±Recent Visitors

Recent Visitors to Com-Central!

±User Info-big


Welcome Anonymous

Nickname
Password

Membership:
Latest: cgsimpson
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 6645

People Online:
Members: 0
Visitors: 773
Total: 773
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Home
02: Home
03: Home
04: Photo Gallery
05: Community Forums
06: Community Forums
07: Photo Gallery
08: Community Forums
09: Community Forums
10: Community Forums
11: Home
12: Home
13: Home
14: Home
15: Community Forums
16: Community Forums
17: Your Account
18: Photo Gallery
19: Community Forums
20: Home
21: Home
22: Community Forums
23: Community Forums
24: Photo Gallery
25: Community Forums
26: Community Forums
27: Photo Gallery
28: News
29: Community Forums
30: Downloads
31: Community Forums
32: Community Forums
33: Community Forums
34: Community Forums
35: Community Forums
36: Community Forums
37: Downloads
38: Community Forums
39: Community Forums
40: CPGlang
41: Community Forums
42: Community Forums
43: Downloads
44: Photo Gallery
45: Community Forums
46: Community Forums
47: Community Forums
48: Community Forums
49: Community Forums
50: Community Forums
51: Community Forums
52: Community Forums
53: Photo Gallery
54: Community Forums
55: Photo Gallery
56: Community Forums
57: Community Forums
58: Home
59: Photo Gallery
60: Community Forums
61: Photo Gallery
62: Home
63: Community Forums
64: Community Forums
65: Photo Gallery
66: Community Forums
67: Community Forums
68: Home
69: Photo Gallery
70: Member Screenshots
71: Home
72: Community Forums
73: Photo Gallery
74: Home
75: Home
76: CPGlang
77: Community Forums
78: Home
79: Home
80: Home
81: Community Forums
82: Home
83: Community Forums
84: Community Forums
85: Home
86: Community Forums
87: CPGlang
88: Home
89: Home
90: Community Forums
91: Home
92: Community Forums
93: Home
94: Community Forums
95: Home
96: Home
97: Community Forums
98: Community Forums
99: Home
100: Your Account
101: Community Forums
102: Photo Gallery
103: Community Forums
104: Photo Gallery
105: CPGlang
106: Community Forums
107: Community Forums
108: Community Forums
109: Home
110: Community Forums
111: Community Forums
112: Community Forums
113: Community Forums
114: Community Forums
115: Community Forums
116: Community Forums
117: Photo Gallery
118: Home
119: Community Forums
120: Community Forums
121: Your Account
122: Home
123: Community Forums
124: Community Forums
125: Community Forums
126: Photo Gallery
127: Photo Gallery
128: Community Forums
129: Community Forums
130: Community Forums
131: Photo Gallery
132: Community Forums
133: Downloads
134: Downloads
135: Community Forums
136: Home
137: Community Forums
138: Photo Gallery
139: Community Forums
140: Community Forums
141: Photo Gallery
142: Home
143: Community Forums
144: Community Forums
145: Home
146: Community Forums
147: Community Forums
148: Community Forums
149: Community Forums
150: Community Forums
151: Community Forums
152: Community Forums
153: Home
154: Downloads
155: Community Forums
156: Photo Gallery
157: Community Forums
158: Community Forums
159: Community Forums
160: Community Forums
161: Home
162: Downloads
163: Community Forums
164: Photo Gallery
165: CPGlang
166: Community Forums
167: Home
168: Community Forums
169: Community Forums
170: Community Forums
171: Home
172: Community Forums
173: Photo Gallery
174: Your Account
175: Community Forums
176: Community Forums
177: Home
178: Community Forums
179: Community Forums
180: Photo Gallery
181: Community Forums
182: News
183: Downloads
184: Downloads
185: Community Forums
186: Community Forums
187: Member Screenshots
188: Community Forums
189: Home
190: Community Forums
191: Community Forums
192: Community Forums
193: Home
194: Home
195: Downloads
196: Community Forums
197: Community Forums
198: Community Forums
199: Community Forums
200: Community Forums
201: Community Forums
202: News Archive
203: Community Forums
204: Photo Gallery
205: Community Forums
206: Community Forums
207: Community Forums
208: Community Forums
209: Photo Gallery
210: Community Forums
211: Home
212: Statistics
213: Your Account
214: News
215: Community Forums
216: Community Forums
217: Member Screenshots
218: Community Forums
219: Community Forums
220: Downloads
221: Community Forums
222: Community Forums
223: Home
224: Community Forums
225: Your Account
226: Your Account
227: Community Forums
228: Home
229: Community Forums
230: Community Forums
231: Downloads
232: Photo Gallery
233: Home
234: Community Forums
235: Community Forums
236: Community Forums
237: Home
238: Downloads
239: Community Forums
240: Home
241: Community Forums
242: Member Screenshots
243: Community Forums
244: Member Screenshots
245: Community Forums
246: Photo Gallery
247: Downloads
248: CPGlang
249: Community Forums
250: Photo Gallery
251: Community Forums
252: Home
253: Community Forums
254: Community Forums
255: Community Forums
256: Home
