Airsoft in the YubaCity / Marysville area.

AAR Operation: WARHAWK

Operation: WARHAWK AAR November 9^th & 10^th 2012

Operation: WARHAWK was a Vietnam themed Mil-Sim event with US and VietCong forces. It was held at the Cottonwood AO, and the weather was partly cloudy with highs in the 50’s and at night the lows were near 32. There was a new moon and dusk fell at near 1700 hours. The OP was attended by approx. 40 operators. The Night-OP ran from around 0900 until approx. 1030 hours. The check-in and briefing began Saturday morning at 0915 with the OP beginning at 1000 hours. It finished at approx. 1530 hours.

I would like to start off this after action report by saying, “Thank you to all those who gave their support.”

Thank you to Ferge and Jen, for the contact of the property. It is a hope for the future!
Thank you to Bill, who put on an incredible Friday night feast, and a great warm Saturday breakfast! This really was a treat, and kept moral high especially on the part of OPCOM. And thanks for the use of your M4. Even I got to shoot a few rounds this OP!
Thanks to Tank, for providing the amazing details in the letters from home, and souvenirs from the war. And for once again providing us a Sgt. Cono to rescue!
Thank you to Edric and Chris K., who gave of their previous weekend to build the needed props.
Thank you to Jensen, for keeping us in ammunition and bearing the burden of supplying all our Airsoft needs. I saw many sporting their new DC shirts, and of course I will be in the shop shortly!
Thank you to the team leaders for stepping up to meet the added responsibility of leading the troops. It is a sacrifice that benefits the many.
Thank you to the whole crew who helped with the transport, set-up and tear down! There are too many people to name them all, but your strength and commitment are much appreciated.

These reports are from my personal perspective. They represent the event as I saw it. I hope you can enjoy them and help fill in the blanks using your own experience and perspective. The greater the detail the better. A great deal went on in the short amount of time we spent traversing the hills of Southern Vietnam, and sometimes things were a little busy, so . . . once again, this is the way I experienced it. Operation: Warhawk.

Night-OP:

The VC patrol left at near 2100. It was a cool and nearly black night. After leaving Base we briefly went over some basics of doing a night patrol. Road march, spacing, and checking the line by the numbers. We started with eleven Vietcong dressed mostly in black. Our objective was to patrol the area (Approx 80 acres), and then to destroy a defended US Air-Cav base. (The campfire had to be extinguished for it to be considered destroyed).

We patrolled for quite some time letting ourselves get used to moving and checking to make sure no one was left behind. I was impressed at how well the newer members did. To their credit they kept up, and never did we have to go searching for even one of them. Looking back down the line, I could only see the first three or four following me . . . then blackness. Our patrol coverer quite a bit of distance before we heard noise.

We knew that there were cows and horses in the area. Small herds numbering 5-20. As we came up through some brush there was a loud thundering of hooves behind us to the North. I turned on a small light to find the direction of the animals. Three horses were running past our group maybe eighty feet from us. Once they past us, I turned off the light and began the patrol again.

As soon as we started off we were ambushed by a US SOG patrol to the South. They were approx. 100 feet away and attacked near the middle of our line. Their tracer rounds were ricocheting off the trees everywhere! It was not only deadly, but beautiful to watch in some strange way. A florescent light show. We were taking casualties as I called our troops to advance to the West. We moved forward another 60 feet and an enemy machine gun open up from our right. We died.

Representing a second patrol we started off a little farther from the ambush sight and pushed on. Our troop climbed the hill to where we could see the Air-Cav base, or at least their campfire. With the US SOG team still out there and now behind us, I told four of my ten to hold the position as rear security. Of the six that remained, two would advance on either side of the road to the Air-Cav base, and I would lead the last two directly up the road. No questions, we moved toward the camp. I was surprised to find three US troops sitting around the campfire keeping warm. (It was around 45 degrees at this hour). When I got within 30 feet I tried to fire my first round, and found out that my AK wouldn’t fire. So . . . I charged in yelling, “Bang, Bang, Bang”! I still had two other VC with me, and to my surprise the three fell ‘dead’. Then I was shot. Many times, and died. (Respawn). I charged three more time as the battle continued.

At the second attack, I slid in behind some large ammo boxes and began kicking dirt to put out the fire. (This once small fire was a six to eight feet tall bonfire when we first arrived). The dirt had little effect, and I was shot and killed for my efforts.

On my third charge, the VC troops and the Air-Cav were firing into the dark in all directions. This time I led a couple VC who had re-spawned with me. When I hit the camp this time I slid into the fire as if sliding into ‘home-plate’. This shot embers, ash, and fire all over the place in a wave of coals, and it did have the effect of dampening the blaze. I was a little singed, and then shot again. (Re-spawn).

On my final run, it seemed as though the VC had a good hold of the Air-Cav camp. At least it felt this way because I ran all the way in and began stomping on what was left of the coals with a fellow VC member. It must have looked like some strange fire-walk, ritual dance as we went around each other trying to crush out the still burning coals now spread over a ten foot area. In doing this, the US SOG team arrived and turned the tide. The VC troops that I could see (considering I was standing in a former firepit), were getting killed. As the VC moved off to re-spawn, we decided to call it a draw for the night and return to base.

Evo One - RESCUE:

We the VC, began on a hill to the East of the US Firebase Tomahawk. Our orders: locate and destroy enemy who were active in the valley to the West of us. We moved down into the valley. Very excited operators were running down the slope anxious to get trigger time. The US were supposed to recover an injured US Sergeant, and then move him to an evacuation point to the West. The injured Sergeant was overran early and a huge firefight ensued with very little control on the part of some operators who thought they had been invited to a ‘very large game of speedball’. Despite the ‘I’m gonna do what I want players’, the force commanders reined in their remaining troops and the US fought a light skirmish to where they called in a Helo-Evac for the severally wounded Sgt. Cono at EVAC-2.

-I make a note here to operators who attend Mil-Sim operations with the above mentioned mindset. A great deal of time, effort and expense goes into hosting a themed Airsoft event. If you don’t want to wear the ‘required uniform’, or follow a scripted line of attack as directed by an appointed team leader- then don’t come. Anyone can run around without a clue and shoot BB’s at everything they see, but to challenge yourself to obtain an objective through a limited avenue of approach and with an understanding that there are confines making the experience as realistic as possible is what we are working to achieve. This was a Mil-Sim event and your actions are not appreciated.

Evo-Two – AMMO:

With the US troops firmly in control of Sergeant Cono, the VC were sent to capture two large boxed of ammunition that had been left at the Air-Cav base on the previous nights raid. We arrived and gathered the boxes, and began heading to the trail which led back to the VC base camp.

-Here once again, some operators decided they would ‘do their own thing’.

Of the original VC force (21in total), eleven remained to carry the large ammo crates, and defend them. I had no weapon until later in the day, but I led this group. Four of the VC carried the two ammo boxes slung from stakes carried on their shoulders. This left seven to hold off the US forces who were chasing us.

We were ambushed. Yes, again. The US SOG troops had moved quickly past the unwitting VC who were off ‘guarding a hill somewhere’. Our eleven were pinned down on the path leading back to base and fighting to maintain hold of the US ammo boxes. We did finally make some headway in advancing through the ambush, but it was a very fun skirmish to be involved in. When we finally broke through we made quick time in getting the ammo back to base, with no further engagements.

Evo-Three – MORTAR:

Having arrived at our hilltop base, the Vietcong took a moment to eat and reload. Then it was time to launch some 81mm mortar rounds into the US firebase.

- This was represented by a team of two operators who carried a large mortar and an ammo bag containing a loud air horn. The mortar tube and base were carried to a pre-designated hill top location, and then assembled. Once assembled, an operator would sound the air horn for one full second in the direction of the enemy base. After a sixty second count, the horn would sound again. The horn was sounded three times before the mortar could be disassembled and moved to the next location where the action was repeated. The mortar crew had to ‘fire’ from a total of six locations on the map.

