ARTICLE

February 2002

Special Ops Equipment: Newest—and Oldest

by Harold Kennedy

In their shadow war in Afghanistan, U.S. special operations troops exhibited their ability to use a wide variety of technology, ranging from some of the most modern equipment available to some of the oldest known to man.

While some special operators employed handheld laser target designators, global-positioning systems and digital radios to help Air Force and Navy precision-guided munitions hit al Qaeda and Taliban formations, others rode into battle on horseback, participating in the first cavalry charges of the 21st century.

Some—such as Army Rangers—dressed in standard khaki-colored desert camouflage battle dress, complete with lightweight Kevlar helmets and body armor. They typically armed themselves with the latest small arms from the special operations arsenal.

Others—such as Special Forces, SEALS and Delta Force—adopted the traditional Afghan look, including long, flowing robes, turbans and beards. They often wielded AK-47 automatic rifles, left behind by Soviet invaders more than a decade ago, and even swords that may have been much older than that.

The Defense Department released a declassified situation report filed by a Special Forces soldier, assigned to the Northern Alliance forces opposing the Taliban, who wrote with some amazement:

“I am advising a man on how to best employ light infantry and horse cavalry in the attack against Taliban T-55s (tanks), mortars, artillery, personnel carriers and machine guns—a tactic which I think became outdated with the invention of the Gatling gun. The Mujahadeen have done that every day we have been on the ground ...

“We have witnessed the horse cavalry bounding overwatch from spur to spur to attack Taliban strong points—the last several kilometers under mortar, artillery and sniper fire. There is little medical care if injured, only a donkey ride to the aid station, which is a dirt hut.”

With his report complete, the Special Forces trooper joined his Northern Alliance commander in a cavalry charge, said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.

“In Afghanistan, a country we think of in somewhat medieval terms, our Special Forces have taken a page from the past, from the history of the horse cavalry and soldiers armed with swords and rifles, maneuvering on horseback,” said Wolfowitz. “But now they use radios to direct close air support and bomber strikes, sometimes from halfway around the world.”

When reporters asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the return of the cavalry, he joked that was all part of the Rumsfeld transformation plan. Wolfowitz agreed: “Indeed it is. Taking risks, thinking boldly, adapting to circumstances, exploiting our advantages is what we’re after.”

In addition to horses, special operators used mules to move food, ammunition and other gear through Afghanistan’s mountains and deserts, Rumsfeld noted. Some of the animals’ equipment was shipped in from the United States, he told reporters, adding: “I have seen drop orders that included saddles, bridles and horse feed.”

None of this surprises those who are familiar with special operations forces. “Most of the Special Forces guys in Afghanistan are from the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), out of Fort Campbell, Ky.,” said retired Maj. Gen. William C. Moore, chairman of the Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Division of the National Defense Industrial Association.

“The 5th’s regional responsibility includes Afghanistan,” Moore said. “They study the local languages and culture, and they train to move around the countryside without attracting a lot of attention. They learn how to handle horses and pack mules. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some training with camels.”

All-Terrain Vehicles

Special operators did have more modern means of traveling the hills and valleys of Afghanistan. In late December, for example, the telescopic lenses of television news cameras captured images of Green Berets flitting around the mountainsides of Tora Bora, driving all-terrain vehicles. More commonly, however, they traveled in Soviet-era military vehicles, aging Toyota pickup trucks and the sport-utility vehicles favored by local warlords.

Sometimes, they acquired vehicles by unconventional means. For example, when Special Forces Capt. Jason Amerine’s detachment rushed to help the forces of Hamid Karzai—now Afghanistan’s interim prime minister—fend off a Taliban assault on a provincial capital called Tirin Kowt, the unit was in a hurry.

“We stole four vehicles, raced forward and told [Karzai’s troops] ... catch up with us [when you can],” Amerine told reporters. The Americans didn’t really steal the cars, he explained. “We gave them back afterward ... We really didn’t have time to wait for [Karzai’s force] to reorganize at that time, so we decided it would be in the best interest of the town to take the vehicles and move forward, so that’s what we did.”

The detachment took up a position where it could watch the Taliban approaching the town and began directing air strikes, finally driving them away.

Every member of the detachment could direct close air support, Amerine said. And, for the most part, it worked “extremely well,” he said. “Close air support was one of the most important missions of this war, from my team’s standpoint. It kept us alive when the Taliban were coming north to Tirin Kowt. We used close air support to destroy other convoys that were probing our positions in the Tirin Kowt area and in other areas. You cannot devalue that asset.”