257: Community Forums
258: Community Forums
259: Community Forums
260: Photo Gallery
261: Community Forums
262: Statistics
263: Community Forums
264: Home
265: Community Forums
266: Community Forums
267: Community Forums
268: Community Forums
269: Community Forums
270: Community Forums
271: Community Forums
272: Home
273: Community Forums
274: Community Forums
275: Community Forums
276: Community Forums
277: Home
278: Photo Gallery
279: Community Forums
280: Photo Gallery
281: Photo Gallery
282: Community Forums
283: Community Forums
284: CPGlang
285: Home
286: Community Forums
287: Community Forums
288: Community Forums
289: Downloads
290: Home
291: Community Forums
292: Home
293: Community Forums
294: Home
295: Community Forums
296: Community Forums
297: Community Forums
298: Community Forums
299: Photo Gallery
300: Photo Gallery
301: Photo Gallery
302: Downloads
303: Community Forums
304: Community Forums
305: Community Forums
306: Community Forums
307: Community Forums
308: Community Forums
309: Home
310: Home
311: Community Forums
312: Community Forums
313: Community Forums
314: Home
315: Community Forums
316: Community Forums
317: Downloads
318: Photo Gallery
319: Home
320: Home
321: Community Forums
322: Community Forums
323: Your Account
324: Photo Gallery
325: CPGlang
326: Home
327: Community Forums
328: Community Forums
329: Community Forums
330: Community Forums
331: Community Forums
332: Statistics
333: Home
334: Community Forums
335: Home
336: Photo Gallery
337: Home
338: Community Forums
339: Community Forums
340: Community Forums
341: Community Forums
342: Community Forums
343: Downloads
344: Member Screenshots
345: Home
346: Photo Gallery
347: Community Forums
348: Community Forums
349: Community Forums
350: Community Forums
351: Community Forums
352: Your Account
353: Community Forums
354: Downloads
355: Photo Gallery
356: Community Forums
357: Community Forums
358: Community Forums
359: Community Forums
360: Community Forums
361: Community Forums
362: Community Forums
363: Home
364: Photo Gallery
365: Community Forums
366: Community Forums
367: Community Forums
368: Home
369: Community Forums
370: Community Forums
371: Photo Gallery
372: Community Forums
373: Photo Gallery
374: Community Forums
375: Community Forums
376: Photo Gallery
377: Community Forums
378: Community Forums
379: Photo Gallery
380: Community Forums
381: Downloads
382: Photo Gallery
383: Photo Gallery
384: Community Forums
385: Community Forums
386: Community Forums
387: Community Forums
388: Home
389: Home
390: Photo Gallery
391: Community Forums
392: Community Forums
393: Community Forums
394: Home
395: Community Forums
396: Home
397: Community Forums
398: Photo Gallery
399: Community Forums
400: Statistics
401: Home
402: Community Forums
403: Community Forums
404: Community Forums
405: Community Forums
406: Photo Gallery
407: Home
408: Home
409: Community Forums
410: Photo Gallery
411: Home
412: Downloads
413: Community Forums
414: Photo Gallery
415: Photo Gallery
416: Community Forums
417: Community Forums
418: Community Forums
419: Photo Gallery
420: Community Forums
421: Community Forums
422: Community Forums
423: Home
424: Downloads
425: Downloads
426: Photo Gallery
427: Community Forums
428: Photo Gallery
429: Photo Gallery
430: Home
431: Community Forums
432: Community Forums
433: Community Forums
434: Your Account
435: Home
436: Community Forums
437: News
438: Community Forums
439: Home
440: Community Forums
441: Photo Gallery
442: Community Forums
443: Community Forums
444: Home
445: Photo Gallery
446: Community Forums
447: Community Forums
448: Photo Gallery
449: Community Forums
450: Photo Gallery
451: Community Forums
452: Community Forums
453: Community Forums
454: Photo Gallery
455: Community Forums
456: Community Forums
457: Community Forums
458: Home
459: Community Forums
460: Community Forums
461: Community Forums
462: Community Forums
463: Home
464: Downloads
465: Community Forums
466: Community Forums
467: Photo Gallery
468: Community Forums
469: Community Forums
470: Photo Gallery
471: Community Forums
472: Your Account
473: Community Forums
474: Home
475: Community Forums
476: Community Forums
477: Community Forums
478: Home
479: Community Forums
480: Community Forums
481: Home
482: Photo Gallery
483: Community Forums
484: Photo Gallery
485: Your Account
486: Your Account
487: Community Forums
488: Community Forums
489: Home
490: Community Forums
491: Downloads
492: Photo Gallery
493: Member Screenshots
494: Community Forums
495: Community Forums
496: Community Forums
497: Community Forums
498: Downloads
499: Community Forums
500: Community Forums
501: Home
502: Community Forums
503: Downloads
504: Downloads
505: Community Forums
506: Community Forums
507: Your Account
508: Community Forums
509: Home
510: Community Forums
511: Community Forums
512: Community Forums
513: Community Forums
514: Community Forums
515: Downloads
516: Home
