Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds

236 Pages·2011·2.97 MB·English

by  Rusty Bradley

Copyright © 2011 by Rusty Bradley
Maps copyright © 2011 by Travis Rightmeyer All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BANTAM BOOKS and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Bradley, Rusty.
Lions of Kandahar : the story of a fight against all odds / Rusty Bradley and Kevin Maurer.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-440-42345-4
1. Afghan War, 2001– —Campaigns—Afghanistan—Panjwa’i
(District). 2. Afghan War, 2001– —Commando operations. 3. Afghan
War, 2001– —Personal narratives, American. 4. Taliban. 5. Bradley,
Rusty. I. Maurer, Kevin. II. Title.
DS371.4123.P38B73 2011
958.104′742—dc22 2010053026
www.bantamdell.com
Jacket design by Marietta Anastassatos
Photograph: © Andrew Craft
v3.1
Dedicated to those few who live every day
like September 12, 2001
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Glossary
Author’s Note
Chapter 1 | FIRST CONTACT
Chapter 2 | THAT SEWER SMELL
Chapter 3 | PICKING A FIGHT
Chapter 4 | WELCOME BACK
Chapter 5 | BINGO RED ONE
Chapter 6 | OPERATION MEDUSA
Chapter 7 | RAT LINES
Chapter 8 | A CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME
Chapter 9 | THE RED SANDS
Chapter 10 | THE NOTEBOOK
Chapter 11 | THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL AND DEATH
Chapter 12 | “SHOOT INTO THE BUSHES, DADDY!”
Chapter 13 | BLACK ON AMMO
Chapter 14 | SEVEN TWO-THOUSAND-POUNDERS
Chapter 15 | PUT YOUR MOUTHPIECE IN
Chapter 16 | FRIENDS FOR LIFE
Chapter 17 | “THESE JOKERS JUST DON’T GIVE UP!”
Chapter 18 | HOLDING ON AT ALL COSTS
Chapter 19 | TODAY IS NOT YOUR DAY
Chapter 20 | A WORLD OF HURT
Chapter 21 | THE DRAGON’S BACK
Chapter 22 | FIREBASE SPERWAN GHAR
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Photo Insert
Glossary
Operation Medusa
September 2—September 17, 2006

AAF Anti-Afghanistan Forces; also used to designate the Afghan Air
Force
AC- gunship
130
ANA Afghan National Army
ANP Afghan National Police
API armor-piercing incendiary rounds
AT4 disposable light anti-tank round
CAS close air support
CCP casualty collection point
CSM command sergeant major
EOD explosive ordnance detachment
ETT embedded trainer with the Afghan Army
FBCB2 Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below—navigation system
and force tracker
FOB forward operating base
GFC ground force commander
GMV truck
Goose 90-mm recoilless rifle
GSR gunshot residue and explosives test
IED improvised explosive device
IR infrared
ISAF International Security Assistance Force
JTAC joint tactical aircraft controller
KAF Kandahar Airfield
LAWS Light Anti-Armor Weapons System
LZ landing zone
MREs Meals, Ready to Eat
NODS night-vision device
PKM Pulemyot Kalashnikova, or Kalashnikov’s Machine Gun
PUC personnel under confinement (prisoners)
QRF quick reaction force
RPG rocket-propelled grenade
TOC tactical operations center
WIA wounded in action
Key Afghan words
Amerkaianu Mushakas Kawatuna American Special Forces badal blood
feud, revenge hamla attack mesher a senior, elderly person turan captain
wa sahib yes, sir za go
Author’s Note
The most important challenge I faced in writing this book was trying to capture
the significance of this event on paper and to articulate its magnitude for the
reader. This book is not just about a series of intense firefights that stretched
over days. It was the most strategically significant battle in Afghanistan that you
never heard of, and its effects would have a direct impact in the War on Terror
(WOT). What originated as a preplanned military operation designed by the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to clear a known enemy
sanctuary soon developed into a ferocious, pivotal engagement that would push
untested NATO troops to the limit and cause the Taliban and its foreign fighters
to completely change the way they confronted coalition forces. It was an all-out
fight to hold the line against a resurgent enemy and a catalyst to a new
understanding of what would be required as the United States and its allies
continued to prosecute the war.
The initial phase of Operation Medusa raged for nearly two weeks in the late
summer of 2006. This operation and its subsequent phases would eventually
extend combat operations over the course of several months. My team was one
of five that directly participated in all phases of the entire operation and was the
primary element chosen to stay in the volatile Panjwayi district following the
conclusion of Operation Medusa. Designated as Operational Detachment Alpha
(ODA) 331, my team was tasked to “clean out” the Taliban and foreign fighters,
mitigate their influence, reinstate local, legitimate governance, and assist in the
reconstruction and security of an underdeveloped urban area the size of Rhode
Island. This Herculean task was given to ten men. Such are the fortunes of war,
and that truth comes with a price.
This story is my recollection, to the best of my ability, of what my Special
Forces team endured from August to September 2006. It is intended to be an
honest portrayal of the trials Special Forces soldiers face in Afghanistan. The
language and humor are genuine, if not necessarily for the weak, fainthearted, or
politically correct. This project has no ulterior motives or hidden agenda and is
in no way intended to cause controversy or to point fingers. It is simply a story