The whole VC force began at their base and moved to the first mortar position. When we arrived, and the mortar was set, the troops took up a defensive perimeter around the mortar. We ‘fired’ our three rounds and packed the mortar before heading off up a steep hill to the Southwest. When we got to the top of the hill, the mortar team and I were at the front of the VC forces. Our protective troops were still slogging it up the steep hill. We stopped for a moment until a group of them were at the top with us. Every moment delayed gave the US force more time to locate us using the sound of the ‘previously launched rounds’. We began moving in the direction of our next launch site when we were ambushed by the US SOG force. I hate to repeat myself, but there are only so many words I can use for ambush. AMBUSH: A sudden attack made from a concealed position. Also see: ambuscade, bushwhack, waylay. Funny that it was also always the SOG who ambushed us, while the Air-Cav had to deal with those operators ‘doing their own thing’.

The VC mortar crew and I were caught completely in the open and mowed down before the VC forces could respond. From my vantage point looking at the sky, I could hear a slight skirmish erupt between the US SOG and my VC troops. When we re-spawned, the mortar crew and I took off at a full run to leave the ambushers behind us. We hoped our Vietcong would slow up the US forces and give us enough time to get to the next firing position. We had to go nearly all the way around our attackers, but we did make it to the second launch site without running into more US troops. We completed our three launches and packed and moved out again. We could hear heavy boots running toward our position, and loud orders being called out in the woods behind us as we left that hilltop. By the time we arrived at our second site the noises had fallen off behind us. It was quiet again. We completed our third set of shots, and set off down the steep hill to the fourth position. Once again it was quiet after our fourth launch, and I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to see any Vietcong forces again. I was also wondering if we would run into any US forces. It didn’t take long to stop my wondering. We broke down the mortar after the fourth launch and started moving fast in the direction of the next while keeping close to the tree line. As we approached a small hill, I was looking back to make sure I had the mortar team in tow when I was stitched across the thighs by the enemy. (I didn’t say ambush). Yep, it was the US SOG team again. Blazed leading a fireteam quickly cut down our little troop and moved off to find any VC who might be behind us.

Well, we got up, re-spawned, and ran as fast as we could go over a hill and through some woods. We made it about 100 yards or so before we ran into the other US SOG fireteam led by Ferge. So . . . we re-spawned.

We ran again. This time we ran for quite a while. Just us three, ran through a few more hedgerows and tree lines, and up and down hills, before we finally made it to the fifth launch site. We launched, packed, and ran again. To the East we could see the hill where we were to launch from next, and I could hear boots again behind us, and voices from the trees a hundred yards to our North. We reached the hill before they started coming out of the trees. It was our VC troops coming up behind us and the Air-Cav from the trees to the North. As they began shooting at each other, we started our launch. The Air-Cav started flanking us and moving up the back of our hill. Some of the VC had broken through and joined us on top of our hill so we now totaled six or seven defenders. We launched our third round before they crested the hill and shot us down. Peace at last.

We took a lunch break with all operators returning to Firebase Tomahawk. Hydrate and reload.

Evo-Four – PARA DROP:

After lunch most operators seemed to be in good spirit. It is amazing what food can do for ones attitude. The Vietcong returned to their base at the hill, and awaited orders. The US forces were given the job of retrieving a tube on a parachute somewhere to the Northeast of their firebase. They moved to locate the item and retrieve it, taking it back to Tomahawk. The VC was told that US patrols were sighted to the East, and we were to move to contact and destroy our enemy.

I had armed myself during the lunch break, and was looking forward to being a participant in any upcoming firefights rather than another casualty.

