How a Secretive Special Operations Task Force Is Taking the Fight to ISIS

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated Jul 3, 2020 4:22 AM EDT

While body counts are not a particularly useful metric of a military operation’s success, they can be a good indicator of how intense things have been on the ground. So, if the official tally is accurate, the U.S.-led special operations task force fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, which includes America’s shadowy Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), foreign partners, and private contractors, has had a massive and potentially lopsided impact on the mission.

On April 14, 2017, members of Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve’s (SOJTF-OIR) headquarters element received new, distinctive unit patches at a ceremony at an undisclosed location somewhere in “Southwest Asia.” Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), the overarching U.S.-run force battling ISIS, which oversees SOJTF-OIR, released a number of pictures of the event.

Though they were full of small, interesting details – like the presence of both U.S. Army and Marine Corps special operators, along with British and Turkish officers – the most eye-opening information was in the caption. “Since its establishment, SOJTF-OIR has liberated over 45,000 square [kilometers] previously held by ISIS and has killed over 21,00 [sic; 21,000] ISIS militants,” the text read.

Sometime afterwards, CJTF-OIR quietly deleted this information from the pictures. However, in an Email to The War Zone, one of command’s public affairs officers confirmed the figure and the apparent typo.

“SOJTF-OIR since its inception has greatly contributed to the degradation of the enemy, ISIS,” the media office added. “The…number is an estimate. Body count is not the focus of the coalition’s efforts. It is the ultimate defeat of this barbaric and inhuman enemy, ISIS.”

A U.S. Army member of SOJTF-OIR wears the unit’s new patch at a ceremony in April 2017., U.S. Army

Though not the focus of their activities, SOJTF-OIR’s kill count is both massive and accounts for a huge proportion of the total figure across the entire American-led coalition. As of April 2017, CJTF-OIR estimated it had killed approximately 70,000 ISIS fighters since 2014. This means that SOJTF-OIR – and possibly its predecessor organizations – has been responsible for around 30 percent of all dead terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

Yet, the special operations forces do not receive nearly the same amount of attention as the air war, or even the increasing use of conventional artillery. Of course, we don’t know whether SOJTF-OIR counts terrorists who died in air or artillery strikes its personnel called in among the task force’s final count. But after digging into the available information, along with various documents The War Zone obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), we can share a more complete picture of the intelligence-driven campaign focused on killing the terrorist group’s leader and attacking other high value targets.

The most obvious, but least visible part of this effort has been the work of a JSOC task force. Publicly referred to as the “Expeditionary Targeting Force” (ETF) in 2015 , these elite forces were going to Iraq and might even cross the border for missions into Syria, according to then Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

“Special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders,” he explained to lawmakers in a statement on Dec. 1, 2015, using another acronym for Islamic State. “That creates a virtuous cycle of better intelligence, which generates more targets, more raids and more momentum.”

As the Pentagon described it, this concept seemed very similar to the controversial special operations forces-led push against Al Qaeda in Iraq – the predecessor to ISIS – and other terrorists during the American-led occupation of the country between 2003 and 2011. This plan is often described as the brain child of Army General Stanley McChrystal, who commanded a JSOC task force in Iraq until he took over as head of the super-secretive command in September 2003.

“It’s a tool that we introduced as part of our – the accelerated operations to conduct raids of various kinds, seizing places and people, freeing hostages and prisoners of ISIL, and making it such that ISIL has to fear that anywhere, anytime, it may be struck,” Carter added during a public briefing at the Pentagon on Feb. 29, 2016. “The only thing I’ll say is the ETF is in position, it is having an effect and operating, and I expect it to be a very effective part of our acceleration campaign. I don’t have any more on that.”

Though Carter didn’t explicitly say JSOC was leading the force, he did admit elements of the command were operating in the region during a press conference with his French counterpart, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on Oct. 25, 2016. “We have put our Joint Special Operations Command in the lead of countering ISIL’s external operations,” he declared, using another term for ISIS. “And we have already achieved very significant results both in reducing the flow of foreign fighters and removing ISIL leaders from the battlefield.”

