One of the Worst Calls Made During Roberts Ridge 🤯
A field artillery major with no multi-unit infantry command experience was put in charge of the Roberts Ridge operation and made dangerous errors. He mistakenly believed Roberts fell in the valley instead of on the ridge and nearly ordered AC-130 gunships to fire on a friendly 101st mortar platoon.
Summary
This transcript discusses a critical command and control failure during the Roberts Ridge operation. A field artillery major who had never commanded or controlled anything before, much less a multi-unit infantry battle, was placed in charge of coordinating the mission. This officer made a fundamental error about the location where Roberts had fallen - believing he had fallen in the middle of the valley where the helicopter had landed, rather than on top of Tucker Guard ridge where he actually was. The major became obsessed with what he perceived as an enemy mortar platoon located 50 meters from the helicopter landing zone and began directing AC-130 gunships to engage the target, providing grid coordinates and clearing them to fire. However, this was actually a friendly 101st mortar platoon. Fortunately, the lead AC-130 pilot knew the correct location where Roberts had fallen and recognized that the grid coordinates being provided were in the valley, not on the ridge. Despite receiving approval to fire from the ground controller, the AC-130 pilot refused to engage, saying 'Negative, negative. We're not going to do that. Do not fire on them,' preventing what would have been a catastrophic friendly fire incident.
Key Insights
- The field artillery major placed in command had never commanded or controlled anything before, much less a multi-unit infantry battle
- The commanding officer didn't know that Roberts fell on top of Tucker Guard and mistakenly thought he fell in the middle of the valley where the helicopter landed
- A 101st mortar platoon was positioned just 50 meters from the helicopter landing zone in the valley
- The major immediately began obsessing over what he thought was an enemy position and started directing AC-130s to engage with specific grid coordinates
- The lead AC-130 pilot knew Roberts' actual location was on the ridge and refused to fire despite being cleared hot, preventing friendly fire on the 101st mortar platoon
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] the guy they put on, he's a field artillery major. He's never command and controlled anything before, much less a multi-unit infantry battle cuz that's what this is now. Puts this guy on and this guy doesn't even know that Roberts fell off on top of Tucker Guard. He thinks he fell off in the middle of the valley where the Al Mack put the Hilo down. 50 m from that Hilo is a mortar platoon. Immediately begins obsessing, telling the AC-130s grid, you know, 1 2 3 4 5 6, you're cleared hot. I want you [0:30] to waste them. Luckily, the lead AC pilot, he knows Roberts fell on the ridge. He knows that grid he's talking…
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