Frunze Commentary: This operation underscores the necessity of conducting continuous reconnaissance of the enemy and, depending on the existing situation, fine-tuning your plans and if necessary changing your LZ. A company should have one LZ, a battalion should have two or three LZs which are no further than a kilometer or a kilometer and a half apart. LZs need to be shielded from enemy fire. It goes without saying that there must be a reserve LZ as well.
Combat action in Afghanistan, and, in particular this operation, demonstrate that evacuating the assault force after mission accomplishment requires particular attention, since it is during this stage of the operation that the subunits receive their most significant casualties. During the return to the assembly areas on helicopters, pay particular attention to ensuring that the enemy has not placed weapons around them. In order to keep the enemy away from evacuation points, use air-delivered or MRLS-delivered RDM on enemy approach routes. When covering a region from dominant terrain, evacuate the force by establishing a series of perimeter posts around the LZ. After evacuating the main force, evacuate the posts simultaneously. When moving the assault force to seize an evacuation zone, cover the movement with overwatching forces and aviation, move in precombat formation and lead with reconnaissance.
Start helicopter load plans immediately upon receipt of the evacuation order and refine them when at the pick-up point. Pull mortar crews and mortars out first and riflemen last. The air assault commander directs the evacuation and is on the last helicopter out along with the last part of the perimeter security posts. Supporting helicopter gunships are held in full readiness or fire on the enemy along their climbing paths. Air assault troopers, once on board the helicopters, must be ready to conduct small arms fire through aircraft openings.
Experience shows that helicopters should spend the minimum possible time at the air evacuation point as personnel and equipment are already concentrated there as a tempting target. Helicopters can spend a maximum of one and one-half minutes on the ground.
Airborne and air assault forces can return to their initial assembly area, after mission accomplishment, on board helicopters or on board their armored vehicles. In this operation in the Lar-Mandikul’ Valley, the regiment withdrew mounted in their bronegruppa after fulfilling their mission. They pulled out at night. In order to navigate at night, commanders used compasses and parachute flares. During the day, they could have used route reconnaissance. The regiment’s various bronegruppa moved by bounds as subunits provided overwatch for the main body. Once the main body had passed through a covered segment of the route, the overwatching forces would rejoin the main force and other subunits would move forward to the next overwatch positions. In this manner, the regiment maintained a high tempo of movement and suffered minimal casualties during encounters with the enemy.
Editor’s Commentary: Pulling out the mortars prior to the infantry is a commander’s call and depends on the tactical situation, but there are times when the mortars will be the final system a commander wants to evacuate.
Many commanders prefer forming an uninterrupted “collapsing ring” for evacuation zone security. This ring gets tighter with each lift-off. The collapsing ring has a better chance of preventing enemy infiltration of the perimeter and evacuating the security personnel than establishing a series of far-off posts as this vignette recommends.
The withdrawal of the force mounted in its bronegruppa appears to be a withdrawal under pressure. Night movement of a mechanized column through the Pandshir valley using parachute flares and compasses seems to be an option that a commander would adopt only under pressure.
23. Destruction of a guerrilla force by a tactical air assault into Lowgar Province
by Major V. V. Selivanov8
The enemy increased his activity in Lowgar Province in August 1985. Guerrillas shelled Kabul from the southeast, attacked military and civilian convoys and attacked Soviet and Afghan outposts. According to intelligence reports from the Afghan security service,9 guerrilla forward detachments were located in the area bordered by the villages of Khurd-Kabul, Malang, Kala and Malikheyl’. A total of 500 to 600 men in 10 to 15 guerrilla units were located here. The main concentration of guerrilla forces was located some 15 to 20 kilometers further to the southeast of this area. There, in the village of Tizini-Khas, they had created ammunition and armaments caches which were guarded by some 300 men armed with DShK heavy machine guns and mortars. The Afghan government decided to stop the shelling of Kabul from Lowgar Province by establishing a base camp in the Lowgar Valley manned by a “Sarandoy” battalion.
The airborne division10 was ordered to go after the guerrillas. The airborne division commander decided to move his units for this operation into the area secretly from 9 to 11 August. Then, from 11 to 18 August, he would surround and destroy the enemy forward detachments and prevent their retreat into their major base area.
Two airborne regiments were selected for this operation. One of the regiments was short a battalion and the other was short two battalions. The division commander reinforced this force with the reconnaissance company of the remaining regiment, a separate reconnaissance company, a sapper battalion, a tank battalion and an artillery regiment (which was short a battalion). Two reconnaissance groups were formed – one from the reconnaissance company of the remaining regiment and one from the separate reconnaissance company. Their mission was to conduct a 50-kilometer deep raid on 13 August to block two canyons south of the Lowgar Province valley. The main body of the force (three airborne battalions) would air assault into an area north of the village of Khurd-Kabul, attack the enemy, and prevent his withdrawal to the south. Then, in cooperation with the reconnaissance groups, the main body would complete the destruction of the enemy.
Map 23: Destroying guerrilla forces in Lowgar Province.
However, this operation plan was upset by the guerrilla forward detachments which attacked the new Afghan base camp of the “Sarandoy” battalion. The battalion did not put up any fight but fled from the base in a panic. The division commander then decided that rather than having the recon groups move out to the planned areas, he would combine the two reconnaissance groups into one and add a sapper squad to it. This new recon group would air land to the east of Malikheyl’ village and establish a blocking position of the canyon.
The reconnaissance detachment command group and the regimental recon company were on the first lift. The second lift consisted of the separate recon company and the “Sarandoy” Battalion. Retransmission helicopters would stay on station over the battle area all day to ensure constant communications.
The assault flight took 30 minutes. The two lifts landed on the west slope of the canyon and moved south under heavy enemy DShK and mortar fire. They escaped without any casualties thanks only to nightfall. They could not receive any artillery support since they were out of artillery range and, since it was dark, they could not get any air support. The enemy held the dominant terrain and fired at them from the surrounding heights from three directions. This fire pinned them down while the enemy moved a guerrilla force of approximately 600 men out of the canyon. The reconnaissance company shot at the withdrawing guerrillas, but the plan was to have the entire force down in the canyon blocking this very withdrawal. However, the heavy enemy fire kept the reconnaissance group commander from moving his force into the canyon and he dug them in along a high ridge-line instead. On the next morning, 14 August, the first regiment of the division landed following an artillery preparation of the LZ. The enemy suffered some casualties, however the goal of the operation was not achieved. The air assault came too late and the enemy had already managed to withdraw his main force out through the canyon and away from our strike.