Operation BULL WHIP

Well, I'm not sure where to even begin on this.

First off, I and everyone involved in the operation I mentioned previously are fine. The operation was extremely successful. Incredibly, it was conducted without a single shot being fired...to include no mine strikes, no IED's, no IDF....no nothing. There are several reasons for why things unfolded the way they did, which I will get to later. Now that the mission is all but complete and released to the press, I'm in the clear to provide some details that couldn't have been divulged earlier.

On the evening of March 25th, TASK FORCE RED BULLS initiated the largest Air Assault ever conducted in the history of our Division. Not only was this the largest Air Assault ever conducted in our history...it was also the largest Air Assault conducted by the 101st AIRBORNE Division (our higher headquarters) in Afghanistan. To put this in perspective, the 101st AIRBORNE is the U.S. Army's only Air Assault Division, and the largest of it's kind in the world. (An Air Assault is an operation that is mostly reliant on helicopters for the insertion of ground forces. Due to the extremely restrictive terrain, our forces were 100% reliant on helicopters for insertion and resupply)

So, here's the story....After I returned from Qatar (or as some of the guys here like to refer to it as...QataR&R) in early February, I was briefed on the initial concept of what would eventually become Operation BULL WHIP. The initial concept of the mission was somewhat broad...in that we (RED BULLS) were to assist the Governor of Laghman Province (GOV Azizi) with connecting the population of an isolated valley (Galuch valley) to the Afghanistan Government.

The overarching concept is simple. The more we are able to assist the government in connecting with the people of Afghanistan, the less the Taliban is able to connect to those same people...and then I guess the sooner this war ends (in theory).

So, after returning from Qatar, I spent about 50% of my time on the Galuch mission, and 50% of my time on my normal duties. It wasn't long before 100% of my time was focused on Galuch...and my hours increased from about 10-12 hours a day, to 18-22 hours a day. The mission continued to gain steam and attention from the highest levels of the Afghan Government and the US Military in Afghanistan. We traveled throughout the RED BULLS area of operations to meet and plan with other units and our Afghan counterparts (see previous posts, Gamberi (February) and Mehtar Lam (March)).

In mid-March, just when things began to look as though we had a handle on it...COL Corell (our Brigade Commander) advised us of a change...instead of conducting the operation this upcoming summer, we would be conducting the mission in 2 weeks. For the most part, I was good with this. I knew it meant a lot of work in a short amount of time, however I was already smoked from planning the operation, and I knew there was only one thing that could put an end to the exhaustive planning sessions, which was to execute the mission.

After we had wrapped up our planning for the operation, we were required to brief the Division in order to gain approval. I'll never forget handing off the completed plan to the Brigade Commander and interim Brigade Operations Officer. Although I was confident in the plan we had produced, my nerves were a wreck. I suppose my anxiousness was similar to that of someone on their wedding day...a carefully crafted and rehearsed plan that you know will work, and yet you know that one small thing can go wrong, and it's all that everyone will ever remember of the event. I was also anxious because part of me wanted to show the 101st that their National Guard Brigade (stepchildren of the Division) could plan and execute the Division's largest Air Assault in Afghanistan.

I waited anxiously for 3 hours while Division was briefed. Finally, MAJ McKnight (our interim Operations Officer at the time) came down to my office grinning from ear to ear. Approved! Later, our mole/liaison officer at the Division (and my roommate) told me that we had blown Division away with the plan. Whew...I was calm for about an hour, until I realized that we now had to actually DO the mission.

At this point, we had about 10 days to make the mission happen. We worked feverishly with preparing our assault units for combat, and moving logistical supplies into place. We also worked closely with the Afghan units, which comprised of the majority of the forces we would be inserting into the fight. The French played a large role as well, and were very competent and professional.

At about this point, COL Corell advised me that I would be going forward on the mission with him as his operations officer. I was ecstatic to get out of the office, yet apprehensive...I know all too well what combat has to offer. However, I felt I managed the build up to the mission well. I think the combination of spiritual maturity and combat experience I have attained over the years left me as prepared as I could be.

Over the next few days I will post the story of what exactly it is that we did, and how the operation unfolded (along with the many pics and videos that we took).

Thanks to all for your patience with the inactivity on this blog, and your prayers of support.