Word: ambusher
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...with you." Just as Turner, 29, starts to expand on the point, a huge explosion interrupts him. One of the humvees in his 16-vehicle convoy has been hit by a roadside bomb and explodes in a flaming whoosh. Turner and his men have driven straight into a Taliban ambush...
...ambush on Delta Company was just the start of a mission that illustrates the challenges and frustrations facing U.S. forces today. On the night the troops come under attack, they are headed into the craggy ridges outside Kandahar to join an operation by coalition forces to corner Maulvi Hannan, a Taliban commander with known links to al-Qaeda. But the ambush and the injuries to the five soldiers force Turner to make some split-second decisions. While an Afghan interpreter tries to clear away local onlookers, the captain is busy on the radio. The medevac helicopter for the wounded soldiers...
...additional duties; the Apollo leaders also served as medics, which forced them to choose between directing the battle and caring for the wounded. Also raising questions is a warning letter written by then ERSM staffer Scott Traudt, which was hand delivered to company executives about 15 days before the ambush. Traudt cites 11 alleged "repeated failures and dangerously negligent actions" by ERSM and its staff, including drunken all-night partying, inadequate training, poor vehicle maintenance, and the "tactical insanity" of using medics as team leaders...
...Crane concedes that Traudt's letter raised some legitimate concerns, but says these had been addressed before the ambush; the three men's deaths, he adds, were not the company's fault. But Mark and fellow security contractor Neroli, who have since left ERSM - Crane claims they were fired - are critical of the firm. Neroli (not her real name), a former Australian Military Police officer, says the convoy's remaining immobile and Johnson's firing into the air were fundamental errors. Mark says ERSM's use of unarmored cars was "always a concern," and that adding protection is not difficult...
AWARDED. LEIGH ANN HESTER, 23, sergeant in the Kentucky National Guard; the Silver Star, making her the first woman to receive the honor since World War II; for her role in deterring insurgents and saving the lives of fellow soldiers during an ambush on a convoy in Iraq last March; in Washington. Hester, who received the award along with two men from her unit, plodded through enemy fire, killing at least three in an effort that resulted in the death of 26 or 27 insurgents and the capture of several more. "We're all soldiers, and we're all equal...