Embedded With Special Forces in Afghanistan | Part 2

Embedded With Special Forces in Afghanistan

Coffee or Die Magazine’s Marty Skovlund Jr. was given exclusive access to embed with a Special Forces team in the mountains of Afghanistan, and accompany them on a combat mission into ISIS-held territory.

These Green Beret’s fit the common tropes associated with Special Forces: beards, long-ish hair, and relaxed attitudes along with a few sleeve tattoos sprinkled in for good measure.

Although they sport ball caps and Glocks in lieu of cowboy hats and six-shooters, they are frontiersman all the same — charged with taming the Mohmand Valley.

The team operates out of COP Blackfish, an isolated outpost in the Mohmand Valley and only a short walk from where the controversial “MOAB” was dropped last year.

Earlier

The mission was to check out a vehicle that had been abandoned on a target range frequently used by Americans and ensure that it wasn’t left there for nefarious reasons.

It was a cloudy day that wasn’t particularly ideal for flying, but nonetheless I loaded onto a helicopter along with a handful of American infantry attachments from the 25th Infantry Division.

Throughout my careers as both a soldier and a journalist, I have boarded rotary wing aircraft in Afghanistan more times than I can count.

But this time was different: The helicopter was a Russian-made Mi-17, and it was piloted and crewed by both Afghans and Americans.

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