517: Photo Gallery
518: Community Forums
519: Home
520: Photo Gallery
521: CPGlang
522: Downloads
523: Your Account
524: Photo Gallery
525: Community Forums
526: Downloads
527: Community Forums
528: Community Forums
529: Community Forums
530: Community Forums
531: Photo Gallery
532: Community Forums
533: Community Forums
534: Home
535: Community Forums
536: Community Forums
537: Photo Gallery
538: Community Forums
539: Home
540: Community Forums
541: Your Account
542: Community Forums
543: Community Forums
544: Community Forums
545: Community Forums
546: Community Forums
547: Community Forums
548: Home
549: Community Forums
550: Community Forums
551: Home
552: Community Forums
553: Photo Gallery
554: Photo Gallery
555: Photo Gallery
556: Community Forums
557: Community Forums
558: Community Forums
559: Community Forums
560: Home
561: Downloads
562: Photo Gallery
563: Community Forums
564: Community Forums
565: News Archive
566: Community Forums
567: Community Forums
568: Community Forums
569: Your Account
570: Photo Gallery
571: News
572: Community Forums
573: Community Forums
574: Community Forums
575: Community Forums
576: Photo Gallery
577: Home
578: Community Forums
579: Community Forums
580: Community Forums
581: Photo Gallery
582: Community Forums
583: Community Forums
584: Community Forums
585: Photo Gallery
586: Photo Gallery
587: Community Forums
588: Community Forums
589: Community Forums
590: Home
591: Home
592: Member Screenshots
593: Community Forums
594: Community Forums
595: Community Forums
596: Photo Gallery
597: Community Forums
598: Photo Gallery
599: Community Forums
600: Community Forums
601: Home
602: Community Forums
603: Home
604: Community Forums
605: Community Forums
606: News Archive
607: Home
608: Home
609: Photo Gallery
610: Community Forums
611: Community Forums
612: Member Screenshots
613: Photo Gallery
614: Photo Gallery
615: Community Forums
616: Home
617: Community Forums
618: Community Forums
619: Home
620: Community Forums
621: Community Forums
622: Statistics
623: Photo Gallery
624: News
625: Community Forums
626: Photo Gallery
627: Community Forums
628: Community Forums
629: CPGlang
630: Community Forums
631: Community Forums
632: Community Forums
633: Home
634: Community Forums
635: Your Account
636: Photo Gallery
637: Community Forums
638: Community Forums
639: Statistics
640: Photo Gallery
641: Community Forums
642: Community Forums
643: Your Account
644: Community Forums
645: Community Forums
646: Community Forums
647: Community Forums
648: Community Forums
649: Community Forums
650: Community Forums
651: Photo Gallery
652: Community Forums
653: News
654: Community Forums
655: Community Forums
656: Photo Gallery
657: Home
658: Home
659: Home
660: Community Forums
661: Photo Gallery
662: Community Forums
663: Community Forums
664: Community Forums
665: Community Forums
666: Community Forums
667: Community Forums
668: Home
669: Community Forums
670: Community Forums
671: Community Forums
672: Community Forums
673: Community Forums
674: Photo Gallery
675: Community Forums
676: Community Forums
677: Photo Gallery
678: Community Forums
679: Home
680: Community Forums
681: Community Forums
682: Community Forums
683: Community Forums
684: Community Forums
685: Member Screenshots
686: Community Forums
687: Home
688: Your Account
689: Community Forums
690: Community Forums
691: Community Forums
692: Community Forums
693: Downloads
694: Community Forums
695: Community Forums
696: Community Forums
697: Community Forums
698: Photo Gallery
699: Community Forums
700: Downloads
701: Community Forums
702: News Archive
703: Home
704: Community Forums
705: Community Forums
706: Community Forums
707: Community Forums
708: Community Forums
709: Community Forums
710: Home
711: Community Forums
712: Home
713: Photo Gallery
714: Member Screenshots
715: Home
716: Photo Gallery
717: Photo Gallery
718: Photo Gallery
719: Community Forums
720: Home
721: Community Forums
722: Community Forums
723: Home
724: Photo Gallery
725: Community Forums
726: Community Forums
727: Home
728: Community Forums
729: Home
730: Your Account
731: Downloads
732: Community Forums
733: Downloads
734: Home
735: Home
736: Home
737: Community Forums
738: Home
739: Photo Gallery
740: Home
741: Community Forums
742: Community Forums
743: Community Forums
744: Community Forums
745: Community Forums
746: Community Forums
747: Home
748: Community Forums
749: Community Forums
750: Community Forums
751: Community Forums
752: Community Forums
753: Community Forums
754: Community Forums
755: Downloads
756: Member Screenshots
757: Downloads
758: Community Forums
759: Community Forums
760: Photo Gallery
761: Community Forums
762: Community Forums
763: Community Forums
764: Photo Gallery
765: Community Forums
766: Home
767: Community Forums
768: Community Forums
769: Community Forums
770: Community Forums
771: Community Forums
772: Photo Gallery
773: Community Forums

Staff Online:

No staff members are online!
Operation Medusa
The AFV ASSOCIATION was formed in 1964 to support the thoughts and research of all those interested in Armored Fighting Vehicles and related topics, such as AFV drawings. The emphasis has always been on sharing information and communicating with other members of similar interests; e.g. German armor, Japanese AFVs, or whatever.
Post new topic    Reply to topic    Printer Friendly Page     Forum Index ›  AFV News Discussion Board

View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
J.McGillivray
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 149

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:14 am
Post subject: Operation Medusa

www.thestar.com/static...medusa.pdf

The story of C Company
Sep. 30, 2006. 05:44 AM
MITCH POTTER
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU

PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan�One must turn back time several generations to find Canadian soldiers in the state that Charlie Company finds itself today. Not since the Korean War has a single Canadian combat unit been so cut to pieces so quickly.
Either of the two events that rocked their world in the dust-caked hills of southern Afghanistan one month ago might qualify as the worst day of their lives. That they came back-to-back � one disastrous morning followed by another even worse � is a matter of almost incomprehensibly bad fortune.
The epic double-whammy � a perfect Taliban ambush of unprecedented intensity, followed one day later by a devastating burst of "friendly fire" from a U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthog � reduced Charlie to a status of "combat ineffective." They were the ones to fire the opening shots of Operation Medusa. But even as the massive Canada-led assault was gathering steam they were finished.
The soldiers left standing are not the same today as the ones who deployed to Afghanistan with nothing but good intentions barely seven weeks ago, as part of 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.
A few are emotional wrecks, too fragile still to speak of what transpired during that fateful Labour Day long weekend. Others bleed anger from their every pore.
Some cling to wounded pride, anxious for it to be known that if not for enormous self-sacrifice, the volume of Canadian blood shed these two mornings would have been vastly greater.
Others are disillusioned, having come to regard their work in Afghanistan as a mission impossible. And others still are more driven than ever to succeed, if only to lend greater meaning to the loss of their fallen Canadian brothers.
The survivors of Charlie Company are closer now than they were before. And the other thing they have in common is a need to tell their story, which they do today for the first time.

