Chandler to the waiting aircraft. While placing him in the Blackhawk, enemy rounds cut through the fuselage. “They loaded me into the bird and as we were taking off, I just started hearing bullets hit the bird and at that point, I just thought, I’m going down. We are going down and I was actually very surprised that they even landed that bird where they did.” Chandler recalled.

With the MEDEVAC airborne and heading north, McEvoy could now pull 2d Squad back to the bike trail and call for more artillery fire. Drake and McEvoy called in 155mm howitzers and 120mm mortars on enemy locations north of Route ST. JOHNS as McKinnis’ Squad and part of the gun team hurried north to the bike trail. As the rounds exploded around the Taliban positions, 2d Squad took up positions along the bike trail with their ANA counterparts. “We pulled back [and] called for rounds,” Hattesohl stated. He remembered the bike trail as “a very small ditch,” that “provided…little cover but the concealment was great, there was lots of vegetation, there was no way they could have seen us.” While McKinnis’ Soldiers took up their new positions along the trail, Singley’s other gun team continued to provide rear security on the north side of the wadi. Enemy fire slackened as 2d Squad secured its position along the bike trail. “The rounds weren’t coming toward us anymore, they were all going towards 1st squad,” Hattesohl pointed out.

Around the enemy-occupied buildings, howitzer and mortar rounds landed with thunderous flashes. At the same time, Kiowas returned to the area searching for targets. Drake called a halt to the indirect fire and the platoon waited for the helicopters to strike. Armed with rockets and .50-caliber machine guns, the Kiowas were prepared to attack. However, they were not sure of the Taliban’s precise locations and needed someone to mark the targets. Hattesohl recalled, “Kiowas having a really tough time finding the enemy position.” Although 2d Squad was able to see the enemy locations from the bike trail, their M320s and M203s were about 150 meters out of range. Hattesohl turned to Fraker and told him that they would have to go and mark the target. Rushing to McKinnis’ position, Hattesohl asked his squad leader for permission to mark the target with smoke with the M203 grenade launcher and said he would be taking Fraker with him. The request was quickly granted. As Hattesohl and Fraker ran south toward their former position, McKinnis ordered the rest of his squad to lay down cover fire.

Running about 250 meters into an open field in front of the bike trail, Hattesohl and Fraker found themselves in a freshly tilled field of black dirt. “I laid down, Sergeant Fraker shot the smoke, and I was just shooting explosive grenades,” recalled Hattesohl. The two team leaders were quickly “pinpointed” by the enemy and bullets immediately flew around their heads and into the dirt. After firing two or three smoke grenades with the M203, Hattesohl and Fraker fell back 

to the bike trail. Unfortunately, the smoke quickly dissipated. Fraker later pointed out that M203 “smoke doesn’t stay up long.” As the Kiowas came back around they told the soldiers on the ground “we don’t see it yet, mark it again.” Once again, the two Soldiers ran back into the open field under enemy fire. Fraker fired again and this time the helicopters identified the smoke and began engaging the targets. Fraker recalled the Kiowa’s repeatedly “laying waste to that area.” 

As the Kiowa’s continued their gun runs, McEvoy and Drake ran from the safety of the bike trail into the open field to place a VS-17 marker panel to help the pilots identify 1st Platoon’s location. While they rushed forward under a barrage of enemy bullets, 2d Squad laid down a blistering cover fire. Placing the marker panel at about the spot from which Hattesohl and Fraker had fired their smoke grenades, McEvoy and Drake hurriedly moved back toward the trail as enemy bullets zipped past their heads. “I remember him [McEvoy] calling … ‘All right; were getting ready to come in,’ ” McKinnis stated. With 2d Squad laying down heavy cover fire McKinnis recollected, “He didn’t want to get shot.” In a display of conspicuous bravery and leadership, McKinnis also ran out into the open field under Taliban fire to lay down another marker panel. With the smoke and marker panels in place, the Kiowas blasted the enemy positions. “It was really a release of pent up tension when they started hitting them…there were some cheers going on,” McKinnis remarked.

At this point in the fight, McEvoy decided to pull back farther north to a better defensive position. The entire platoon would re-cross the wadi and take up positions in a nearby meadow that, surrounded by a wall, appeared to be a rock solid location. McKinnis remembered the meadow had “a three or four foot wall around it where we could make a pretty good [defensive] position while they dropped the rounds.” Second Squad and the gun teams pulled back first. They were followed by Faggiano’s 1st Squad that sprinted in from the west under the cover of Kiowas. For the first time in hours, the entire platoon was consolidated at the same location in a 360 degree defensive position.

Although the new position was first rate, the platoon was still under fire. Hattesohl said the enemy rounds coming closer and the noise getting louder. He also noticed that the Taliban’s fire was becoming much more accurate. Soon, enemy grenades started landing close to the platoon’s position. Indeed, the enemy’s familiarity with the terrain had allowed a few fighters to press in closer to 1st Platoon’s new location. 

Drake soon realized that he could not properly call for or adjust fires from the new location and requested permission to move forward to the wadi. On receiving the go ahead from McEvoy, Drake, along with Faggiano, Hall, and Iacoviello, scrambled back to the wadi line. Although enemy fighters were clearly close by, Faggiano recalled Hall jumping right into the wadi line, “ready to fight those guys wherever they were and they were just right on the other side.” As they moved forward, McKinnis lobbed several grenades over to the southern side of the wadi. A few seconds later, Faggiano heard an enemy fighter close by. “I think he had crept up and was just throwing pot shots, trying to follow us down the wadi line,” he later stated. The squad leader quickly tossed a grenade at the man and heard nothing more from him.

In the thick underbrush along the wadi, Drake could not find a suitable position to determine targets and told Faggiano he couldn’t see from that location. “This isn’t a good spot,” he said. With Drake unable to see and with more enemy fighters pressing in on their flanks, Faggiano decided to fall back to the meadow. As they moved back north, McEvoy decided to move the entire platoon out of the meadow. He would move further north to the little mud hut the platoon had searched that morning and turn it into a strongpoint. The new position would also provide the FO with a better view of the enemy positions to the south.

“We all peeled back to the house,” Faggiano said. While his squad set up security on the western side of the building, McKinnis’ 2d Squad took up positions to the east and south. “It was a mud hut and it was actually pretty big,” Hattesohl remembered. He said a family had been living in the hut with their dog. Wasting little time, McEvoy placed Ingram with his M-14 and Doty, Harris, and Soto with their M240Gs on the roof along with Drake. Faggiano remained close by to provide command and control. Using his 10-power scope on his M-14, Ingram could clearly see Taliban fighters firing from numerous locations about 700-800 meters to his south. He also saw enemy reinforcements rushing forward south of Route ST. JOHNS. He quickly relayed the information on the enemy targets to McEvoy, Drake, and the gun teams. While Doty and Harris fired their M240Gs at enemy targets, Drake began calling in Kiowa and 155mm howitzer missions.

Much of the enemy activity seemed centered around one structure. As Captain Crawford had predicted, 1st Platoon was clearly engaged with a significant enemy command and control point. To the Soldiers on the roof, the enemy appeared determined to hold the position at all cost. The willingness of the Taliban to stand and fight however, was a benefit to the Americans and their ANA counterparts. From his new strongpoint, McEvoy had achieved an excellent

Figure 4. First Platoon Standoff Positions.

standoff distance from the enemy while still maintaining the ability to observe their movements. While the Taliban appeared resolute; McEvoy and his platoon were equally unwavering in their determination to kill as many of the enemy as possible.

Within minutes, Drake brought down a curtain of steel on the enemy targets. As Ingram observed the fire through his scope, he relayed the battle damage assessment (BDA) to Drake and McEvoy. Ingram also helped Drake adjust his fire. Taliban casualties began to mount as the two Soldiers continued their team effort and the howitzer rounds slammed into their targets. While the fight continued, Drake also directed rotary-wing firing, alternating these tasks between the indirect-fire missions. A US Army officer would report after the fight that Drake was “an invaluable asset with his calm and effective actions that brought an immediate and deadly result to the enemy.” In fact, ISR sources had already picked up enemy communications in which a Taliban fighter told his comrades, “It’s raining really bad, we’ve got to go.”

As the artillery barrage intensified, Ingram managed to hit several enemy fighters with shots from his M-14. The gun teams on the roof also kept up a steady stream of fire against the Taliban fighting positions. “We were firing at them as best we can…just kind of walking the rounds down as best we can,” Doty said after the engagement. While 1st Platoon continued to fire, enemy rounds occasionally whizzed past their heads. 

Peering into the scope of his M-14, Ingram could plainly see the artillery impacting on the enemy positions. As he continued to scan the sector, he was surprised to see a Taliban open top truck with approximately 12 fighters in the back drive through the smoke and debris. Careening down a small dirt path, the truck abruptly stopped next to one of the enemy occupied buildings. The young marksman continued to watch in amazement as the Taliban fighters, armed with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), heavy machine guns, and AK-47s jumped down from the truck and scattered in different directions. Ingram managed to hit one of the fighters as he ran for cover. He directed the M240G gun teams onto the other scurrying targets.

