Commando Magazine edition 3 2020

FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES
Delta Commando Company, 4 RAR Commando
Operation Nile - Chora Valley, Afghanistan 09/10 July 2006
Compiled By Nick Hill – ACA QLD. Contributions by Sam Bush - ACA QLD & Craig Hamburger – ACA NSW
Fourteen years ago, 24
members of Delta Commando
Company, 4 RAR Com mando
were involved in one of the heaviest
battles fought by Aust ralians during the
Afghanistan Cam paign called Opera -
tion Nile.
Operation Nile was a Joint Special
Forces Operation in Uruzgan Province
undertaken on the night of 9/10 July
2006 with the aim of disrupting the
Taliban’s ability to react to the up -
coming Australian Special Forces Task
Group’s (SFTG) Operation Perth 1 which
was set for 10-21 July 2006.
Operation Nile occurred to set the conditions for a
wider Multi-National Coalition effort that was part of the
Combined Joint Task Force – Afghanistan, Operation
Mountain Thrust. This included the clearance of the
Chora Valley, 40 kilometres North East of Tarin Kowt,
(Operation Perth). Specifically, the aim was to Clear and
Capture the senior Taliban leadership group in Central
Uruzgan in order to disrupt the Taliban’s ability to oppose
the Coalition clearance of the Chora Valley from north to
south through to the Baluchi Pass. Operation Nile con -
sisted of the Canadian Special Operations Forces
Command’s 2 (CANSOFCOM), Joint Task Force 2 3 (JTF2),
Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), a Platoon from
Delta Commando Company (DCC), 4 RAR Commando (4
RAR Cdo), 2x CH-47s from C Squadron, 5 th Aviation
Regiment (5 Avn Regt), 2x Dutch AH-64 Apache Attack
Helicopters, an AC-130H ‘Spectre’ Gunship from 16 th
Special Operations Squadron (16 SOS), USAF and an
MQ-1 Predator (Pred), Intelligence, Surveillance &
Reconnaissance (ISR) Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) also
from the USAF all under the command of CO SFTG
Rotation III & CO 4 RAR Cdo, LTCOL Mark Smethurst.
SGT A and a Signaller from Delta Cdo Coy were attached
1
Operation Perth was an Australian military operation in Uruzgan
Province undertaken in July 2006 during the War in Afghanistan. The
nine-day search and destroy operation occurred as part of a wider multinational
coalition operation to clear the Chora Valley, 40 kilometres (25
mi) north-east of Tarin Kowt, involving more than 500 troops from six
nations, including the Netherlands Korps Commandotroepen.
2
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM;
French: Commandement des Forces d'opérations spéciales du Canada;
COMFOSCAN) is a command of the Canadian Armed Forces. It is
responsible for all Special Forces Operations that are capable of
responding to terrorism and threats to Canadians and Canadian interests
around the world.
3
Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) (French: Force opérationnelle interarmées 2,
FOI 2) is a special operations force of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Regarded as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the Canadian Special
Operations Forces Command, JTF2 is currently based at Dwyer Hill, near
Ottawa, Ontario.
4 RAR Commando Unit Symbol
Image Courtesy: Dept of Defence
to the CANSOFCOM unit as the
Australian Special Operations Liaison
Element (SOLE) during the Operation.
The S5 Plans Officer for SFTG, MAJ B a
Commando Major from 4 RAR Cdo was
attached to the AC-130 as the ‘Air
Rider’. This enabled him to have an
overall view of the Operation while
deconflicting targeting and friendly
callsigns on the ground.
Mission Planning
Operation Nile would be conducted
at night and led by JTF2. They would
undertake an ‘aggressive breach’ using
explosives charges to make entry into the Compound
(also known as a Quala) known as a ‘Hard Knock’ to
disrupt the Taliban Commander Osami Bari (pseudonym)
known as ‘Objective Nile’ (Obj Nile). The ANSF would
provide the outer cordon. The Commando Pl was to be
used as the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) for the Mission
and would be located some 15 minutes SW of the target
building in a staging area. JTF 2 would be inserted into
and extracted out of two Helicopter Landing Zones (HLZ)
by the Australian CH-47 ‘Chinooks’. Due to the Australian
CH-47 crews lack of experience with this type of Opera -
tion, it was agreed by both the JTF2 Ground Commander
& the Aviation Asset Commander that they would
conduct a full mission rehearsal at FOB Graceland near
Kandahar City by day and night. The JTF2 guys were
impressed with the Australian CH-47 crews flying ability
and always felt comfortable seeing the Miniguns sticking
out of the Crew Doors on the giant twin rotored birds 4 .
The Mission
JTF2s Mission was to conduct a Direct Action ‘Hard
Knock’ to ‘Clear or Capture’ Taliban Commander Obj
Nile in the vicinity of Dehjawz-e – Hasenzay in the Chora
District of Uruzgan Province, No Later Than 10 July 2006
in order to disrupt the Tarin Kowt/Chora Taliban network.
Preliminary Moves
The two Australian CH-47s, Callsign Patriot 46 & 47
picked up JTF2 and the ANSF assault force from FOB
Graceland near Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan at
2321hrs4 09 July 2006 and flew them to FOB Davis in
Tarin Kowt escorted by Dutch AH-64 Apaches. Delays in
the ISR platforms coverage of the target area pushed H-
Hour back by 1 hour to 0100hrs, 10 July 2006. This delay
gave enough time for the respective SOLE team’s time to
4
‘No Ordinary Men’ – Special Operation Forces Missions in Afghanistan
by Colonel Bernd Horn.
COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 3 I 2020 35