Fed: US Army officer praises SAS troops for roles in Middle East

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2004
Fed: US Army officer praises SAS troops for roles in Middle East

CANBERRA, April 25 AAP - Australia's elite SAS troops have been praised by a senior
United States Army officer for the key roles they played during ferocious battles in Afghanistan
and Iraq.

The comments by US Army Lieutenant General Frank Hagenbeck came as some SAS soldiers
spoke publicly for the first time about their experiences in battles inside Afghanistan
and Iraq.

Lt General Hagenbeck, who commanded coalition troops in Afghanistan in 2002, described
how instrumental the SAS soldiers were during a battle in a valley south of Kabul where
it was thought Osama bin Laden was hiding out.

"The Australian SAS displayed those kinds of things that make them the elite, in my
view, of small unit infantry men throughout the world," he told the Nine Network.

"And that's autonomy, independence, tenacity that they will never ever be defeated.

"I would tell you I would not have wanted to do that operation without the Australian
SAS's folks... They made it happen that day."

One of the SAS soldiers who took part in the battle, known as operation Anaconda, Signalman
Martin Wallace told of how a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at him during the battle.

He was one of two Australian SAS soldiers with US forces dropped into the valley by helicopter.

However, the group was mistakenly dropped on top of an underground al-Qaeda stronghold
and immediately came under heavy fire.

"We had guys with chest injuries, there was open fractures, basically fragmentation
wounds over some of their entire bodies," Signalman Wallace said.

Lieutenant Colonel Rowan Tink said Signalman Wallace helped rescue some of the injured.

"Under fire (he) moved out, collected some of these wounded and dragged them back,"

Lt Col Tink said.

Signalman Wallace had the only radio and called for air support. The American B52 bombers
then pounded the enemy.

"Without air cover, I'd say yeah we would've all been wiped out," Signalman Wallace said.

"I was just thinking about I'm going to get out of here; I'm not going to die in this
bloody valley."

SAS soldiers involved in the fighting in Iraq when war broke out last year also told
the Nine Network what it was like behind enemy lines.

A squadron leader named only as Major Paul, described how the Australian troops captured
a group of suspected Iraqi fighters hiding out in the Kubaisah cement factory in the western
desert.

Instead of attacking the factory, they called in a US fighter jet to break the sound
barrier. The sonic boom scared those hiding in the factory and broke several windows.

"The result was that the people came running out with their arms up."

Another SAS soldier, known only as patrol member John, said the episode reminded him
of a mistake made by the Australian Air Force in South Australia.

"I remembered, I think, before I joined the army, with the Australian Air Force, broke
the sound barrier by mistake and broke a lot of greenhouses in South Australia," he said.

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KEYWORD: SAS

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