The truck promptly sped away. As the dust cleared, Ingram spotted one of the enemy fighters brandishing a white Taliban flag. The man “started waving it at us, you know, taunting us,” Ingram said. McEvoy thought the fighter was “just flipping us off, like, ‘all right, come and get it.’ ” Ingram fired at the man but couldn’t hit him. When Drake attempted to adjust fires on to the area, he received no response. Irritated, Drake asked, “Hey what happened to those rounds?” To their great consternation, McEvoy and Drake realized that the Squadron TOC was shifting its fires to other targets in the area. “I remember there being a lot of contention between me and the TOC on when and where to fire,” McEvoy said. “From my viewpoint, I was shooting at the biggest threat to myself and my guys. Every once in a while, I’d jump on fires [network] to voice my concern over how targets were being prioritized.” 

The TOC was indeed directing fire on other targets. Crawford would later write that, “The focus in the TOC was on moving elements coming to and from the fight. We utilized the ISR platforms to then call for fire with Apaches and Kiowas serving as forward observers. We also used the UAVs as observers for several fire missions.” After the fight, McEvoy fully understood what the TOC was trying to do. “I later found out they were shooting at reinforcements, squirters, and other targets they could see with ISR. They also had a better view of the whole battlefield and the town of Tiranan,” McEvoy wrote afterward. In the end, McEvoy came to understand the process but during this engagement he grew especially irritated over his inability to direct fire at what he considered the biggest threats to his platoon.

Through the use of numerous ISR assets, the squadron TOC killed and wounded many enemy fighters that McEvoy and his Platoon could not see. As Taliban reinforcements rushed forward to protect their command post, their movements and signals allowed the TOC to capture prodigious amounts of intelligence. In fact, the longer 1st Platoon remained in contact, the more intelligence Crawford captured through his ISR sources. “What they wanted us to do,” McEvoy said, “ was go out there and just hold the enemy, engage the enemy…long enough so that they could develop the situation, and then they could call higher assets onto it while we’re…fighting [them]. We held [them] for three hours there and they developed a lot of information about Tiranan."

First Platoon was exhausted after three to five hours of intense combat. Ammunition and water were also running dangerously low. As he gazed at his tired and mud spattered soldiers scattered around the hut, McEvoy decided to head back to FOB Wilson. “After a three-hour firefight, your adrenaline’s just completely flat lined, you’re out of water, out of energy,” he said. “The dudes were just burnt,” McKinnis recalled. Pulling out his map, McEvoy promptly picked out a route back to FOB Wilson as the men gathered their gear and prepared to move. Although the unit pulled away from the hut as if they were breaking contact, fire from the enemy had long since ceased, testimony perhaps to the devastating effects of the artillery and Kiowas. 

The platoon and the ANA moved north in a bounding overwatch formation. As they slogged back toward FOB Wilson, the NCOs maintained discipline, keeping everyone sharp. “They did a really good job,” McEvoy said. Undoubtedly, many of the soldiers thought about Chandler and speculated about his condition. After crossing north of Highway 1, the platoon turned east. Hattelsohl recalled that the north side of the highway was “known to be a lot safer.” 

The soldiers of 1st Platoon and their ANA complement arrived back at FOB Wilson without incident. As they walked through the gate they were greeted by the squadron command sergeant major and their first sergeant, who informed 1st Platoon that Chandler would be fine. As an added bonus, the 1st Platoon soon learned that intelligence sources had picked up enemy communications which indicated the “Taliban were surprised that the new unit showed teeth.” It was the first of many disrupt-and-destroy missions the 1st Platoon would perform during its yearlong tour and it did, in fact, set the tenor for future operations.

Aftermath

The combat at Tiranan proved the largest and longest fight of 1st Platoon’s entire tour. The precise number of enemy casualties proved impossible to calculate. However, intelligence would later indicate that at least three Taliban fighters were killed and approximately five were wounded. Exact numbers are hard to determine. Even though it was their first encounter with the enemy, McEvoy’s soldiers performed courageously and skillfully. The platoon leader would later assert that although this was his first firefight, all of his NCOs were veterans of numerous combat tours. From the first enemy shots, McEvoy was determined to allow his NCOs to develop the fight. “Every squad leader did what they had to do for…five minutes, whatever it took to get the advantage, [and] report up to me,” he stated. McEvoy was convinced that a Type A leader trained to make every decision “does not translate to a good infantry platoon, or a good maneuver platoon of any kind. I was a platoon leader for over a year and a half before I even went to Afghanistan,” he pointed out. “I had worked with these guys, these guys respected me but you have to let them do their job. You need to know what they’re doing, you need to know what they’re supposed to do but don’t do their job for them as it’s [going to] end up having poor results or disastrous results for the platoon and soldiers.”

