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| Afghanistan |
| Do not mess with Captain Butler |
| 2002-03-06 |
The 101st Airborne Division troops were facing a well-armed and well-entrenched foe. They'd had little sleep and were shivering in subfreezing temperatures that left many of their uniforms tinged with frost. The Americans were preparing to flush out enemy fighters on ridges overlooking their positions, their piece of action on the second day of the biggest joint offensive yet in the Afghan war. "We were moving our command post to high ground," said Cpl. Jeremy Gaul, 25, from Marietta, Ohio. "When I looked out on the horizon I saw a flash of light and I saw a projectile coming and fall to the earth. It must have exploded no more than 30 yards away." Butler requested another airstrike, watching through a scope. Again the enemy fighters disappeared into caves dug into the granite, snowcapped mountains at 9,000 feet. When the explosions ended, they emerged with wide grins, flailing their arms over their heads. That's when Butler had enough. He sprinted forward, running uphill on the peak -- a task made more difficult by the thin mountain air -- and exposing himself to hostile fire so he could pinpoint his enemy. Getting a read on their location, he raced 45 yards back to relay the coordinates to his radio man behind him. He needed six trips before he could make sure he'd gotten all the data he needed. Now he was ready to put his own plan into action. The jets roared ahead, and just like before, the enemy ducked into the caves, emerging for a third time to taunt the Americans. But as they came out, the mortars detonated over their heads, spraying the al-Qaida fighters with shrapnel. Four of them died, said U.S. special operations soldiers who scaled the mountains and counted bodies. "It was like a game of mortar pingpong," Butler said. "They might think twice before they try that move again." He will toast your gigglin', turban-wearin' ass. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. What is interesting about this whole scenario is the fact that the 101st is learning again that close support mortars and artillery are more effective than air strikes at hitting fleeting targets. I was wondering 3 days ago when the 10th Mtn Div CO was saying that he hadn't brought any artillery to provide direct support. Now the infantry is forced to use only its organic 81mm mortars, while even 105mm howitzers would have been several times more effective. Well, they can be, but they're a lot more effective if the area's been daisy cut first. Certainly it slaps the fellows who were expressing the opinion that the Foot Cavalry's irrelevant and that air power can do the job alone. The Russers must be sitting around right now scratching their heads trying to figure out how, after all their writing and theoretizing and CPXing on the Combined Arms concept, the US has managed to actually produce it and use it under widely varying conditions with near clockwork precision. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |