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Very interesting read (long but interesting), regarding the performance of the 10th mountain division during Op Anaconda, what went right, what went wrong, and why.
10th Mountain Division "No sir, we don't do that. We don't do mountains".
Lots or recommendations at the end of article..... should make a good discussion, BV's brought up as air mobile... sound familiar?
Props given to PPCLI
"Observers on the ground, all infantry officers, say the air assault on Day 1 by 2nd Bn, 3rd Bde, 101st Airborne, and 1st Bn, 2nd Bde, 10th Mountain did not go well. According to one field-grade officer, To be brutally honest, the enemy gave them quite a spanking. I have to tell you, as the first reports of casualties and downed helicopters were coming back to us from the initial assault, all everyone could think about was BlackHawk Down! It looked that bad.
On 9 March, a week after Operation Anaconda commenced, a Canadian battle group, the 3rd Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry (3 PPCLI), opconned to the 3rd Bde Rakassans 101st Airborne, received orders to join 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division for combat operations as part of OP ANACONDA. The 3 PPCLI was ordered to clear the Whale's Back mountain on the Western side of the Shah-i-Kot Valley of an estimated 60-100 enemy holdouts dug-in or hiding in caves, and then conduct Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE), i.e. searches of all caves and enemy fighting positions. The SSE tasking meant a detailed sweep over a linear mountain ranging in elevation from 6,500 feet (at the base) to 10,000 feet at the spine; that is, 7 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide. The final phase of Operation Anaconda was to sweep the Whale's Back was named Operation Harpoon.
The 3PPCLI launched a battalion-strength air assault against the Whale's Back shortly after first light (0730 hours local time) on 13 March, inserting via CH-47 Chinook helicopter into a single-ship LZ at the northern end of the mountain. USMC Super-Cobra attack helicopters, AC-130 Spectre gunships, and Predator unmanned surveillance aircraft provided close air support. F-18 Hornet and A-10 Warthog jets were available on stand-by. B-52s conducted round-the-clock carpet-bombing of suspected enemy positions on the eastern side of the valley.
There were few enemy left on the Whale's Back, and the aggressive Canadians promptly engaged them with anti-tank rockets and small-arms fire, killing three. Moving tactically at 10,000 feet with full combat loads through mountain terrain, it was fortunate that the Canadians were veterans of cold-weather and mountain training. They spent five days clearing enemy positions and searching more than 30 caves; a dangerous business fraught with booby-traps, mines, and possible ambushes on the Whale's Back. They found large caches of ammunition and equipment, collected intelligence documents and maps, and searched a few dead al-Qaeda killed in the airstrikes.
The Canadian infantrymen were extracted by helicopter on 17 and 18 March bringing Operation Anaconda/ Operation Harpoon to a close. "
Complete article here
http://www.geocities.com/equipmentshop/realmountaindivision.htm
10th Mountain Division "No sir, we don't do that. We don't do mountains".
Lots or recommendations at the end of article..... should make a good discussion, BV's brought up as air mobile... sound familiar?
Props given to PPCLI
"Observers on the ground, all infantry officers, say the air assault on Day 1 by 2nd Bn, 3rd Bde, 101st Airborne, and 1st Bn, 2nd Bde, 10th Mountain did not go well. According to one field-grade officer, To be brutally honest, the enemy gave them quite a spanking. I have to tell you, as the first reports of casualties and downed helicopters were coming back to us from the initial assault, all everyone could think about was BlackHawk Down! It looked that bad.
On 9 March, a week after Operation Anaconda commenced, a Canadian battle group, the 3rd Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry (3 PPCLI), opconned to the 3rd Bde Rakassans 101st Airborne, received orders to join 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division for combat operations as part of OP ANACONDA. The 3 PPCLI was ordered to clear the Whale's Back mountain on the Western side of the Shah-i-Kot Valley of an estimated 60-100 enemy holdouts dug-in or hiding in caves, and then conduct Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE), i.e. searches of all caves and enemy fighting positions. The SSE tasking meant a detailed sweep over a linear mountain ranging in elevation from 6,500 feet (at the base) to 10,000 feet at the spine; that is, 7 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide. The final phase of Operation Anaconda was to sweep the Whale's Back was named Operation Harpoon.
The 3PPCLI launched a battalion-strength air assault against the Whale's Back shortly after first light (0730 hours local time) on 13 March, inserting via CH-47 Chinook helicopter into a single-ship LZ at the northern end of the mountain. USMC Super-Cobra attack helicopters, AC-130 Spectre gunships, and Predator unmanned surveillance aircraft provided close air support. F-18 Hornet and A-10 Warthog jets were available on stand-by. B-52s conducted round-the-clock carpet-bombing of suspected enemy positions on the eastern side of the valley.
There were few enemy left on the Whale's Back, and the aggressive Canadians promptly engaged them with anti-tank rockets and small-arms fire, killing three. Moving tactically at 10,000 feet with full combat loads through mountain terrain, it was fortunate that the Canadians were veterans of cold-weather and mountain training. They spent five days clearing enemy positions and searching more than 30 caves; a dangerous business fraught with booby-traps, mines, and possible ambushes on the Whale's Back. They found large caches of ammunition and equipment, collected intelligence documents and maps, and searched a few dead al-Qaeda killed in the airstrikes.
The Canadian infantrymen were extracted by helicopter on 17 and 18 March bringing Operation Anaconda/ Operation Harpoon to a close. "
Complete article here
http://www.geocities.com/equipmentshop/realmountaindivision.htm
