Air Force combat controllers recall arduous mission to scout al-Qaida caves for bombing runs

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Posted 9:45AM on Thursday, February 28, 2002

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A pair of Air Force staff sergeants ate slaughtered farm animals and slept in the bitter cold without mats or blankets as their 10-hour mission to scout cave bombing targets in Afghanistan stretched into over a week. The Air Force combat controllers, who asked that their last names not be used out of security concerns, recalled their arduous mission back at their home base Wednesday. "The most important thing to remember is we have a very (long) memory," said 29-year-old Bill. "I don't want people to forget what happened Sept. 11. I was just glad to have been able to be there to fight terrorism." The controllers, part of an elite unit that trains at Fort Bragg and other military bases, climbed steep mountainsides to help direct bombing missions aimed at destroying al-Qaida cave complexes. At night, they were close enough to the targets to feel the concussion of bombs. Bill and his comrade, Eric, brought two food ration packages on their mission -- enough to get by on a 10-hour trip. But the mission grew as they found more and more caves in the forbidding mountains on the Pakistan border. While they waited for more supplies, Eric and Bill and a Navy SEAL team they were attached to found an abandoned al-Qaida base. They made it on their own, slaughtering and eating chickens and a cow that had been left behind. The controllers had M-4 rifles to protect themselves from enemies. But they didn't have sleeping bags or mats, and had to rely on their uniforms and parkas to fight the bitter nighttime cold. There wasn't much time to sleep anyway -- about three hours a night. Eric, Bill and the SEALS conducted foot patrols during daylight, and by night, the controllers directed bombers over the cave complex. On one patrol, they found an al-Qaida training camp complete with classrooms and obstacle courses. Caves in the mountains stretched for miles and many were loaded with ammunition. One series of secondary explosions went on for 30 hours after a bombing, Eric said. "No matter how far away we were, we could feel it," Bill said. "On some, you watch a whole ridgeline shake when they were getting hit." During their five-month deployment to Afghanistan, the controllers also worked search-and-rescue missions and handled air traffic control work at the air base at Kandahar. Teams of controllers answered to men like Master Sgt. Bart Decker, who also set up airfields in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Decker, 40, was attached to a Northern Alliance unit with other American troops and rode horses with the Afghans. He didn't have much experience on horseback beyond casual trail rides, so he learned to "watch the other guys and try to imitate what they were doing and hang on." On his first two nights in Afghanistan, Decker slept in caves, but the rest of the nights during his five-month tour were spent on the ground when he was in the field. "The biggest creature comfort was my sleeping bag," he said.