First Solo Kill: Always When You Least Expect It

All real names have been changed.

I think it was October 2009 when I had my first solo kill — a kill where I was the only one shooting. Up to this point, and usually in most engagements we had, there would be at least two to three Rangers shooting the same bad guy. Sometimes even more than that. We weren’t there to win their hearts and minds, and everyone always wanted a piece of the action.

This was maybe my third or fourth time in Afghanistan, and I’m pretty sure we were at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Shank in Logar Province. We had been going after one specific guy for a couple of weeks now with no luck. I can’t remember exactly how many times we went after him, but it was more than 10. We’ll call him Blackjack. I can’t remember what level he was on the network food chain, but he definitely wasn’t a low-level pipe-swinger. He also wasn’t a head honcho, but he was known to have his own personal security team.

Different sources of collection throughout the day had Blackjack bedding down in an isolated compound out in the middle of the desert. I was a Bravo Team Leader in this deployment and had another three Rangers in my team. Unfortunately, the manifest only allowed for two of them to go out tonight, so I chose Peterman and Steinbrenner. Peterman was the more senior of the two.

This week, our squad was on containment, which meant we needed to position ourselves behind the compound as fast as possible. From there, our job was to make sure no one came in or out of the compound; usually a pretty boring job.

Tonight’s plan was to land on the “X,” which means landing within small arms fire of the target compound. That can be anywhere from 10 to 300 meters, depending on the terrain, type of helicopter, and pilots.

The pilot’s plan was to set the helicopters down about 50 meters from the front door of the compound, with the ramps of the Chinooks facing the target. In this configuration, the compound would be straight ahead of us as we ran off the helicopter.

The lead helicopter was supposed to land closer to the front door, and my Chinook would land staggered 50 meters off their right-hand side. The Assault Force was split between two Chinooks. The main assault was in the lead Chinook, and everyone else was in the other helicopter.

I can’t remember how long the flight was, but we had to be in the air for a pretty good amount of time. I remember the tingling feeling of blood flowing back down to my feet as we got the three-minute call. It was common for your feet and legs to sometimes fall asleep. We would pack as many assaulters as possible into the helicopters which leaves little to no room to move during the flight.

That three-minute call from the Crew Chiefs was our cue to get up on a knee and do one last check of our equipment. I looked out the bubble window of the Chinook and saw no trees; just slightly rolling desert in the green hue from my dual-tubbed NODs. We were flying low and fast, now possibly 40 feet above the ground.

“One minute!” yelled the Crew Chiefs. This call was echoed back by every assaulters. I reached down with my left hand and found where my safety line was connected to my belt. I traced it down to the floor of the helicopter until my hand met the snap link at the end. I took out the slack and braced for landing while constantly keeping control of my rifle with my right hand.

When landing on the X, pilots tend to put the bird on the ground as fast as possible. The faster our boots get on the ground, the faster they can lift off back to a safer place in the sky.

Out of the back of the ramp, the compound appeared at a 45-degree angle on my right-hand side; exactly where I expected it to be. My view of the target building didn’t last long, though. A thick cloud of dust from the rotor blades enveloped our entire helicopter.

The ramp started to lower as the rear wheels hit the dirt. A moment later came the shake of the front wheels touching down. That was immediately followed by the momentum pull of the helicopter coming to a stop. It was go time. I unclipped my snap link, put it in my pocket so it wouldn’t be dangling, and stood up with everyone else.

The first one off my Chinook was our Alpha Team Leader, George. He was followed by his two-man team, then our Squad Leader Morty, and finally me and my team. Behind me were even more Rangers.

As I ran off the ramp, I looked to my right at the target compound. What I saw next happened in about three seconds; if that.

Three armed combatants stumbled out of the compound and started shooting at the first helicopter while three other armed enemy ran out and made a hard left away from the helicopters. The first three guys barely got a couple of shots off before they got lit up by the Rangers who were already mostly out of the lead helicopter.

While this was going down, we kept sprinting to the back side of the compound to get in place. The helicopters wasted no time and were up in the air before we made it to our position.

As George neared the back of the compound, he slowed down and took his time clearing the right-hand corner which was the same direction the three squirters had ran. The term “squirter” is used for anyone who leaves the target compound.

Nothing. Both George and I positioned our teams to pull security while the other Rangers continued the raid.

After ensuring the three combatants who shot at the helicopter during INFIL were dead, they setup and conducted a call out of the target compound. No sense in rushing into a house that you just got engaged from.

I can’t remember if anyone else was in the compound, but the decision was eventually made to enter the compound and clear the buildings. Because of the ruckus that happened when we landed, the assault force cleared with frags. Simply put, a grenade was thrown into the rooms before entering. It wasn’t a big compound, so it didn’t take long. The longest part was waiting for the dust caused by the grenades to settle.

Once the compound was called clear and secure, it was time for someone to go get the three squirters. Chasing after them immediately when they first ran off wasn’t necessary. We had enough air assets to follow and keep tabs on them the entire time. They were now being marked by an IR (Infrared) laser from the sky which is not visible to the naked eye; also referred to as a sparkle.

I figured it was going to be our squad since the main assault would be bogged down searching the structures, but the call over the radio was for Morty to take a team and go bring those three back.

I was certain it was going to be George and his team since he was senior to me. “Roger, I’ll take my Bravo team and move out,” replied Morty. I was ecstatic and George was pissed!

Morty told me to get my team, fill them in, and meet back up with him immediately. I rounded up Steinbrenner and Peterman and let them know what we were about to do. I told them we would move in a wedge with Peterman on my left and Steinbrenner on my right. Morty would be behind me about 15 meters.

After making sure the three of us were on the same page, I said, “Cool, let’s go,” and we headed to link up with Morty. I found him leaning against the compound wall talking to George.

He turned at the sound of our footsteps and said, “You know where you’re going?”

I looked up in the sky, saw the sparkle from the airplane, followed it down, pointed and said, “Yup.”

“Good shit, let’s do it,” Morty radioed the PSG (Platoon Sergeant) and let him know four of us were moving out and in what direction. With that, I turned towards the sparkle, turned on the IR strobe on the back of my helmet, and took off at a decent walking pace to catch up to these guys.

In hindsight, it was a pretty stupid decision to send only four Rangers to go after three enemy; especially considering what happened when we landed. It was clear these guys weren’t going to surrender without a fight. Not to mention we went without a medic or our working dog and his handler. Oh well, lessons learned.

The sparkle was no longer moving which let me know they were now stopped. I switched my radio over to the Fires channel and called for the sparkle to be turned off unless they began to move again. Sometimes the sparkle can make it a little harder for you to see, but most of the time it’s a great asset.

We were maybe one or two hundred meters from the target compound when I stopped at the top of a hill and took a knee. I had a great view down into a small valley from my position. Like the rest of the terrain around here, there was no vegetation. The terrain in front of me gradually sloped down for about 60 meters and then turned into a dried riverbed. The riverbed was about 15 meters wide and then gradually sloped up hill on the opposite side. The edge of the riverbed closest to me had a three foot drop off; leaving a spot for someone to hide from my view. They had to be somewhere along that ledge.

I thought this would be a great spot to switch back to the Fires net and get the sparkle back on. I had a good vantage point from my position, and I knew I wasn’t very close to them, but I still didn’t know exactly where they were.

As I reached for my radio with my left hand, our PL (Platoon Leader) called for Morty on the radio. I waited to see what he had to say.

The call was to let us know that these three guys met the criteria to be declared hostile and we were clear to shoot on sight. Whether they were armed or not. Excellent, one less thing to worry about.

[To be continued…]

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Editor’s Note: Stay tuned on Friday for the second and last part and see how the mission unfolds.