The White School was the objective, and not for the first time. A full month earlier the 1st Battalion of the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, on the tail end of their six-month deployment, encountered serious Taliban resistance from the single-storey building. It was a hub of Taliban activity, but on the morning of Sept. 3, as Charlie Company's 7 Platoon bore down on the building, only the Taliban knew what a hub it was.
In hindsight, some of the soldiers acknowledge their "spidey sense" was tingling. It was quiet that day. Possibly too quiet, as the platoon motored through fields of ripening marijuana plants, each taller than a man.
The engineers went first, using an armoured bulldozer to open two breaches through barriers between the pot fields. A clear path to the school was opened, and into it went four LAVs and a G-Wagon, the lightly armoured Mercedes-Benz jeep that many of the Canadians in Kandahar have come to despise as a "bullet magnet."
Approaching left to right, the Canadians lined up 50 metres from the school, like ducks in a row. Sitting ducks, it would soon become clear.
"All hell broke loose," says Master Cpl. Allan Johnson of Owen Sound, in command of the LAV known as 3.1 Alpha.
"It was dead quiet. And then I saw a guy jump up on a roof. Maybe he was giving a signal to the other Taliban.
"All I know is the entire area just lit up. We were taking fire from at least two sides, maybe three, with everything they had. Rocket-propelled grenades, small-arms fire, the works.
"It was the cherry-popper of all cherry-poppers. And once we started taking casualties, we moved up to provide cover fire. Our cannon didn't stop from that point on."
The LAV from 2 Combat Engineer Regiment was the first hit, sustaining a bull's-eye RPG strike beneath the gunner's turret. The radio call announced injuries. It was the day's first fatality � Sgt. Shane Stachnik, 30, of Waskatenau, Alberta.
Seconds later the G-Wagon exploded, with an RPG blasting through its passenger-side windshield, instantly killing Warrant Officer Rick Nolan, 39, of Mount Pearl, Nfld. Suddenly, 7 Platoon had lost its leader.
Cpl. Richard "Doc" Furoy, 32, of Elliot Lake, Ont., one of the company medics, was sitting directly behind Nolan inside the stricken G-Wagon, where he suffered light shrapnel injuries. He barely remembers the chaos that followed.
"Everything in the world came down on us and then, whoomp, the G-Wagon went black. I sort of lost consciousness. I could still feel the spray of gunfire, I could feel the concussion of the rounds inside my chest. But I couldn't hear anything," Furoy told The Star.
"At some point, somebody butt-stroked me with their rifle to snap me out of it. I came back into the present, got my wits about me. I knew I was needed. I checked on the Warrant Officer (Nolan). He was dead."
Thus began a firefight that lasted a full 3½ hours. As crews dismounted to retrieve the dead and wounded, the Canadian LAV gunners let fly into the marijuana fields with turret-mounted 25mm cannon and C6 fire. Each vehicle burned through at least two "uploads," representing more than a thousand rounds of firepower. 3.1 Charlie went through three uploads of suppression fire before pulling back from its original position, the last to leave the battlefield.
But there were more complications when the guns of one of the LAVs, 3.1 Bravo, either jammed or ran dry. Its crew compartment now loaded with casualties, Bravo reversed through the marijuana at 35 km/h, only to crash into a four-metre-deep irrigation ditch. Immobilized, its hydraulic rear ramp jammed shut against the ditch, Bravo took two direct RPG hits before its occupants were able to break open an emergency escape hatch.
With the tops of the pot plants snapping off around them as the Taliban barrage continued, many of Bravo's crew managed to make their way to 3.1 Charlie. Into a crew compartment designed for a maximum of eight, they stacked themselves like cordwood, the injured laid out on the laps of the untouched, and raced for cover.
Every battle plan includes a CCP, or casualty collection point. But in the frenzy of that Sunday morning the Canadians adapted their plan, moving their casualties to the nearest point of cover they could find � an armoured Zettelmeyer front-end loader belonging to the combat engineers.
And it was there that arguably the most tragic death of the day occurred. Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, 38, of 8 Platoon was not meant to be in the teeth of battle that day. But when Mellish, a native of Truro, N.S., learned that fellow Warrant Officer Rick Nolan was dead, he stepped up to help retrieve the body. They were best friends.
Moving from the rear guard, more than 1.8 kilometres from the White School, Mellish made it as far as the Zettelmeyer when he was caught in a storm of shrapnel and died. Now 8 Platoon, too, had lost its leader. And in the same barrage, Sgt. Major John Barnes suffered a concussion, taking another key player out of the fight.
The day's fourth and final fatality fell next � Pte. William James Cushley, 21, of Port Lambton, Ont., taking shrapnel to the head. And if it seemed the worst was behind Charlie Company, it wasn't. As work continued on sorting out the wounded, the cab door of the Zettelmeyer popped open and its bleeding driver stuck his head out, shouting, "I'm f**k hurt, too" before slamming shut the door to await rescue.
The Canadians had left three stricken vehicles on the battlefield, but were far enough back now to call in air support to renew a bomb assault on the sources of the ambush. And what they saw next gave chills to the entire company.
"In the middle of all this chaos, we see this big, black f**k-off bomb coming toward us," said Cpl. Rodney Grubb, 25, of Kitchener.
"It was like a big, black steel football. It hit the ground and bounced and bounced and bounced. I hit the ground thinking, `Okay, we're done.' And then I got back up. The bomb just came to a stop. It didn't go off."
The 500-pound, laser-guided bomb had come from the belly of a U.S. warplane. What saved the Canadians from its explosive force was a safety mechanism designed to disarm the device when it strays from its intended co-ordinates.

There was little sleep that night for Charlie Company, which withdrew to safety and watched with grim satisfaction from the top of the Arghandab escarpment as the air and artillery bombardment of the White School and the lines of Taliban ambush were renewed. Some of the men remember hearing the burp of American A-10 Warthog Gatling guns as they bore down on the White School.
"I'm convinced someone was watching over us. The amount of bullets that were flying, I just don't know why some of us are still here," said Pte. Daniel Rosati, 27, of Woodbridge.
"It was the way people stepped up and covered each other. Everyone stepped up."
And now, their blood was up. Charlie didn't want ramp ceremonies for the fallen. They wanted payback.
"Your adrenalin wears off, but all you want is to be in that turret and hit those guys as hard as you could," said one of the company's gunners.
New orders came down. In the morning Charlie Company was to return to the battlefield to perform "a feint" � to create the appearance of another punch into the ambush, but this time with the intention of drawing out the insurgents.
At daybreak, the company had only begun to stir when the fireworks erupted. In the nanosecond between the speed of light and the speed of sound, they saw, but did not hear.
"There were sparks in the dust, like the sparklers you wave on Canada Day," said Sgt. Brent Crellin, of Yorkton, Sask. "And then we heard the burp of the gun. And then we felt sick."
The A-10 Warthog did not deliver a full burst that morning. But so lethal is its seven-barrel Gatling gun that even the aborted strafing reduced 8 Platoon, Charlie Company, to almost nothing. Of the nearly 40 men in 8 Platoon, only eight were left standing.
Dead was Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, 33, of Hamilton, a former Olympian and described by many as "the biggest, strongest guy in the company." And among the wounded was Maj. Matthew Sprague, the company commander.
Pte. Greg Bird, 34, also a Hamiltonian, was saved by nature's call. He stepped away just moments before the strafing.
"I was caught with my pants down. And when I came running, it was a complete gut-kick. Five minutes before, my head was on my pillow. When I found my pillow, there were pieces of shrapnel in it.
"We were fired up and ready to go and suddenly my platoon was in ruins."
Everyone in Charlie Company describes the scene as a kind of slow-motion horror film � bleeding men everywhere, some crawling, some moaning.
Within minutes, every available shred of medical aid was converging on the site. And within minutes again, the company medics had run dry on QuickClot, a coagulation-speeding agent that burns even as it saves lives.
U.S. soldiers and Afghan National Army regulars joined in the rescue effort. In some cases, the lesser injured were seen to be treating the worse-off, even as they themselves bled.
"It was a total effort from everyone on the ground, Canadian, American, Afghan, it didn't matter," said Bird. "The response saved lives. Whatever you felt about the attack, you pushed it away and just started helping any way you could."
Most of the survivors of Charlie Company are forbidden from speaking about the U.S. Warthog attack, having already testified at a board of inquiry that has yet to pass judgment. Canadian and American military officials were in attendance during the testimony, taken at Kandahar Airfield.
But privately, the soldiers say they are gratified to know that the A-10 pilot "owned up to the error" immediately upon landing the aircraft. In stark contrast to the 2002 friendly fire episode that cost Canada its first four casualties in Afghanistan, they say, this pilot is taking responsibility.
"It shows you how incredibly deadly the Warthog is," said one soldier. "There aren't very many situations in life where a one-second mistake can do this much damage. That's what this aircraft can do. I know nothing can make this right. But I also know the pilot will have to live with this for the rest of his life."

A punch so hard, followed by a punch even harder, makes one wonder how Charlie Company can stand today. But stand they do.
Following the A-10 strike the company returned to Kandahar Airfield, saying goodbye to the fallen five in a ramp ceremony, along with the worst among the injured, who were flown out of Afghanistan for further treatment. But barely 36 hours later they were back in the field, returning to Panjwaii.
And there, according to the company's regulars, some payback was had. All told, Charlie Company believes itself responsible for as many as 200 of the more than 1,000 Taliban insurgents that NATO officials say died during Operation Medusa.
As the operation wound down, Charlie Company managed to get a closer look at the battlefield. There in the marijuana fields they found the telltale signs of an insurgency that, for whatever reason, chose to field itself conventionally this one time. Among the accoutrements were reinforced trenches flanking the lines of ambush.
The Canadian soldiers also retrieved the flak jacket of fallen Pte. Cushing and buried it in situ. A cross was staked there in his memory, and a second cross for Warrant Officer Mellish.
Today Charlie is still out there, having pushed farther west to a location that has not yet been given a name � and cannot be identified for publication, even if we knew what to call it.
The ranks have changed dramatically. A captain is now a major, and so on down the chain of command, as the company reconstitutes in real-time to face whatever comes next. It is four months still before they rotate home to Canada, but most cannot see that far down the line. Many are focusing on their three-week mid-tour leave.
And what, after such a battering, do they make of the mission today? It is a touchy question. Very touchy. So touchy, in fact, that although The Star has a notepad filled with the names and ranks of the soldiers who spoke to the question, we have chosen to withhold their identities. After all it has endured, Charlie Company hardly deserves the added grief of answering for the sin of outspokenness.
What do they make of the mission?
One soldier answered plainly, "I plead the fifth" � borrowing an Americanism to absolve himself from comment, lest he incriminate himself.
Another answered, "Hearts and minds? f**k that. This is not peacemaking, this is a war for us." One soldier went so far as to answer "You don't," when asked how this war will be won. "It's like squashing an idea. How do you do that?"
But many, perhaps even a majority, hold to a different view. In the words of one turret gunner: "Now that your friends have died, you don't want to walk away for nothing."
They all loathe New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton. Each, to a man, interprets Layton's stand on Afghanistan as an expression of indifference for their lives. But in almost the same breath, they say they need help. Canada's ratio of boots on the ground versus behind-the-wire support personnel at Kandahar Airfield frustrates this front-line. "The numbers are backwards. More combat, less support is what we need," said one section leader.
Capt. Ryan Carey, 35, a native of Oakville, is not surprised to hear the complaints. Like all of Canada's commissioned officers in Afghanistan, he is acutely aware that the real battle ahead will be political, not military.
"We lost amazing people. The experience and the personalities of the men who died, they just can't be replaced," he said.
"And if the result is a harder attitude on the part of some of these guys, I don't agree with it. But I understand it. You're not going to win this thing with a group of grunts who just went through this and then turn around to ask them to do hearts and minds.
"We still think everyone approaching us wants to kill us. We have no choice but to plan for a fight right till we leave."
But Carey, like the rest of Charlie Company's newly ascended leadership, doesn't see more troops as the answer. Not more foreign troops, in any event.
"More Canadians? Is that not just like giving candy to the Taliban? I think what we need is more ANA soldiers. At the end of the day it is the Afghans, with lots of backing for reconstruction, who are going to turn this thing. Not the people who point the weapons."

www.thestar.com/NASApp...8793972154
Back to top
View user's profile
Roy_A_Lingle
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 1997
Location: El Paso & Ft Bliss, Texas
PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:47 pm
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

Hi J! Hi Folks!



- J.McGillivray

The story of C Company
Sep. 30, 2006. 05:44 AM
MITCH POTTER
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU


Thanks J! Very interesting and well written report by Mr. Potter.

- J.McGillivray

"In the middle of all this chaos, we see this big, black f**k-off bomb coming toward us," said Cpl. Rodney Grubb, 25, of Kitchener.
"It was like a big, black steel football. It hit the ground and bounced and bounced and bounced. I hit the ground thinking, `Okay, we're done.' And then I got back up. The bomb just came to a stop. It didn't go off."
The 500-pound, laser-guided bomb had come from the belly of a U.S. warplane. What saved the Canadians from its explosive force was a safety mechanism designed to disarm the device when it strays from its intended co-ordinates.


Between that bomb and the A-10 the next day, that's two CAS errors during the same operation. This is the first time I have heard of a 'safety mechanism' that disarms an off course bomb. Sounds like something the U.S. Military could have used a lot during the Vietnam Conflict.

- J.McGillivray

Carey, like the rest of Charlie Company's newly ascended leadership, doesn't see more troops as the answer. Not more foreign troops, in any event.
"More Canadians? Is that not just like giving candy to the Taliban? I think what we need is more ANA soldiers. At the end of the day it is the Afghans, with lots of backing for reconstruction, who are going to turn this thing. Not the people who point the weapons."


I have agree with Mr. Carey (didn't catch his new rank). Through reconstruction which shows life can be better for the locals, support should grow for the current govement and reduced for the Taliban.

I wonder how much impact this firefight had on the change with the Leo 1 status? A pair of Leo's could have made a major different during the 1st day's fighting. Just possible they might have been noticed by that A-10 pilot before he pulled the trigger at the start of the second day's actions. From the cockpit of a fast moving aircraft, individual troops are very hard to identify, but a few tanks would have been very easy for that pilot to notice.

One thing I noticed that was missing (to me anyway) from the story was any info on the Forward Air Controller (FAC). Where was the FAC at? How did he ID the target area? How did he ID the friendly front line or positions?

Who was it who said, "War is Hell"? This story is an outstanding example of just how hellish war can be.
Sgt, Scouts Out! Sad

_________________
"You can never have too much reconnaissance."
General G.S. Patton Jr.
Back to top
View user's profile Send e-mail
J.McGillivray
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 149

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 5:50 pm
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

There are photos of Op. MEDUSA on the DND web site. Look at pages 4 to 9 between the dates 2 and 16 Sept.

www.combatcamera.force...scending=0
Back to top
View user's profile
Maple_Leaf_Eh
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 517

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:55 pm
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

I can speak with a certain authority that there is a Board of Inquiry on the death of the Canadian private and the wounding of so many in that company. When it reports, and Canada has a way of doing these things publically, the answers to your question will be clearer. Until now, the incident is carefully not discussed in public, at least by the military.
Back to top
View user's profile
J.McGillivray
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 149

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:22 am
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

- Roy_A_Lingle
I have agree with Mr. Carey (didn't catch his new rank). Through reconstruction which shows life can be better for the locals, support should grow for the current govement and reduced for the Taliban. Sad


Success in the war on terrorism is very dependent of reconstruction. The people in Afghanistan and Iraq must see improvements in their lives.

However, I have being just watching a very discouraging show on CBC about Iraq. It was detailing the multi-billion dollar rip off being carried out by American contractors responsible for reconstruction in that country. In short they are maximizing their profits while often not doing the work for which they are being paid. They are getting away with this because few in authority want to rock the boat and contradict the official government line that reconstruction in Iraq is on tract. Billions of dollars are being spent with very little to show for it.

In short there is a very real possibility that the war on terrorism could be lost because of greed, corruption, incompetence and broken promises. It makes it appear that those leading the war are just a bunch of crooks and conmen.

www.cbc.ca/passionatee...11006.html
Back to top
View user's profile
J.McGillivray
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 149

PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:47 pm
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

There are three articles dealing with Op Medusa on the Legion Magazine Web site.

Part 1

www.legionmagazine.com...r-panjwai/

Part 2

www.legionmagazine.com...panjwai-2/

Part 3

www.legionmagazine.com...ive-rugby/
Back to top
View user's profile
Maple_Leaf_Eh
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 517

PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:49 pm
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

There is a book that carefully and personally chronicles many of these casualties. Christie Blatchford is a three-tour embedded journalist from one of the better papers in Canada. She was in theatre at the time of MEDUSA and had met many of the guys (and girls for that matter). Her book, "Fifteen Days" is the self-explanatory title to fifteen bad days. It is as good a piece as any on Canadian fighting men, their families, their survivors and the ones who carry on.

A similar piece of up close and personal war narrative is the story of Strong Point Centre, by Col Bernd Horn. Christie Blatchford was pax in the commanding officer's column (call sign "Niner Tac") when the bad guys triggered a three-sided RPG and MG attack on an isolated platoon position, optimistically called a strong point. During the battle the platoon commander put his CO and escort vehicles into his platoon defensive lines and gave the old man an arc, while he looked after his dismounts. How many Lts can say they've done that to the CO? One Pte earned the Star of Military Courage (next to the VC) for pinning the enemy while everyone else around him got themselves un-flucked up and back in the game.

(My own little involvement in MEDUSA was to build the UNCLAS map that was briefed throughout government as others followed the battle.)
Back to top
View user's profile
Maple_Leaf_Eh
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 517

PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:09 pm
Post subject: Re: Operation Medusa

- Roy_A_Lingle

I wonder how much impact this firefight had on the change with the Leo 1 status? A pair of Leo's could have made a major different during the 1st day's fighting. Just possible they might have been noticed by that A-10 pilot before he pulled the trigger at the start of the second day's actions. From the cockpit of a fast moving aircraft, individual troops are very hard to identify, but a few tanks would have been very easy for that pilot to notice.

One thing I noticed that was missing (to me anyway) from the story was any info on the Forward Air Controller (FAC). Where was the FAC at? How did he ID the target area? How did he ID the friendly front line or positions?

Who was it who said, "War is Hell"? This story is an outstanding example of just how hellish war can be.
Sgt, Scouts Out! Sad


The story I remember from around that time was the A10 got his fire orders to hit a particular burning house on the side of the river valley. On the fateful run, he lined up on the smoke from the infantry's burning breakfast ration garbage - on the wrong side of the river valley. He was briefed on the target, but when he turned around he reversed the sides. Never heard about the FOO FAC.

The Leopards are able to push down walls the LAVs can't dent, traverse grape fields where the LAVs get hung up, lay effective 120mm fire and otherwise dominate the local environs. Basic basic basic all arms cooperation lessons from Italy and Normandy and beyond.
Back to top
View user's profile
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic    Reply to topic    Printer Friendly Page    Forum Index ›  AFV News Discussion Board
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT - 6 Hours



Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum