Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan

by Sean Parnell

We’d learned that to keep from passing out from dehydration or heat exhaustion, we had to eat or drink constantly.

We carried beef jerky and potato chips to replace the sodium our bodies dumped out

our

p...

we alternated two liters of water with every li...

My lips curled around its plastic rim just as Baldwin’s Humvee exploded. For a split second, a bubble of orange flame sprouted from its right side. The rig lurched hard left as its shocks absorbed the violent blast.

somebody has you in their sights. The shots come with a rapid-fire focus that underscores their murderous intent. Somebody is shooting at

you.

these were not amateurs hiding in the hills on our flanks.

Another explosion rocked my Humvee. The enemy machine gunners concentrated on killing the men in our turrets. They knew our Humvees served as mobile firepower platforms.

The abandoned Afghan Toyota Hiluxes made forward movement impossible. We couldn’t drive right or left. We couldn’t even dismount and attack into the ambush; the terrain was just too rugged.

enemy

had used the terrain brilliantly to trap us in their kill zone. The amount of tactical acumen it had taken to conceive and execute this ambush sent a surge of pure terror through me.

FIVE

GAUNTLET

May

7,

2006

You cannot lead men who

are

unwi...

to

be

led.

must inspire them to give you the po...

SIX

WELCOME

TO

THE

F...

together they streamed up the hill after me, weapons high, bearding the enemy and the rivers of lead pouring onto the road.

Down the hill, some of the men paused to open up on the enemy with their rifles. A few used the trucks as cover. To my immense pride, nobody fired from the hip. They chose their targets carefully to ensure that no stray ANA would be hit.

“Garrett,” I said, “start droppin’ rounds on those machine-gun nests.”

Undeterred, Ferguson and Garrett reloaded again even as bullets skipped and snapped past them.

“Where ya need me, sir?” he drawled. I pointed to the right side of our perimeter. Wheat gave me a thumbs-up and headed off to find a good sniping position.

Snipers are significant force multipliers. One good sniper can pin down an entire company.

Cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, a can of German Bitburger near beer in one hand,

freshly promoted Sergeant First Class Greg Greeson strolled serenely through the storm of shot and shell,

As he reached me, he unrolled a long, mirth-filled laugh. “Hey, sir, you just need to calm the fuck down!”

SEVEN

THE

BECOMING

He and Bear Ferguson made an incredible team, though in the civilian world they were such different individuals that I doubt they’d have even had anything to say to each other.

A good leader is supposed to inspire his men. But great men inspire their leader.

He ducked just as three bullets punctured the Mark 19’s ammunition feed tray. When he popped back up and checked his weapon, he yelled over to me, “Sir, the Mark 19’s damaged. I’ll have to single-shot it.”

Our hilltop bristled with firepower. We were organized, and the men were brimming with rage at being on the receiving end of this fight for so long.

Before smoke and dust obscured the scene, I saw pieces of both men blown sideways out of their fighting position.

he discovered an enemy soldier partially concealed high in a pine tree perhaps a football field away. He snapped off a shot at him.

The first of the 105 shells freight trained overhead. The ground shook as they impacted on the far side of the ridge. The rate of fire increased as Reuter coached the

artillerymen onto their targets. Soon