Читать книгу Weapon of Choice: The Operations of U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan - Combat Studies Institute - Страница 11

COL John Mulholland knew his group needed augmentation to be able to function as the JSOTF directing UW operations across northern Afghanistan, and one Special Forces company especially needed select personnel to get it to full strength before deployment. When he asked for help from USASFC, COL Diemer recommended two 10th SFG officers that he had served with in the Balkans. For the position of JSOTF-North operations officer, Diemer chose LTC Matt Rhinehart (pseudonym). Rhinehart was deputy commander, 10th SFG, based at Fort Carson. While he had not yet been a battalion commander, Rhinehart was “well known and well respected” in the SOF community for his performance as commander of the 10th SFG support company in Bosnia during the NATO intervention. Diemer felt he was “the right guy” for the J3 position.

At Fort Bragg, LTC Marcus Steinmann (pseudonym) was working temporarily in the SWCS Battle Lab, waiting to begin his study at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, in summer 2002. The former special warfare training battalion commander was Diemer’s pick to lead the Army Special Operations Task Force (ARSOTF) of JSOTF-North. Steinmann had impressed Diemer when he was the J3 operations officer for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF)-Bosnia, and Diemer knew he could readily command all of the Army special operations troops in Afghanistan as a part of the larger JTF. As it turned out, both 10th SFG officers served admirably on Mulholland’s JSOTF-North staff. Their experience in Bosnia proved most helpful in preparing for the land campaign in Afghanistan.

On the morning of 11 September 2001 Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Vincent “Vince” Garvey (pseudonym) was receiving his parachute at Green Ramp, one of the runway accesses at Pope Air Force Base, directly adjacent to Fort Bragg. As a member of the 7th SFG that is focused on Latin America, his company was preparing to board an Air Force transport plane to make a training jump on Fort Bragg. One of the company’s master sergeants asked the jumpers if they had heard the news about New York City. Garvey ran to his parked pickup, pulled the truck alongside the parachute-laden soldiers, and turned up the volume on his radio. The Special Forces troopers listened in stunned silence to the news broadcasts. The jump was cancelled, and Garvey and the rest of the company went back to their barracks anticipating orders to fight somewhere in the world. Orders came soon but only for a few 7th SFG soldiers on 28 September. CWO Will Sherman (pseudonym), the operations officer for B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th SFG, told Garvey that he had been handpicked—“by-name selected,” in the reverseorder jargon of the military—to join A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th SFG, that was scheduled to leave for CENTCOM’s theater of operations. Three other sergeants from 7th SFG accompanied Garvey but for other assignments. The desired qualifications set for those three sergeants were exceptional: school-trained Special Forces sniper or close-quarter battle specialists or former service in one of several select special operations units. Garvey was the only member from the 7th SFG augmentee group who met all of the prerequisites.