MFF team makes own history — 10th SFGA

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

Military Free Fall team makes own history

By ODA 074 Team Members and Capt. Karla S. Owen, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Public Affairs

FORT CARSON, Colo. (Sine Pari, Aug. 22, 2008) - It was the early morning hours of May 30, 2007, as the 11-man Special Forces team crept silently through their target’s village. They had achieved total surprise after conducting the first ever combat standoff military freefall insertion of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Every person in the village was sound asleep.

The team, Operational Detachment – Alpha 074, Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), jumped into the Ninewah Province, north of the Iraqi Sinjar Mountain, with the intent to capture a suspected terrorist with ties to trafficking counterfeit U.S. currency. They also had plans to disrupt a criminal network supporting the movement and funding of foreign fighters, weapons and equipment funneled into Iraq.

The mission was designed to take the enemy completely by surprise, which is exactly what it did, said Master Sgt. John D. Addlemen, the ODA 074 team sergeant.

Even in the early planning stages, Addlemen and his team had a large obstacle to overcome. The suspected terrorists his team was after had implemented a robust early warning network, taking advantage of their remote location, and thus giving them the ability to escape or destroy evidence within minutes. The root of the problem was penetrating that network.

The proposed solution was a stealthy infiltration which would deny the enemies the opportunity to escape or tamper with evidence. This prompted the team’s leadership to regard military freefall, or MFF, as the best option in overcoming the early warning system. A joint U.S.-Iraqi quick reaction force would provide ground assault support for the jump team.



Link:

http://sinepari.soc.mil/News/2008/Au...080822-01.html

[JJ_BPK]

FANTASTIC,, Great Job...

[Warrior-Mentor]

About time we started using this capability...

Way to go guys.

[SF_BHT]

Congrads to the Team. Keep up the faith and the fight.....

[Pete]

Congrats to all

[69harley]

Congradulations to everyone involved. Good job men.

Maybe I am confused here, but I thought there had already been a couple of MMF combat jumps in OIF by some SMU's?

[Ret10Echo]

Yes...Yes...Yes....It's about time!

Congratulations to the men who executed and to the leadership that allowed it to be done...finally.

[uscav_scout]

I went through OSUT with the E-5 that didn't jump little brother, good people. Too bad he missed out on the jump. Congrats to the team, love hearing about our guys pushing the envelope.

[CSB]

Good planning, good op.

But why supplemental O2, if the drop was only from 13,000'?

And I'm glad to see the air items were recovered to fly another day.

[optactical]

Originally Posted by 69harley

Congradulations to everyone involved. Good job men.

Maybe I am confused here, but I thought there had already been a couple of MMF combat jumps in OIF by some SMU's?

This was not the first according to a lot of people. I am pretty sure it was the first by a USASFC unit, and that right there is significant enough.

[2018commo]

Good Job Soldiers!

[Jack Moroney (RIP)]

Originally Posted by CSB

Good planning, good op.

But why supplemental O2, if the drop was only from 13,000'?

And I'm glad to see the air items were recovered to fly another day.

I'm sure that the 13K was AGL which most assuredly was not sea level and the air had to be thin at ground level to begin with. You have to be kidding me about recovery of the air items-when we start worrying about recovery of chutes and shit from a tactical operation we have our priorities in the wrong column.

[CSB]

Ditto on the "recovery of air items," of course that is absolutely last in the list of priorities, but it was a professional touch in the planning to allow for the possibility that they can be reused. They aren't cheap, they aren't plentiful, and if the operation does hit a dry hole they can be ready for reuse within days. One of the nine Principles of War is "Economy of Force."

Obviously the use of O2 was made by the Team Cdr/S3 based upon the flight/jump profile. We don't have the inside story of why they didn't use an O2 console inside the Talon, or popup from cruise to jump altitude. As someone "on the outside looking in" it added the requirement that eleven bailout bottles, with or without a console for the flight itself, work correctly.

When I was an SF Company S3 (yes, the old TO & E where the companies had a staff) my SF Company Commander was zealous about "simplify, simplify" plans. "I don't want a plan that's a chain" he said; "If one link in the chain breaks the whole plan fails." "I want a plan that's a pile of rocks, if one rock isn't there you've still got a pile of rocks." Another Principle of War is "Simplicity."

No monday morning quarterbacking intended. These guys did a great job.

[Jack Moroney (RIP)]

I really do not need a lecture on Principles of War, MOOSEMUSS was probably one of the first acronyms I ever learned in the military.* Cacheing of air items is more attuned to Security than Economy of Force and is tied more to helping maintain Surprise should the air items have been discovered by Happy Ahmed the Goat Herder before the assault could be executed.* In the scheme of things, the availability of the tools used in this operation are more plentiful than you might imagine and I sure as hell do not want anyone on an A-Team with a hand receipt mentality of what might or might not happen tomorrow if I bust my toys.

[18C4V]

Originally Posted by optactical

This was not the first according to a lot of people. I am pretty sure it was the first by a USASFC unit, and that right there is significant enough.

+1.