Apaches in Yemen

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Apaches in Yemen

Postby nowonmai » Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:30 am

Nice.

Anyone there or is too dangerous for people who go to the World's Most Dangerous Tradefairs?


Sun Mar 13, 2016 3:41pm GMT
Helicopters kill 17 as Yemen government moves against Aden militants
ADEN | BY MOHAMMED MUKHASHAF


A destroyed car is seen on a street of the al-Mansoura neighbourhood of Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 13, 2016.

Saudi-led helicopters attacked al Qaeda militants in Aden overnight in an effort to dislodge them from a stronghold in the southern port city, killing at least 18 people, medics and a security official said on Sunday.

The assault took place as Saudi-backed forces supporting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fought to widen their control of Taiz in the southwest of Yemen after breaking a siege there on Friday.

Islamist militants from al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited the conflict to expand their control, especially in areas where Hadi supporters have managed to expel the Iran-allied Houthis, including in Aden and Lahej provinces.

Witnesses and medics said Apache helicopters from the Saudi-led coalition struck armored vehicles and a government compound used by the militants in al-Mansoura district, a stronghold in north Aden. There was no immediate comment from the coalition.

Medics said a total of 18 people have been killed -- 17 suspected militants and one civilian bystander -- and at least 23 civilians and militants were wounded. Three members of the security forces were also injured.

Security forces cordoned off an area of al-Mansoura district where dozens of suspected militants are believed to be holed up, while warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition dropped leaflets on the area telling residents to stay home and report any militants to authorities.

A tenuous calm in the district was broken occasionally in the afternoon with bursts of gunfire. A Reuters reporter saw the rubble of a butcher's shop and the wreckage of cars. Electricity was cut across the district and food shops remained closed.

Shops and businesses closed as security forces sealed off a block in the area, where dozens of suspected militants are believed to be holed up.

The city's governor said the operation was the second phase of a government campaign to restore state control over the city, the temporary seat of the Yemeni government.

"This stage will continue until it achieves its objectives, foremost of which to impose the authority of the state and restore security and stability in all districts of the capital Aden and its suburbs and to end the security chaos," Governor Aydaroos al-Zubaidi said.

Militants killed Zubaidi's predecessor and several other government officials, military and security officers in a series of suicide attacks and shootings in Aden since Hadi's forces captured the city from the Houthis last July.

MORE FIGHTING IN TAIZ

The campaign took place a day after forces loyal to Hadi broke a siege by the Houthis around Taiz, Yemen's third biggest city, about 200 km (124 miles) northwest of Aden.

The advance represented a breakthrough for Hadi's government, which has been struggling to achieve a major victory against the Houthis who seized control of most of the country in 2015 in what they described as a revolution against corruption.

Residents said that more fighting was reported in eastern Taiz on Sunday between the Houthis and fighters allied to Hadi, where reinforcements from both sides have arrived.

Witnesses said there were many casualties but gave no figures or more details.

Medical supplies provided by Saudi Arabia have also reached the main al-Thawra hospital in Taiz for the first time since last year, a medic at the facility said.

Yemen's government was forced out of the capital Sanaa by the Houthi rebels in September 2014 and is now based in Aden, but struggles to impose its authority even there. The coalition began a military campaign in March last year to prevent the Houthis from taking complete control of Yemen.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Sami Aboudi; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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Re: Apaches in Yemen

Postby AztecDave » Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:13 am

i swear when I first saw the subject for this post I thought "why would Apaches leave a perfectly good reservation in Arizona for a place like Yemen." my bad.
The real Army, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That's the army in which I should like to fight.”
― Jean Lartéguy
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Re: Apaches in Yemen

Postby MJK » Mon Mar 14, 2016 9:16 pm

I was envisioning a couple of Mescalero standing over scalped bodies and saying, "You shouldn't have brought your kids to a war zone.." and then I knew I had the wrong guys.

There is a fairly good book on British Apaches that mentions the crews videotaping their faces as they used the helmet sight/monocle setup. Apparently their eyes move independent of each other and the author's wife was grossed out watching it. I bet the babes get excited over a guy who can watch both a waitress count back change and the dancers at the same time.

It's also kind of interesting that the Apache is set up to carry two passengers externally. That's the seat you want as they scatter their bird across a firebase while flathatting for the crowd.
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Re: Apaches in Yemen

Postby nowonmai » Tue Mar 15, 2016 1:08 am

MJK wrote:I was envisioning a couple of Mescalero standing over scalped bodies and saying, "You shouldn't have brought your kids to a war zone.." and then I knew I had the wrong guys.

There is a fairly good book on British Apaches that mentions the crews videotaping their faces as they used the helmet sight/monocle setup. Apparently their eyes move independent of each other and the author's wife was grossed out watching it. I bet the babes get excited over a guy who can watch both a waitress count back change and the dancers at the same time.

It's also kind of interesting that the Apache is set up to carry two passengers externally. That's the seat you want as they scatter their bird across a firebase while flathatting for the crowd.