Knowing how quick the US forces had been in the past I took a small group of VC with me and we headed as fast as we could to the East looking for any US force we could find. The whole VC army followed in tow spreading out on my left to as far North as I could see considering the wooded terrain. As we came up a ridge we could see Air-Cav moving in line to the North nearly 100 yards ahead of us. They were moving quickly, but I expected they would run into our troops on my left flank. We started taking fire from the East as soon as we came to a open road with more woods to the other side. I told my group we should cross the road and proceed east to cut off any enemy who try to return south. We gathered and crossed the road as a group still firing down the road at the enemy to the North who had gone past. As we entered into the woods on the opposite side, ahead there was a steep hill rising nearly 200 feet and covered in trees. As I scanned the crest while moving forward I noticed a line of troops at full run along the crest headed south. This was the US SOG having already recovered the Para-tube and now returning to base. We ran back out the open road we had just crossed, and sprinted South keeping pace with the SOG team running along the crest. The crest and the road came together just a few hundred yards to the South. Both teams were running toward the same end. The crest and the road met in a clearing where the four SOG troops and we four VC entered at the same time. The shooting commenced before we could even see each other clearly. Some were running and firing from the hip, others sliding to a knee to gain cover, others just standing and unloading with full-auto. I was hit and went down. The SOG team member who had the canister made it through and returned to base. It was a good firefight.

With the information from the para-drop canister, the US forces now knew the location of the Vietcong base camp. The VC and I returned to our camp with the intent on defending it.

Evo-Five – VC BASE:

The Vietcong returned to base and began preparations for the US attack. Our camp was a large hill with woods at the base on three sides. On the North side there were no woods, but it rose to a steep peak with a few large bushes. We covered all directions not knowing where the US attack would come from. Perhaps they would split their forces and attack from multiple sides or send in a small force after the main attack had begun. We waited.

The US SOG attacked from the woods in the East, and one made it into the camp on their first push. This was disconcerting. The SOG regrouped and started again, taking their time, making shots count and not exposing themselves to return fire. Still no Air-Cav, not even a sound from any other direction. Still the SOG forces continued their attack, and we held our hill. They would push us back and we would retake it. Finally over the crest of the hill to our North, the Air-Cav appeared moving up the slopes. We sent some of our troops quickly to the top of the hill and began to trade fire with the Air-Cav downhill from us. The battle continued for quite a long while, and at times it looked like the hill was in danger of being taken. At one point the SOG made an aggressive charge and killed large numbers of our VC defenders, but just as it seemed they would take the hill the charge ran out of momentum. The US forces collected their dead and began the return to base. The VC held.

Evo-Six – FALL BACK:

Having held the hill, the VC was highly motivated to be on the attack for this final mission. The US forces would fight a fire and fall back battle as they recovered to Firebase Tomahawk.

A steady fusillade of fire was exchanged over the hills and woods as I traversed the way back to the US base. For my part I never got close enough to fire at any of the US forces, however I did still manage to get myself killed just outside of the base gate before I could escape to safety. I can still remember Jensen waving the Vietcong flag just ten feet from where I fell dead. But then . . . .this is the end.

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Permalink Reply by Tank on November 12, 2012 at 2:27am

beat me to it.... dangit oh well here is Kono and First Air Cav Side of the story

for starters a great big OOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAH to Komissar for a great op and the great new toys (props: they looked so cool and awesome good fun to play with) also a big OOORAH for everyone who was there friday morning for set up. and a OORAH for those who showed up in correct kit and played the part (lots of good looking kits i loved it). now on with the show.

Night OP: this part took the Air Cav a while due to the fire not wanting to start. after fire finally wanted to catch we sent out 2 out of 5 men to "patrol or watch the fence line" i swapped stories with the boys and added more wood to the fire. the boys got antsy and wanted some action so we swapped guard posts and brouhgt the two in and sent out another 2 men. (threw more wood on the fire currently bout 6 feet tall.... i didn't want charlie to extinguish the fire hehe) after talking about stuff to do in siagon and throwing more wood on the fire (now about 7-8 foot flame had to move the 3 stakes over it cus that was burning) we had a full blow VC rush on us BANG BANG BANG 2 out of 3 dead. they got through our security positions right were i said they would come.... oiy...... anyhoo respawned and went to re-enforce and charlies were all over the camp site trying to put out the fire.... they were having a hard time hehe. thats when SOG troopers came to re enforce our position (Yuuuueeeeessssss) and night op was called a draw due to flame being dead when charlie moved off and flare up when sog troops arrived at fire.