Thanks to FOIA, the War Zone has obtained a more in depth view of these operations from the U.S. Army’s official report on the crash of a mysterious spy plane with the civilian registration code – N6351V – and paint job to match crashed into a field outside the town of Kawrgosk in northern Iraq on March 5, 2016. Though accident report is both heavily redacted and significantly abridged to begin with for operational security reasons, the formal review confirmed the aircraft was supporting JSOC’s forces.

The formal chain of custody starts with U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), the service’s top manager for aircraft of all types. Then it moves down through Program Manager-Fixed Wing (PM-FW) and Program Manager-Sensors-Aerial Intelligence (PM-SAI) and finally to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). At the very end, JSOC is listed as the “organization involved” at the time of the incident.

Despite the sensitive nature of the mission, the Army’s protocols required an investigation into the Class A accident, meaning the incident either caused more than $2 million in damage to the plane or someone died. In this instance, thankfully, there were no fatalities, but the crash totaled the aircraft.

“The accident aircraft was…assigned to a task force (TF) located at Erbil International Airport, Erbil, Iraq,” Army investigators explained in their narrative. “The accident aircrew was scheduled to conduct their standard mission in the local area, which was captured on the TF’s flight schedule.”

The wreckage of N6351V in a controlled hangar at Erbil Airport after the accident in March 2016., U.S. Army via FOIA

The results of the investigation itself were inconclusive. Both of the engines on the modified King Air 300-series failed after smoke suddenly began filling the cockpit. After finding evidence of debris inside, the Army sent the two PT6A turboprop engines to the Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) facility at Bridgeport, West Virginia for further analysis. Investigators forwarded fuel and oil samples to a military laboratory for separate tests, which did not turn up any dangerous impurities.

“The number one engine forward gearbox housing fractured from the engine combustion housing, revealing extensive internal damage to the gearbox planetary gears. Removal of the exhaust stacks revealed extensive internal combustion housing and power turbine damage. The number one engine chip detector revealed a copious amount of metallic debris,” the investigators found when they began to inspect the wreckage at a controlled hangar at Erbil Airport. “The number two engine did not reveal any notable damage.”

The remains of N6351V’s right wing., U.S. Army via FOIA

But the details about the aircraft itself are particularly interesting, illuminating how JSOC is operating in Iraq and Syria, as well as procedures it might apply to operations globally. Though an official document describes it as an MC-12W Liberty aircraft, we now know that N6351V was actually a government-owned, contractor-operated Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (MARSS).

This aerial-intelligence system includes day- and night-vision cameras, a combination laser range-finder and designator, as well as signals intelligence (SIGINT) equipment to find and monitor enemy communications. In 2009, the Army had initially hired contractors to fly this same gear in various aircraft, including both King Air 200- and 300-series planes and larger Bombardier Dash-7s.

The MARSS went to Afghanistan to form the basis for the service’s Task Force Observe, Detect, Identify, and Neutralize-Enhanced (ODIN-E), which was primarily hunting for militants planting roadside bombs. ODIN-E built on the concept the original Task Force ODIN pioneered in Iraq. According a separate FOIA request, the Army said it had bought N6351V outright, along with a second MARSS aircraft with the registration N8007U, sometime between 2013 and 2014. A table from July 2015 noted both aircraft, along with eight other King Air 300-based aerial spooks, were all situated at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia. The decision to collocate these two JSOC aircraft with the other planes, all of which shared many of the same basic airframe and engine components, would have eased maintenance requirements and kept them obscured from the Army’s own fleet.

In addition, fuel and oil purity tests from Corpus Christi Army Depot attached to the main incident report suggested that JSOC may swap these registrations between aircraft to help conceal their activities. In his 2015 book on JSOC, Relentless Strike , journalist and author Sean Naylor talks extensively about the command’s use of “covered air,” which involves elements “whose personnel and aircraft operate under cover.” The War Zone has already written an extensive look at what we know of the U.S. military’s most secretive aviation elements .