The fight at Tiranan also reinforced several leadership principles for McEvoy’s NCOs. “Just go slow, deliberate, do everything deliberately and slowly,” McKinnis pointed out. Faggiano believed it was all about the basics and training. “It’s all about basic skills…basic soldier discipline and basic soldiering skills.” Hattesohl would later state, “Never take the same route twice…Never take an easy route…If you see a trail, if you have to cross it, clear it, cross it, don’t walk on it. It’s too easy.”

The tactical gains accomplished by McEvoy’s patrol were truly impressive. “The major result of this action was our ability to show the Taliban we would stand and fight rather than withdraw back to the COPs at the first sound of gunfire,” wrote the Squadron S2, Matthew Crawford. 

“McEvoy and his Platoon conducted a sustained five-hour firefight and never showed any sign of tactical impatience or concern. This shook the courage and morale of the local Taliban fighters who were used to dominating the battlefield by pushing patrols back to the safety of the COPs…The key result of this five-hour firefight was that we kicked the Taliban’s ass in their own backyard.” Without a doubt, the fight at Tiranan established a successful formula for 1-75 CAV and helped lay the groundwork for larger operations. The action also solidified the bond between the soldiers of 1st Platoon and demonstrated their skilled, unwavering dedication in eradicating the Taliban in the Zhari District.

 

For their actions, Mckinnis, Faggiano, Fraker, Hattesohl, Drake, and Chandler were awarded The Army Commendation Medal for Valor. For the duration of their tour in the Zhari District, 1st Platoon would continue conducting disrupt-and-destroy missions against the insurgents and their infrastructure. Many of 1st Platoon’s “special missions” remain classified. The HHT commander however, would later suggest that McEvoy’s platoon “conducted more missions than the rest of the squadron combined and more missions than any other element in RC South.” Without doubt, 1st Platoon contributed significantly to eradicating the Taliban in the Zhari District. 

Glossary

ANA	Afghan National Army
ANP	Afghan National Police
ANSF	Afghan National Security Forces
ARF	Aerial Reaction Force
ASR	Alternate Supply Route
ATPIAL	Advanced Target Pointer Illuminator Aiming Light
AWG	Asymmetric Warfare Group
BCT	Brigade Combat Team
C2	Command and Control
CAT	Civil Affairs Team
CAV	Cavalry
CCA	Close Combat Attack
CERP	Commander’s Emergency Response Program
CFSOCC	Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command
CJSOTF	Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force
COIN	Counterinsurgency
COP	Combat Outpost
CP	Command Post
CROWS	Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station
FA	Field Artillery Regiment
FO	Forward Observer
FOB	Forward Operating Base
HLZ	Helicopter Landing Zone
HVT	High Value Targets
IED	Improvised Explosive Device
IJC	International Joint Command
IN	Infantry
IOTV	Improved Outer Tactical Vest
ISAF	International Security Assistance Forces
ISR	Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
JDAMS	Joint Direct Attack Munitions
JLENS	Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor

JRTC	Joint Readiness Training Center
JTAC	Joint Terminal Attack Controller
KIA	Killed In Action
LP	Listening Post
LZ	Landing Zone
M-ATV	Mine Resistant Ambush Protected-All Terrain Vehicle
MEDCAP	Medical Civic Assistance Programs
MEDEVAC	Medical Evacuation
MGS	Mobile Gun System
MICLIC	Mine Clearing Line Charge
MOLLE	Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment
MRAP	Mine Resistant Ambush Protected
MREs	Meals Ready to Eat
MTOE	Modified Table of Organization and Equipment
NAIs	Named Area of Interest
NCO	Non-Commissioned Officer
NGO	Nongovernmental Organizations
OEF	Operation Enduring Freedom
OHDACA	Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid
OP	Observation Post
PCI	Pre-Combat Inspection
PRTs	Provincial Reconstruction Teams
QRF	Quick Reaction Force
RC	Regional Command
RCP	Route Clearance Package
RPG	Rocket-Propelled Grenades
RTO	Radio Telephone Operator
SAW	Squad Automatic Weapon
SOF	Special Operations Forces
TAA	Tactical Assembly Area
TF	Task Force
TOC	Tactical Operations Center
UAV	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UNAMA	United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
USAID	United States Agency for International Development