EVO 1: I gotta say..... Kono got screwed..... kono gave wrong directions to his location (i blame loss of blood, cold night, minimal sleep and victor charlie everywhere at night and moving on him really fast during the day) after spotting vc and sending frantic transmission of location "Kono" layed in wait behind tree and tried to belly crawl to better position but vc ran faster than kono so kono waited til one VC spotted kono and kono shot VC and wheeled around to engage 2 other VC and got lit up.... kono down..... this has never happened to kono before..... (opcom)"SGT. KONO ARE YOU HIT" (dead kono)"yuuueeess sir" (opcom)"well that sucks"...... radio silence VC moved on my position and held position until retreat order was called. few minutes later 2 "Air Cav members" sat 7 feet from me (kono)"COME GIT ME!!!! IM HIT IM SGT. KONO!!!!!" ("AIR CAV MEMBERS") "................."........... great.......... finally furgie of the SOG came and got me and we proceeded with air cav on rear security towards LZ 1 where we popped blue smoke sizzle sizzle...... dud..... great popped blue smoke #2 sizzle sizzle fummmmmmm. YA!!! kono is going home yippie....... opcom "LZ to hot proceed to LZ 2" kono"..... : | ........." we proceed to LZ 2 and pop orange smoke kono goes home and gets replaced by tank..... soo goood to be on the field. hehe

Evo 2: we started our way up to Bravo 3 camp i was on point and right after hitting the camp we engaged the rear of the VC column. i got hit and the Air Cav hunkered down. (they really didn't know what the mission was) i did my respawn and got back in and informed them of what to do and we engaged the enemy once again and got hunkered down when the MSGT. SGT and LT got hit. we respawned and then made another push but got hunkered down when hit from behind. .....?..... after several attacks from the rear we then overheard that the VC had Made it down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to their base and we proceeded to FB Tomahawk.

EVO 3: They have our mortar.... dangit...... we followed the sound moving out of the west gate of the FB towards the sound we headed west for a while me on point trying to find a break in the trees then after a while found a break and headed up the hill to flank in from the side of the mortar. we hit enemy contact and found out it was the rear security and the mortar team was moving through the way we came...... dangit. so i hit one VC pretty close to my position and with the Supressive fire from Issac i put a death card on one of the VC.... YUUUUEEESSSSSS..... and proceeded following the VC. each time the mortar went off it got louder and louder. finally we found the mortar on top of the hill and just as we were making our push to take it out.... we were hit in the back......?........

break for lunch: VC had a splendid gourmet menu of Rice with a choice of Rat, Dog or Cat meat on the side. the US had C- Rats for menu look whats printed on the bag.

Evo 4: we all rushed out the gate to help the SOG. we had a meeting with SOG leaders after lunch to discuss our options on getting the paradrop. since it was SOG mission air cav decided to run interference. Basically called operation MEAT SHIELD..... haha. and it worked we went out on patrol blocking the VC from the SOG and got wiped out by the VC taking a few with us but giving the SOG enough time to get the package and go. Respawn in FB

Evo 5: Recieved intel from paradrop that VC are in a base. we then proceeded to flank it split up into 2 teams. was nearly impossible to move up because of fire from hill top and across canyon. could see flag but got flanked from side and behind only one thing to do-------->

Evo 6: RUN AWAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! we did not retreat we Ran away part of SOG and Aircav had a miscommunication issue with the higher ups on the field (gotta admit was a problem on both higher ups and ours as well) we ran up the hill instead of road and we got flanked from sides???? and run down by The VC

end of op

all and all great op great fun loved all the little asthetics the big tent the flag raising (hopefully easier way of attaching.... my bad.... hehe) and great kit for those of you that dressed correctly and tried to dress correctly and a bunch of great operators in those kits.

Thank you Komissar and thank you all who helped and participated

OOOOOORAH!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Edric on November 18, 2012 at 10:56pm

Excerpt from Captain Edric of Air Cav

I made it to the check point after nightfall. My jeep broke down. Leave it to the good ol' Uncle Sam to drop me off and give me a lemon. Well shucks. I guess I have to huff it to Firebase: Warhawk. As luck would have it, I ran into some 3rd SOG troops heading to the firebase as well. We linked up and packed our gear in. Luckily we didn't run into any trouble on our way up.

