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8 www.army.mil/publications ton. “When the fire became so intense, we moved out onto a ledge against the cliff to protect our wounded. What turned the battle was Seth (Howard) and his element.” Howard directed the Afghan com- mandos to fire on insurgent positions so that he could get into place with his sniper rifle and his recoiless rifle. “They had been hunting us, and now they were getting hunted, too,” said Walton. “We had been trying to return fire, but we couldn’t find them. They were firing in a very disciplined manner. They were not hanging out windows or running at us.” As Howard and his element en- gaged the enemy, Walton knew time was running out. Reports from the air said more insurgents were moving in their direction. Everyone on the team had sus- tained some sort of injury, four of them critical, and the commandos had their share of injuries, as well. “Everyone kept fighting, but there was a window closing on us,” said Walton. “We knew we had to get out.” “Our higher command told us we had to get out of there,” said Walton. “The weather conditions were clos- ing in, and the window to be on the ground was rapidly closing. Most of the objective was gone at that point, but our casualties were mounting—we were in a mass-casualty scenario at that point—and they became our priority. We never thought of retreating. That was never an option.” “The weather was a deciding fac- tor,” continued Howard. “When the weather rolled in we could be stuck there at least overnight, possibly for days. They couldn’t fly in to get us, and we would have been stranded in com- pletely hostile territory. That was not a plan for success, especially with the pilots observing another 200 insurgents moving in on us.” With their backs literally against a wall, and recognizing that they couldn’t go down the same way they came up (the switchbacks they had climbed up were the primary focus of the insurgent fire), they began assessing an alternate exit route. “We knew we couldn’t go back the way we came, so our only option was going down the cliff,” said Walton. Had the team been healthy, that would have been a difficult scenario. But with the number of wounded and the fire raining down, it seemed impos- sible. Walton knew he had to take the chance. “We were completely pinned down. There was intense fire all around us. We couldn’t leave the casualties. We were prepared to sit there and die with them, but we decided we were going to get them out of there,” he said. Sanders made the first climb down the mountain by himself. When he climbed back up the sheer face of the cliff, Walton had one question, “Do you think we can make it down?” Sanders’ reply put the climb in per- spective, “Does it matter if they have broken necks or backs?” “My question was, ‘will they live?’” said Walton. With Sanders’ assurance Afghan National Army commandos from the 203rd Kandak search a village during security operations in Khowst Province, Afghanistan, Feb. 7, 2008. Spc. Michael D. Carter 8 www.army.mil/publications