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Pictures: Royal Marines strap themselves to Apache for daring rescue

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Pictures: Royal Marines strap themselves to Apache for daring rescue
Blackleaf
#1Jan 21st, 2007
Pictures: Marines strap themselves to chopper for daring rescue

By CHRISTOPHER LEAKE
20th January 2007


These are the astonishing images of the moment four heroic Royal Marines set off to rescue a fallen comrade - strapped to the wings of two Apache helicopters.

In pictures seen here for the first time, the brave volunteers are shown being briefed on last week's perilous mission before flying deep into enemy territory in Afghanistan's Helmand province.



Royal Marines strapped onto the wings of a British Army Apache helicopter during the operation to rescue a comrade




Dubbed 'Flight of the Phoenix', it was the first time such a risky operation had been conducted by British forces in the field of battle.

Despite coming under fire from heavily armed Taliban insurgents, the men were determined to risk their lives to recover their colleague Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, who had been shot as he led his troops in storming a heavily defended fort used as a Taliban headquarters.

Apaches cannot carry passengers, so the Marines strapped themselves to the outsides of the helicopters, buckling themselves to the handgrips the pilots use to climb into the cockpit.

They then flew back into the combat zone to swoop on the compound as two more Apaches hovered above, laying down fire to keep the Taliban at bay.

Tragically, Lance Corporal Ford, 30, of 45 Commando, was found dead - the 46th British serviceman to die in Afghanistan since 2001.

The four Marines jumped off their Apaches and retrieved his body before flying it back to the British military HQ at Camp Bastion.

Last night, the men involved gave their own dramatic accounts of Monday's daring and dangerous mission.


THE MISSING COMRADE

Warrant Officer 1 Colin Hearn, 45, was one of the four men who flew in on the side of an Apache. He is Regimental Sergeant Major of the Royal Marines Landing Force Command Support Group.

He said: "At 8am, a message was posted that one of Z (Zulu) Company was missing.

"There was a lot of concern, but there was no question of not doing anything - it was just how we were going to do it."

Using an Unmanned Airborne Vehicle - a reconnaissance plane that sends video of the battlefield back to the Operations Room - an eagle-eyed RAF man spotted something.

"He was looking at the film footage and saw a lighter colour against the dark," said WO Hearn.

"He saw something lighter on the ground that didn't quite look natural in its surroundings - that was our man."

This was confirmed by an Apache flying overhead, piloted by 'Tom', 39, a member of the Army Air Corps who has asked not to be named.

He was deployed at around 8am when he and another Apache left Camp Bastion and flew to the fort.

"We got a radio message to say there was a possibility someone was missing," said Tom.

Using heat-sensitive equipment, they quickly identified Lance Corporal Ford, but at that stage did not know he was dead.

"We were given the task of protecting the casualty to make sure that he did not fall into enemy hands," said Tom.

"We were then told a ground rescue was going in and we were to set the conditions for that assault."

Both Apaches continued to circle.

"Time was ticking away by this stage and we were getting short on fuel," said Tom.

"I then suggested we could get four soldiers out on Apaches and that we could be in and out in five minutes and get the casualty back to medical treatment."

WO Hearn said: "I had no second thoughts about doing it.

"I thought, 'Not a problem - they are my men, I should be responsible for getting them out'.

"It had never been done before on that particular aircraft. I just wanted to get on.

"We knew what we were going to do. We had a rough plan of how it was going to run."

Brigadier Jerry Thomas, Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, said: "The Apaches are small and therefore less vulnerable to incoming fire, faster, and carry a formidable array of weapons."


THE VOLUNTEERS

Among the men who put themselves forward for the mission when Commanding Officer Rob Magowan asked for volunteers was young Marine Chris Fraser-Perry.

The 19-year-old, from Southport, Merseyside, passed out as a Marine only 14 months ago. He was a signaller in the headquarters tent.

He said: "The CO asked for volunteers and I volunteered because I'm part of Z Company. I just wanted to help."

Captain Dave Rigg, 30, from Newton Ferrers, Devon, is a Royal Engineer, part of 28 Engineer Regiment, based in Germany.

But he is Commando-trained and has spent long periods serving with the Marines.

On the day of the rescue, he was acting as Battlegroup engineer - advising the CO - but minutes later was being strapped to an Apache.

Why did he volunteer? "It was an instinctive reaction," said Captain Rigg.

"We all felt responsible and we all wanted to help."


THE BRIEFING

Gary Robinson, from Rosyth, Fife, has been a Marine for two years.

He is CO Magowan's signaller and part of the Royal Marines Command Support Group. During the operation he was next to his CO.

He said: "We were given briefs on the layout on the ground and the position of Lance Corporal Ford and told that we were going to be going in on the helicopter and what to do when we got on the ground.

"All that was going through my head was what to do when we got on the ground and just make sure I knew exactly where I was going so I could reach Lance Corporal Ford as soon as possible and get out myself."