I walked into the firebase with my new friends from 3rd SOG. Once I had secured my gear, I reported in. After a lengthy conversation with my supply officer about the quality of the jeep I had been issued, I found that my troops had been deployed to a patrol with the rest of the 3rd SOG to support them. While I wanted to rush in, I found that it was too late for us to proceed to their patrol route because a mixture of VC and NVA had been reported along the trail. Off in the distance, as I tended the fire and reviewed intel reports, I could hear a firefight. I then received reports that my troops had encountered a group of VC which was moving to attack our forward base. I hoped none of my men were injured. An hour later, our forward post went dead.

I retired back to my tent with my intel reports, and found a letter from my friend that I met in basic before I went to OCS. It was good to hear from him, and that he was able to get that extended leave he had been prattling on about. I guess making Sargent had it's perks for him.

I finally drifted off to sleep. My dreams were not pleasant.

Funny how you get contemplative when you get those bars on your collar. Tomorrow I lead my men into whatever this forsaken country throws at us. Someday we'll win this war, and we can all go home.

I awoke at 0530, and took a walk around the firebase.

What a lovely morning. I only wish it was going to stay that way.

I mustered up my men and met up with the 3rd SOG commander. They found evidence that someone from our forward base had survived. We set out, and quickly met with resistance from a small VC force. We pushed forward and found our missing Sargent Cono. He was injured pretty badly and we couldn't reach him due to the VC attacks. The 3rd SOG finally came over the hill and gave us the push we needed to grab the Sargent and bug out. I ordered Air Cav to hold position while SOG carried Cono to the evac point. Once SOG moved off, we made an orderly advance towards the rear as we covered SOG’s evac of Cono. I saw the smoke signaling our medevac chopper. It was at that moment which we were hit by a wave of VC. We covered SOG’s relocation to the secondary evac point. With smoke up, the medevac chopper took Cono back to civilization.

With the appearance of our gunships, the VC went into retreat. We got word that the VC had ransacked our forward listening post and retrieved our heavy mortars. I requested that the SOG set up an ambush along the trail, and we would push the VC into them. We gave the VC chase, but quickly found ourselves bogged down by another VC unit. Moving slowly, we chased the VC until we reached our base.

Within moments, we heard our own mortars being used against us. We quickly headed towards the noise. Air Cav Took the North Eastern route to try and head the enemy off. We quickly ran into the VC patrols and found ourselves at a standstill. We finally pushed through and gave chase. Those damn VC patrols kept us just one step behind the mortar team. I eventually heard explosions in the distance, and received a call that the mortars had finally been taken out. We made our way back to the firebase to assess the damage.

Our intel branch picked up some information on the VC base. Command, in its infinite wisdom decided to air drop the intel to the wrong coordinates. I gave SOG point on this mission, with Air Cav providing a shield against VC advance. We ran in and hit hard, halting the VC advance and allowing SOG to complete its mission.

Once the intel had been reviewed, we discovered that it was the location of the VC base. We broke up into squads. I gave Flapjack command of first squad, and I took second squad. I ordered first squad to assault them directly while I took second squad around to the back side of the base to pinch them between our fire. We met with heavy resistance and fell back to an eastern position with first squad, and the SOG marines. Facing overwhelming odds, we decided to make a tactical withdrawal and made our way back to our base.

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Permalink Reply by Phillip "Merlin" Porter on November 22, 2012 at 11:18am

Hey, anyone know when all the photos from the Op will be posted?

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Permalink Reply by Johnny P-- Comdoc on December 10, 2012 at 1:16pm

See below for instructions- all images are free for DL but are pass protected. These are free DLs for you guys!! However, the Gallery expires on 12-31-12. If I need to extend the date please let me know asap. Thank you.

P.S. I will be offering a "Diamond Corps Discount" (DCD is 15%) on all family and holiday sittings through January. Additional 10% for military (AD/Res/Guard/Ret). Team America!!

www.35filmfoundry.com

Phillip "Merlin" Porter said: