Real story of Marcus Luttrell - Operation Red Wings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Wings
https://www.newsweek.com/2016/05/20/mohammad-gulab-marcus-luttrell-navy-seal-lone-survivor-operation-red-wings-458139.html

-The SEALs fought to take this mission from the Marines which was never supposed to be done by a 4 man team in the first place.

-They landed so close to the objective that the entire valley knew precisely when and where they were. Later Luttrell had the audacity to claim it was "them liberal medias" that got his team killed.

-They move to a location without comms with their higher HQ. They decide to set up there anyway.

-They don't bother to take the time to build a good hide site.

-They are compromised by local civilian noncombatants. The team considers committing a egregious war crime to cover up their own gross incompetence. The correct answer was unequivocally to not murder those civilians, and it should terrify you, as it does me, that Luttrell thought he and his fellow SEALs were so above the law that the only thing keeping them from literally murdering innocent people was that they might get roasted for it on CNN. (Which still doesn't make sense because they could have easily covered it up given the circumstances).

-The Taliban know where they are and are moving towards them already. The released civilians may have given them more specific information, or they may not have. Regardless, 7-15 enemy fighters are moving towards the hapless SEAL team.

-The Taliban pinpoint their location. 7-15 well armed fighters with superior mobility and knowledge of the terrain will (almost) always overwhelm a 4 man reconnaissance team caught in an unfavorable position. I am confident the team did their best to survive. That said, the notion that they were fighting hundreds and killing dozens of enemy is absurd. Luttrell is a liar. His initial report suggests around 30 enemy fighters (with the actual figure estimated much lower). He then proceeds to inflate this number to absurd proportions for his book, and the movie inflates them even further. Also, Marcus Luttrell is later found by the Rangers with all 11 of his magazines completely full. He did not appear to have fired a single shot in the engagement.

-QRF is notified. I don't recall exactly what was the fuckup, but the teams didn't do their job of coordinating the mission with their adjacent units well enough. Regardless, the O5 in charge of the SEAL teams decides it's a good idea to hop on the bird and be a part of the QRF.

-Why do you require AWT when inserting into a hot LZ? The QRF is shot down when their MH47 attempts to rope them in to an unknown area of the mountain. Again, these deaths were preventable, and I like to think we've learned from this how not to do QRF.

-Marcus Luttrell is rescued by Mohammed Gulab, who takes him into protection. One could draw a very interesting parallel here. Luttrell regrets the decision (which to be clear, was never his to make) to do the lawful and moral thing when faced with a risk to his team. However he has no issues with Gulab risking the lives of his family and entire village to protect him. Why should Gulab do the right thing when Luttrell believes SEALs don't have to?

-Luttrell is rescued after a massive search and rescue pulls troops from the entire region. Altogether 19 are dead. Luttrell later writes a book which tells a very different story than what all other accounts say happened.

-A movie is released. Mohammad Gulab is invited to visit the US for the screening. Afterwards, he is confused by the movie, and tells a very different account of what happened. This angers Luttrell who cuts ties with the man who saved his life.

-Mohammed Gulab returns to Afghanistan. Once the movie is released, it is widely circulated by the Taliban who now learn of Gulab's involvement. Gulab has had numerous attempts on his life, and has lost friends and family to attacks in repercussions. He has tried to immigrate to the US under the same program that protects interpreters. So far (as far as I can find) this has gone nowhere.

The story of Operation Red Wing has heroes. LT Mike Murphy, who exposed himself to enemy fire to make the call to save his team. Murphy who, despite pressure to do otherwise, upheld the strictest moral standards of his country and refused to murder civilians to cover his own mistakes, of which there were many. Mohammad Gulab, who risked his life and wellfare to shelter a man in need.

But Marcus Luttrell is, at best, a profiteering liar. We should not continue to glorify his place in this disaster of a mission. And we should criticize the gross incompetence of the people involved in planning and executing this ill-fated reconnaissance patrol.


Other US SOF Failures:
Black Hawk Down
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Takur_Ghar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Afghanistan_Boeing_Chinook_shootdown (worst one)