Posted on 07/24/2005 12:28:30 AM PDT by naturalman1975
TWO patrols of elite Australian SAS soldiers were almost killed by friendly fire during their deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Only luck and quick thinking prevented tragedies that could have changed the Australian public's support for the war on terror at critical political times for the Howard government.
In the first incident, during 2002, US forces were about to fire more than 100 mortar shells in Afghanistan when they learnt SAS soldiers were in the line of fire.
A year later, during the invasion of Iraq, SAS troops almost killed one another in a firefight on the second day of the war.
The revelations are contained in a new book, The Amazing SAS, by The Sunday Telegraph's defence writer, Ian McPhedran.
In a series of exclusive interviews, SAS soldiers revealed how US forces were ready to fire nearly 150 mortar rounds on to a hillside, to avoid having to lug them back to base.
An Australian SAS officer working alongside the Americans overheard the grid co-ordinates and realised it was the location of an SAS patrol.
Warrant Officer Steve (SAS surnames are kept secret) had been working as a liaison officer with US forces when he overheard a radio conversation between an American officer and a Ranger patrol.
After he checked the map co-ordinates, he realised the SAS was in the line of fire.
"I said: 'No! Stop, drop! No rounds are to be fired - I've got a patrol on that hill," Steve said.
According to Steve, the US officer had seen five of his men killed and 33 wounded 10 days earlier.
"So he was probably thinking: 'I hope there's a s***load of Taliban up there."'
A detachment of 150 SAS troops will return to Iraq in September.
The Amazing SAS, the first book of its kind about the nation's special-forces unit, is based on interviews with dozens of SAS soldiers and officers.
It includes previously secret details about military campaigns, the Sydney Olympic Games and the SAS raid on the freighter Tampa just before the 2001 federal election.
This is a non-story from a reporter that knows nothing about the military. It sounds like the Mortar Fire Direction Center worked exactly as it is designed: Someone calls a fire mission. FSO/FDC check to clear airspace and ground before approving the mission. In this case, the SAS LNO reported the ground was not clear...so, the mission was cancelled.
Happens every day in a Tactical Operations Center...this is supposed to be an indictment of US soldiers?
Strange...
Regards,
A moose almost bit my sister, but I don't have a sister and the moose wasn't around
And this was supposed to be the US's fault IF it had happened?
It makes a better headline than "SAS troops nearly kill SAS troops".
Somebody dropped their soap.
The author be damned, this is a positive story. Tragedy was averted because of good coordination between U.S. and Australian forces: shared communication frequency, no encryption barrier.
“Almost”, but the system worked and the firing was cancelled.
I was “almost” killed in several “almost” traffic accidents yesterday – but the traffic lights worked and other drivers heeded them.
This is just an attempt to drive a wedge between allies.
Sounds pretty dumb ass if the SAS guy had not advised the US operations that he had a patrol out - any place.
Translation: SEE how INCOMPETENT and EVIL the American soldiers of BUSHITLER are? They TRIED TO KILL those brave Australians but FAILED!
Glad to know bedwetting weenies thrive in the Aussie press too. Maybe that's the real yellow in yellow journalism.
Almost? This was almost an important story.
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