Word: missioners
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...Bradford High. He recently re-enlisted for another six years despite narrowly escaping a roadside bomb attack in Iraq just two months before coming home. "I would do it over again if I had to. It's my job," he says. Still, he's more cynical about the mission. "In my first six months, I went from being scared to excited, to 'Hey, this is kind of fun' and feeling sorry for the Iraqis," he says. Then, as attacks on U.S. troops mounted despite American efforts to help the Iraqis rebuild, Chambliss just wanted to get the job done...
...deep behind enemy lines and gather key intelligence. The soldiers say US commanders lost key opportunities to take out senior al-Qaeda leaders by forcing the SAS to occupy mere "blocking" duties during one key battle. However the US perceptions were ultimately reversed after the SAS mounted an extraordinary mission to locate and coordinate an attack on one of al-Qaeda most senior leaders. The target was either Osama Bin Laden's number two, Ayman Al-Zawahari, or a senior Uzbek commander, Tor Yuldashev...
...Americans were in the planning stages of "Operation Anaconda," a mission to attack the enemy in Shah-i-Kot, says Adam, and "they didn't take kindly to our probing of that area - despite the fact it was an excellent ground recon effort.'' The Australians sought involvement in Anaconda but were given a lowly role as a blocking force. That perceived waste of their talent prompted a heated clash with one of the US commanders. A near shouting match erupted between a US special forces Major called Jimmy, who was acting second in command of the American special forces effort...
...first mission was daunting: to scale a range of steep mountains and set up an observation point overlooking a road the Australians had dubbed Route Titanium, which large numbers of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters were using as a way to the Pakistan border. After an eight-hour journey by truck, the men had just three hours to climb the mountain under cover of darkness. For the next three weeks, they lived off the land. The survival skills needed for such operations take years to acquire - and are the source of one SAS nickname, "the chicken stranglers." According...
...that first mission, the Green Beret's presence was causing friction. "He had broken the radio before going out,'' says the patrol leader. "He had snapped off a knob and was going to use pliers to turn it on and off.'' The patrol leader was not going to tolerate such sloppiness again. For the next mission, he replaced the American with a young signaller who had undergone SAS training, but had not passed the grueling selection course. For the 20-year-old, nicknamed "G," the offer of a place on an SAS foot patrol was a thrilling opportunity...