Sometimes, however, directing close air support proved to be dangerous. When Kandahar was preparing to surrender to Karzai, Amerine’s team was hit by an errant U.S. munition. Three of Amerine’s teammates died, and 19, including Amerine, were wounded.

“It was a tragic loss, but that being said, we were all professionals,” Amerine said. “I don’t have any doubts about my job or what we did in Afghanistan. I’m very proud of my soldiers and all that they accomplished.”

Although special operators used the latest gadgets to call in close air support, that did not eliminate the possibility of error on their part or the air crews receiving the coordinates, said Robert Andrews, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.

“I will tell you ... no matter how smart [weapons] are, how smart we are, at least some of us, in the past week, have dialed the wrong number on our punch telephones,” Andrews told reporters.

To minimize the chances of error on their sensitive missions, special operations troops are carefully chosen and trained, Andrews said. “They are older than their cohorts in the regular services. They’ve been better and more rigorously trained, and they’re generally better educated. Masters’ degrees are not rare in the enlisted ranks in special ops.”

It takes two years to train some of the enlisted personnel, Andrews said. Officers take longer. “Capt. Amerine ... probably had seven or eight years under his belt,” Andrews said. “One of his languages was Arabic, and another one was French. And one of his sergeants spoke Pashtun.”

Special Forces units, such as Amerine’s, continually train to conduct unconventional warfare in any of its forms—guerrilla tactics, evasion and escape subversion, and sabotage—officials explained.

Fighting in Cold Weather

To learn to fight in cold weather and mountainous environments, special operators attend a two-week course at the Army’s Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, Vt. “It’s a grueling, two-week period, very physically demanding, an average of 15 hours a day, 14 days straight,” said the school’s commandant, Lt. Col. Terry Lambert.

At the school, special operators learn: Once your weapon is exposed to a cold temperature, keep it dry and cold, Lambert said, because when you bring a cold weapon into a warm room, you get condensation, which can cause rust. Also, when you take your weapon back into the cold, “condensation will freeze,” Lambert said. “Then, your weapon becomes non-functional.”

The school’s students learn, additionally, that bursting munitions—such as hand grenades, mortar rounds and artillery shells—are less effective in deep snow, Lambert explained. The munitions can sink down into the snow, which can prevent exploding fragments from spreading properly.

Another problem that special operators may have to confront in Afghanistan is that signals between their GPS navigational equipment and satellites in space may be blocked by surrounding mountains, Lambert said. For this reason, the school teaches soldiers to use the altimeter—which measures height—as a backup to GPS. The altimeter is preferable to the compass, Lambert said, because the compass involves dead reckoning and counting paces. “That’s very difficult to do in mountainous terrain,” he said.

A common enemy for weapons, equipment and soldiers alike was the constantly blowing sand. Many special operators wore goggles, masks and scarves to keep sand out of their eyes, mouths and ears. They repeatedly cleaned their weapons and other equipment in an ongoing effort to keep them from jamming.

But they were not always successful. Sand brought down several helicopters. During the Ranger raid on an airstrip, early in the campaign, a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Pakistan, killing two soldiers. “There was a significant amount of dust,” Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters. “When you get close to the ground, the [helicopter’s] rotor wash brings up the dust and makes landing very difficult.”

Special operators are trained to fire, disassemble, clean and reassemble a wide range of small arms, ranging from the .45 caliber automatic pistol—first fielded in 1911 to help fend off Moro rebels in the Philippines—to the M2HB .50 caliber machine gun. They are taught to use AK-47 rifles, which are employed widely by their Afghan allies.

A popular rifle among special operators is the new M-4 carbine, made by Colt’s Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Conn. The M-4 is a version of the standard M-16 rifle issued to all the services. It fires the same high-velocity, 5.56 mm round, but the weapon is shorter, lighter and more compact, making it easier to use in tight quarters.

The M-4 comes with an optional flat-top receiver, which accommodates an optional, removable carry handle, with built-in target-style rear sights, and a number of scopes. It also can be fitted with an M-203 grenade launcher, laser target designator and infrared illuminator.

“It’s the Swiss Army pocketknife of small arms,” said retired Special Forces Col. John “Scot” Crerar.

Back To Top