Razor 03 by Alan Mack - good read about MH-47 in the 160th

[Hawk 09]

For those of you waiting like me for the release of the CH-47 there might be an interesting read: Razor 03 by Alan Mack. He served in the 160th SOAR as an MH-47 pilot, finally as a CW5 and was personally involved in quite some epic missions. Many of them took place in Iraq and Afghanistan:

- He inserted ODA 595 aka the "Horse soldiers" who became famous when they assisted General Dostum overthrow the Taliban in Oct 2001 in the north. They flew from Karshi-Khanabad (K2) in Usbekistan (should be modeled in the map, please!) through incredible weather conditions in extreme altitudes and suffered from Hypoxia. Sometimes they only got through by using their terrain following radar because they had nearly zero visibility in sandstorms.

- When the US tried to get Bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001, he and his company assisted the teams on the ground.

- He was the pilot of the MH-47 Callsign Razor 03, from which Navy SEAL Neil Roberts fell off the ramp when they came under intense enemy fire on Takur Ghar Mountain during Operation Anaconda in 2002. Alan achieved a masterful emergency landing several miles away with his severely damaged and nearly unflyable helicopter. That whole event became famous as the "Battle of Robert´s Ridge".

- Later he was involved in the rescue attempts of Bowe Bergdahl and the "Lone Survivor" of Op Red Wings in 2005.

You can read the book but you can also watch him in an interview with former Apache pilot Ryan Fugit on YouTube:

or in this podcast with Ex Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf:

Absolutely recommended for all fans of the 160th and the Chinook, have fun!

Edited July 22, 2024 by Hawk 09

[Viking 1-1]

Thanks!

I will give this a read for sure, just ordered.

Another very good read (at least til now, I'm like one quarter through) is "Sweating the metal" by Alex "Frenchie" Duncan. 

He writes about his deployment to Afghanistan and it is very interesting.

[av8orDave]

I'm enjoying the book. Thanks for the recommendation!

[fargo007]

Halfway through it and I will add to the recommendation. 

[TCatry]

On 7/16/2024 at 11:34 PM, Hawk 09 said:

For those of you waiting like me for the release of the CH-47 there might be an interesting read: Razor 03 by Alan Mack. He served in the 160th SOAR as an MH-47 pilot, finally as a CW5 and was personally involved in quite some epic missions. Many of them took place in Iraq and Afghanistan:

- He inserted ODA 595 aka the "Horse soldiers" who became famous when they assisted General Dostum overthrow the Taliban in Oct 2001 in the north. They flew from Karshi-Khanabad (K2) in Usbekistan (should be modeled in the map, please!) through incredible weather conditions in extreme altitudes and suffered from Hypoxia. Sometimes they only got through by using their terrain following radar because they had nearly zero visibility in sandstorms.

- When the US tried to get Bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001, he and his company assisted the teams on the ground.

- He was the pilot of the MH-47 Callsign Razor 03, from which Navy SEAL Neil Roberts fell off the ramp when they came under intense enemy fire on Takur Ghar Mountain during Operation Anaconda in 2002. Alan achieved a masterful emergency landing several miles away with his severely damaged and nearly unflyable helicopter. That whole event became famous as the "Battle of Robert´s Ridge".

- Later he was involved in the rescue attempts of Bowe Bergdahl and the "Lone Survivor" of Op Red Wings in 2005.

You can read the book but you can also watch him in an interview with former Apache pilot Ryan Fugit on YouTube:

or in this podcast with Ex Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf:

Absolutely recommended for all fans of the 160th and the Chinook, have fun!

 

As I’m planning on creating a high-end campaign for the CH-47, a friend of mine suggested the same book. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that a lof of missions I was planning, were actually performed by the very same man, Alan Mack.

I’m now considering if I should focus the campaign on his missions alone so this man could be the main character. 

Will be difficult to create a campaign that is both realistic and fun to play with the long distances they covered for insertions.