INTO ACTION

Flying at low level at 50mph to protect the Marines strapped to the two Apaches, the initial plan was for both aircraft to land by the casualty, who was outside the compound wall.

Gary Robinson said: "As we came in there was a lot of firepower going down with our air assets and artillery.

"There was a wall in front of us which had signs of battle damage."

As they approached, a cloud of thick black smoke obscured their view.

Tom decided there was insufficient ground outside the wall to land both aircraft, so he took the decision to land his inside the wall of the fort, leaving the second aircraft to land next to Lance Corporal Ford.

This change confused the two Marines on the second Apache.

Expecting to land next to the outer wall, when they jumped off they ran towards the wrong wall.

"My two guys jumped off but were disorientated as they expected to be outside the wall," said Tom.

"The pilot, sat behind me, saw they didn't know where they were and said, 'I'm going out'.

"And he got out and ran to assist the other guys."

All three then disappeared through a gap in the outer wall to meet up with the other two troops on foot to recover the casualty.

"I thought 'they'd better be quick,' said Tom.

"It seemed like a lifetime but it was only a couple of minutes. I thought we'd got two to three minutes with the element of surprise before the Taliban realised what was happening.

"After we'd been on the ground for about three minutes we were engaged."

Tom came under fire from a building to his right. He radioed to the Apache above, which fired at the Taliban.

It was as that was going on that his colleagues reached Lance Corporal Ford and carried him to one of the Apaches.

Tom said: "I got a radio call to say they were on their way back and had retrieved the casualty."

His pilot then ran back and got into the aircraft ready to take off.

They had been on the ground for five minutes.

"He was panting, he couldn't even talk, he was breathing very heavily.

"It had been a close thing."


THE FLIGHT BACK

After dropping off his two Marines, Tom flew for 25 minutes direct to Camp Bastion.

When he landed, he had enough fuel for two more minutes of flight. But his day was not over.

He said: "After landing I gave the thumbs-up, refuelled and re-armed and I was ready to go back out again within 30 minutes."


THE AFTERMATH

Reflecting on their mission, all the men were keen to play down their bravery.

Gary Robinson said: "Any of my colleagues would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed.

"I don't think it was heroic or dangerous. I felt 100 per cent safe at all times, because of the plan and the covering fire. At the end of the day it's our job."

For Tom, it was not until he arrived back at Camp Bastion that he was told Lance Corporal Ford was dead.

Tom said: "I've had two sleepless nights since then.

"The first night I was thinking if we could have done anything quicker.

"I've had a word with the surgeon - Lance Corporal Ford's wounds were fatal. Nothing could have been done."

Chris Fraser-Perry added: "I wanted to get him back. I felt it had to be done. I would expect the same done for me."

Captain Rigg said: "The key message is that there were a lot of very brave guys that day, from the pilots to the young lads who went into the fort initially and were pinned down by the enemy fire, to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force and Light Dragoons who had been out there all night supporting, and all those guys in the HQ that volunteered.

"It wasn't just us guys hanging on the wings, it was those Apache pilots who put the idea together."

WO Hearn said: "There was no way we were going to leave him, or anyone else, on that battlefield."

The day after it happened, Lance Corporal Ford's comrades held a memorial service in the field at 7am.

"Just a ten-minute service with a couple of readings, a two-minute silence and some prayers," said WO Hearn.

"It was a nice touch to put some closure to that certain part of the event.

"The guys can get on with doing the rest of the operation."


Gathered round one of the Apache helicopters, the four Royal Marine volunteers are briefed on the mission to rescue Lance Corporal Ford
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Captain Dave Rigg, left, and 19-year-old Marine Chris Fraser-Perry climb on to the Apache and prepare to buckle themselves to the handgrips
--------------------


The two men are ready for take-off. Strapped to the wings, they sit inches from the Apache's 70mm aerial rocket launchers and 30mm automatic cannon. Above them, the helicopter's rotors have a wingspan of 45 feet
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Seen from the gun camera of another Apache, the helicopter heads towards the Taliban's heavily defended fort, where the Marines will take just five minutes to collect the body of their fallen comrade
---------------------


The Marines hold tight as the sheer power of the 23,000lb aircraft's Rolls-Royce RTM 322 engine whips up the Afghan dust
--------------------


The picture of Lance Corporal Ford, who was shot as he led his troops in storming a heavily defended Taliban fort

dailymail.co.uk

CDNBear
#2Re: Pictures: Royal Marines strap themselves to Apache for daring rescueJan 21st, 2007
"Stand and Deliver"
Brave boys, England should be proud!!!

Tonington
#3Re: Pictures: Royal Marines strap themselves to Apache for daring rescueJan 21st, 2007
Wow, that must have been one helluva ride, not for the faint-hearted.
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Re: Apaches in Yemen

Postby MJK » Tue Mar 15, 2016 1:37 am

In the book one Apache expends 1,000,000 British pounds worth of ordnance sometime around the rescue attempt. I can't recall if it was hauling it all in one go or if it RTB for a second load.
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