In this case, the review included historical sampling data for N6351V from August 2014 to March 2016. The last three entries listed “N166BA” as the so-called “End-Item Serial Number” or EISN. In 2016, plane spotters repeatedly tracked this aircraft, as well as a second apparent Beechcraft King Air 300 spy plane with the registration N80BZ, over Iraq using websites like FlightRadar24.com. To persistently track Islamic State fighters and the movements of particular targets for long periods of time in order to build a so-called pattern of life,” JSOC would definitely need more than just one aircraft.

Over Mosul #Iraq US Army BE30 #N166BA https://t.co/TfosZHyb8u pic.twitter.com/qaLIFJh10E — CivMilAir ✈🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@CivMilAir) June 12, 2016

Over Mosul #Iraq US Army BE30 #N166BA https://t.co/TfosZHyb8u pic.twitter.com/qaLIFJh10E

Intel gathering over Mosul #Iraq #N80BZ & #N166BA https://t.co/t13iOw8cbw pic.twitter.com/YvXrXgpmkh — CivMilAir ✈🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@CivMilAir) June 28, 2016

Intel gathering over Mosul #Iraq #N80BZ & #N166BA https://t.co/t13iOw8cbw pic.twitter.com/YvXrXgpmkh

It is also possible the Army for some reason intentionally or accidentally combined the fuel and oil testing history for both at some point or that when the service purchased the airframe itself that it changed the serial. A picture of N166BA from 2009 does show a similar aircraft to N6351V, but in an overall gray paint scheme.

To persistently track Islamic State fighters and the movements of particular targets for long periods of time in order to build a so-called pattern of life, JSOC would need more than just one aircraft. An Army table from July 2015 included N6351V and what could be another contractor-operated MARSS – N8007U – along with eight other King Air 300-based aerial spooks, all situated at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia. The decision to collocate these two JSOC aircraft with the other planes, all of which shared many of the same basic airframe and engine components, would have eased maintenance requirements and kept them obscured from the Army’s own fleet.

A MARSS aircraft in Afghanistan., US Army

Regardless of the origins of the aircraft itself, and just how many JSOC actually has under its control, the most interesting detail about N6351V from the accident report may be its crew. Of the four crew members, only one was actually a member of the U.S. military. This U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant acted as the aircraft’s “tactical systems operator” manning the SIGINT system. Censors redacted this individual’s name and there is no mention of their unit, but they could have been assigned to JSOC from Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) or one of the Corps’ three obscure communications-grabbing radio battalions.

The remaining individuals on the plane – the pilot, co-pilot, and full-motion video specialist – were all contract employees from ASKII Technology, Inc. Not surprisingly, on its website, this New Jersey-headquartered firm proudly declares past support for SOCOM, Task Force ODIN, and the Multi Sensor Aerial Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (MAISR) program, which supplied contractor support for Task Force ODIN-E.

Shortly after the crash, on March 23, 2016, elite troops, likely from the ETF, killed Islamic State’s then number two leader, Rahman Mustafa Qaduli , during a raid in Syria. On April 6, 2017, another such special operation in Syria resulted in the death of Abdurakhmon Uzbeki , an ethnic Uzbek foreign fighter who the Pentagon described as a “close associate” of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.

It is important to note that we don’t know the exact relationship between JSOC’s elements in Iraq and Syria and the over-arching SOJTF-OIR. In Afghanistan, a similarly unspecified “task force” tasked with targeted strikes against terrorists in that country is at least nominally part of the larger Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan (SOJTF-A).

American special operators and members of the USAF pose for a picture during Exercise Eagle Resolve 2017 in Kuwait., U.S. Army

On top of that, even before Carter revealed the Expeditionary Targeting Force, there was already evidence the U.S. military was looking to start a more specialized campaign against ISIS. In July 2014, U.S. and Jordanian special operations forces tried and failed to rescue two dozen hostages from ISIS. Afterwards, the terrorists publicly beheaded a number of them, including Americas James Foley, Steve Sotloff, and Peter Kassig. Later that year, elite troops also failed in another rescue mission to free American humanitarian Kayla Mueller, who the brutal militants had forced to “marry” their leader Baghdadi and became a sex slave. She died in captivity in February 2015.

When it came to direct against against terrorist leaders, according to a summary table of civilian casualty allegations, at least one A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft attacked a high value individual codenamed “ANDERS MESA” on or about April 12, 2015 near Hawija, Iraq. In May 2015, a ground raid in Syria, reportedly involving Delta Force and the British Special Air Service (SAS), killed then-ISIS deputy commander Abu Sayyaf and led to the capture of the militant’s wife, Umm Sayyaf. The two had reportedly held Mueller captive at one point.

“HVI [high value individual] strikes have killed approximately 70 senior and mid-level leaders since the beginning of May,” Army Col. Steve Warren, then the main spokesman for CJTF-OIR, told reporters on Oct. 13, 2015. “That equates to one HVI killed every two days.”

Then, on Oct. 22, 2015, Army Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler died during a combined raid with Kurdish commandos on a terrorist prison camp near the town of Hawija in northern Iraq. It later emerged that Wheeler had been a member of Delta Force, which works exclusively as a force provider for JSOC operations.

U.S. Central Command via FOIA

By 2014, the Pentagon had already created larger, multi-national special operations task forces for both fronts – Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Iraq (CJSOTF-I) and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Syria (CJSOTF-S) – as well. When SOJTF-OIR stood up, the Pentagon dictated that its commander be dual-hatted as the head of the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-Syria (CJIATF-S), effectively bringing the entire special operations enterprise pointed at ISIS under the guidance of a single individual.

While the primary job of these forces has been and continues to be training and advising local forces in both countries, these activities have brought American special operators closer and closer to the front lines. As already noted, it could be here that SOJTF-OIR has scored most of its kills by calling in air strikes and artillery fire during grueling battles for critical cities, such as Mosul , which was ISIS’ de facto capital in Iraq.

Some of the aerial attacks could conceivably have come from within the task force itself. In its Email to The War Zone, CJTF-OIR’s media office confirmed the existence of a Joint Special Operations Air Component within the unit, though they declined to specify what types or how many aircraft it had on hand. MH-60M and MH-47G helicopters from the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), as well as at least one of the U.S. Air Force’s 27th Special Operations Wing’s AC-130W Stinger II gunships, have appeared in publicly available images and video clips. Some of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones zipping around Iraq and Syria could have come from other Air Force special operations squadrons. In addition, the service’s CV-22 Ospreys have joined Marine MV-22s to shuttle elite forces around.

The MH-60Ms can carry miniguns, 2.75” rockets and Hellfire missiles. Pentagon data suggested the 160th SOAR fired a significant number of the rockets, which could include laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System-II (APKWS-II) variants, in both Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan. Similarly, for a period in 2016, SOCOM reported special operations units around the world were firing an average of two AGM-176 Griffin missiles, which have laser- and GPS-guidance, every day .

The AC-130W, MQ-1 and MQ-9 can all carry these small weapons. The Stinger II also has a 30mm cannon and can carry Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) glide bombs, while the Predators and Reapers can lob Hellfires and GBU-12 laser-guided bombs, as well. All of these weapons could be potent in targeted strikes or while the aircraft were providing close air support for specialized missions, such as the raid on Al Tabqa Dam near the Syrian city of Raqqa. There might be heretofore unseen weapons in the mix , too.

There’s always the possibility elite American troops, including snipers, could have claimed even more ISIS fighters with small arms and light weapons as they advance alongside Iraqi, Syrian, and Kurdish forces. And despite the willingness of President Donald Trump’s administration to send more conventional troops to the region, these special operations missions will likely remain a critical part of the broad campaign against the terrorist organization. After Trump’s election victory in November 2016, President Barack Obama had already reportedly expanded JSOC’s worldwide authorities to go after militants.

Prolly US NSW in #MosulOffensive MC Black matches recent pictures, neat Mk13 (Mod5/7/8?), Spuhr mount, PEQ-15 and RULR. Old HTC radio pouch? pic.twitter.com/LV011fJ5PD — Abraxas Spa (@AbraxasSpa) March 17, 2017

Prolly US NSW in #MosulOffensive MC Black matches recent pictures, neat Mk13 (Mod5/7/8?), Spuhr mount, PEQ-15 and RULR. Old HTC radio pouch? pic.twitter.com/LV011fJ5PD

Trump’s Defense Secretary James Mattis has taken his own hard line against ISIS. In February, he gave the White House a new plan on how to break the terrorists in Iraq and Syria, as well as elsewhere around the world. “It is a plan to rapidly defeat ISIS,” Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesperson, said during a briefing on Feb. 28, 2017.

However, Mattis has also expressed his general distaste for body counts. “For many years, we have not been calculating the results of warfare by simply quantifying the number of enemy killed,” he told reporters as he toured American military operations throughout the Middle East in April 2017. “You don’t want to start calculating things, as far as what matters, in the crude terms of battle casualties.” )

But whether SOJTF-OIR’s estimated kills are a useful metric, or not, it does make one thing clear, the Pentagon’s revised strategy for defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria continues to rely heavily on special operators hunting down relatively small terrorist groups or even going after specific individuals.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com

Comments couldn’t be loaded. Please refresh the page.

作者：约瑟夫·特雷维西克

更新于美国东部时间2020年7月3日凌晨4:22

虽然伤亡人数并非衡量军事行动成功与否的有效指标，但它可以很好地反映战场上的激烈程度。因此，如果官方统计准确，那么由美国领导的、在伊拉克和叙利亚打击“伊斯兰国”的特种作战部队（包括美国神秘的联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）、外国伙伴和私人承包商）对此次任务产生了巨大且可能不平衡的影响。

2017年4月14日，特种作战联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（SOJTF-OIR）总部成员在西南亚某处未公开地点举行的仪式上领取了新的、具有独特标识的部队臂章。负责监督SOJTF-OIR的美国主导的打击ISIS的联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（CJTF-OIR）发布了此次仪式的多张照片。

尽管照片中充满了各种有趣的小细节——例如美国陆军和海军陆战队特种作战人员以及英国和土耳其军官的参与——但最令人震惊的信息却在照片说明文字中。“自成立以来，SOJTF-OIR已解放了超过45000平方公里此前被ISIS占领的土地，并击毙了超过21000名ISIS武装分子，”文字写道。

之后不久，联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动悄悄地从图片中删除了这条信息。然而，该指挥部的一名公共事务官员在给《战区》的一封电子邮件中证实了这一数字以及明显的拼写错误。

“自成立以来，联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（SOJTF-OIR）为削弱敌人‘伊斯兰国’做出了巨大贡献，”媒体办公室补充道。“……这个数字只是一个估计值。杀戮人数并非联军行动的重点。联军的目标是彻底击败这个野蛮残暴的敌人‘伊斯兰国’。”

2017年4月，一名美国陆军特种作战联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（SOJTF-OIR）成员在一次仪式上佩戴了该部队的新臂章。（美国陆军）

尽管并非其行动重点，但SOJTF-OIR的击杀数量巨大，在整个美国领导的联军总击杀数中占比极高。截至2017年4月，CJTF-OIR估计自2014年以来已击毙约7万名ISIS武装分子。这意味着SOJTF-OIR（以及可能包括其前身组织）对伊拉克和叙利亚境内所有恐怖分子死亡人数的约30%负有责任。

然而，特种作战部队受到的关注远不及空战，甚至不如日益增多的常规炮兵行动。当然，我们并不清楚联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（SOJTF-OIR）是否将在其人员执行的空袭或炮击中丧生的恐怖分子计入最终的战果。但通过深入挖掘现有信息，以及《战区》（The War Zone）根据《信息自由法》（FOIA）获取的各种文件，我们可以更全面地展现这场以情报为主导、旨在击毙恐怖组织头目并打击其他高价值目标的行动。

这项行动中最明显但却最不为人知的部分是联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）特遣部队的工作。这支精锐部队在2015年被公开称为“远征目标部队”（ETF），据时任国防部长阿什顿·卡特称，他们当时将前往伊拉克，甚至可能越过边境进入叙利亚执行任务。

“随着时间的推移，特种作战人员将能够开展突袭行动、解救人质、收集情报并抓捕伊斯兰国领导人，”他在2015年12月1日向议员们发表的声明中解释道（他使用了伊斯兰国的另一个缩写）。“这将形成一个良性循环：更好的情报带来更多目标、更多突袭行动和更大的推进势头。”

正如五角大楼所描述的那样，这一概念似乎与2003年至2011年美国领导的占领伊拉克期间，由特种作战部队主导的、备受争议的打击伊拉克基地组织（ISIS的前身）和其他恐怖分子的行动非常相似。该计划通常被认为是陆军上将斯坦利·麦克里斯特尔的构想，他曾指挥驻伊拉克联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）特遣部队，直到2003年9月接管这个高度机密的司令部。

卡特在2016年2月29日五角大楼举行的一次公开简报会上补充道：“这是我们加速行动的一部分，旨在开展各种类型的突袭，夺取地点和人员，解救被‘伊斯兰国’扣押的人质和囚犯，让‘伊斯兰国’时刻担心在任何地点、任何时间都可能遭到打击。我只能说，特别工作组已经就位，正在发挥作用并进行运作，我预计它将成为我们加速行动中非常有效的一部分。关于这一点，我没有更多信息要补充。”

尽管卡特没有明确表示联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）领导了此次行动，但他在2016年10月25日与法国国防部长让-伊夫·勒德里昂举行的联合新闻发布会上承认，该司令部的部分人员正在该地区开展行动。他宣称：“我们已将联合特种作战司令部置于打击‘伊斯兰国’（ISIL）境外行动的领导地位。我们在减少外国武装分子流入和清除战场上的‘伊斯兰国’领导人方面已经取得了非常显著的成果。”

得益于《信息自由法》，战区网站从美国陆军关于一架神秘间谍飞机坠毁事件的官方报告中获得了更深入的信息。这架飞机注册号为N6351V，涂装与民用飞机相符，于2016年3月5日坠毁在伊拉克北部卡乌尔戈斯克镇附近的一片田野中。尽管出于行动安全考虑，事故报告最初经过大量删减和大幅缩减，但正式审查证实，该飞机当时正在支援联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）的部队。

正式的监管链始于美国陆军航空与导弹司令部（AMCOM），该司令部是陆军所有类型飞机的最高管理机构。然后，监管链向下传递至固定翼飞机项目经理（PM-FW）和空中情报传感器项目经理（PM-SAI），最终到达美国特种作战司令部（SOCOM）。在事件发生时，联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）被列为“相关机构”。

尽管任务性质敏感，但根据陆军规程，这起A级事故必须进行调查，这意味着事故要么造成飞机损失超过200万美元，要么有人丧生。所幸的是，这次事故无人伤亡，但飞机完全损毁。

“失事飞机隶属于驻扎在伊拉克埃尔比勒国际机场的一个特遣部队，”陆军调查人员在报告中解释道。“失事机组人员原计划在当地执行例行任务，该任务已列入特遣部队的飞行计划中。”

2016年3月事故发生后，N6351V飞机的残骸停放在埃尔比勒机场的受控机库内。（图片来源：美国陆军，根据《信息自由法》提供）

调查结果本身并无定论。改装后的King Air 300系列飞机的两台发动机在驾驶舱突然冒出浓烟后发生故障。在发现机舱内有碎片后，陆军将两台PT6A涡轮螺旋桨发动机送往位于西弗吉尼亚州布里奇波特的普惠加拿大公司（P&WC）进行进一步分析。调查人员将燃油和机油样本送往军方实验室进行单独检测，结果未发现任何危险杂质。

“一号发动机前齿轮箱壳体与发动机燃烧室壳体断裂，露出齿轮箱行星齿轮内部的严重损坏。拆除排气管后，发现内燃室壳体和动力涡轮机也严重受损。一号发动机金属屑探测器探测到大量金属碎片，”调查人员在埃尔比勒机场的受控机库内开始检查残骸时发现。“二号发动机未发现任何明显损坏。”

N6351V右翼残骸。（美国陆军通过《信息自由法》提供）

但关于这架飞机本身的细节尤其引人注目，它揭示了联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）在伊拉克和叙利亚的行动方式，以及其可能在全球范围内应用的行动程序。虽然一份官方文件将其描述为MC-12W“自由”运输机，但我们现在知道，N6351V实际上是一架政府所有、承包商运营的中空侦察监视系统（MARSS）。

这套空中情报系统包括昼夜视觉摄像机、激光测距仪和指示器组合设备，以及用于发现和监视敌方通信的信号情报（SIGINT）设备。2009年，美国陆军最初雇佣承包商在各种飞机上搭载这套设备，包括King Air 200和300系列飞机以及更大的庞巴迪Dash-7飞机。

MARSS飞机被派往阿富汗，成为联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）“观察、探测、识别和中止增强型”（ODIN-E）特遣部队的基础。该特遣部队的主要任务是搜寻埋设路边炸弹的武装分子。ODIN-E以最初在伊拉克开创的ODIN特遣部队的理念为基础。根据另一份《信息自由法》申请，陆军表示，在2013年至2014年间，他们一次性购买了注册号为N6351V的MARSS飞机，以及另一架注册号为N8007U的MARSS飞机。2015年7月的一份表格显示，这两架飞机以及其他八架基于King Air 300的空中侦察机都驻扎在佐治亚州的亨特陆军机场。将这两架JSOC飞机与其他飞机（它们共享许多相同的基本机身和发动机部件）集中部署，可以降低维护成本，并使它们不被陆军自己的机队发现。

此外，科珀斯克里斯蒂陆军基地提供的燃油和机油纯度测试报告（附于主要事件报告之后）表明，联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）可能在不同飞机之间互换注册号，以掩盖其行动。记者兼作家肖恩·内勒在其2015年出版的关于JSOC的著作《无情打击》（Relentless Strike）中，详细探讨了该司令部对“隐蔽空中行动”的使用，即“人员和飞机在秘密状态下行动”的行动。《战区》（The War Zone）网站此前已对美军最神秘的航空部队进行了深入报道。

本次审查包含了N6351V从2014年8月至2016年3月的历史抽样数据。最后三条记录显示“N166BA”为所谓的“最终产品序列号”（EISN）。2016年，飞机观察员多次利用FlightRadar24.com等网站在伊拉克上空追踪到这架飞机以及另一架疑似比奇空中国王300型间谍飞机（注册号N80BZ）。为了持续追踪伊斯兰国武装分子及其特定目标的行动，从而构建所谓的“生活模式”，联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）显然需要不止一架飞机。

伊拉克摩苏尔上空 美国陆军BE30 #N166BA https://t.co/TfosZHyb8u pic.twitter.com/qaLIFJh10E — CivMilAir ✈🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@CivMilAir) 2016年6月12日

伊拉克摩苏尔上空，美军BE30 #N166BA https://t.co/TfosZHyb8u pic.twitter.com/qaLIFJh10E

情报收集：摩苏尔 #伊拉克 #N80BZ 和 #N166BA https://t.co/t13iOw8cbw pic.twitter.com/YvXrXgpmkh — CivMilAir ✈🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@CivMilAir) 2016年6月28日

情报收集：摩苏尔 #伊拉克 #N80BZ 和 #N166BA https://t.co/t13iOw8cbw pic.twitter.com/YvXrXgpmkh

也有可能陆军出于某种原因，有意或无意地将两架飞机的燃油和润滑油测试记录合并在了一起，或者陆军在购买机身时更改了序列号。2009 年一张 N166BA 的照片显示，它与 N6351V 是一架类似的飞机，但整体涂装为灰色。

为了持续追踪伊斯兰国武装分子及其特定目标的行动轨迹，从而构建所谓的“生活模式”，联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）需要的不仅仅是一架飞机。2015年7月的一份陆军表格显示，JSOC拥有N6351V号飞机，以及另一架可能是由承包商运营的MARSS飞机——N8007U号，此外还有其他八架基于King Air 300平台的空中侦察机，它们都驻扎在佐治亚州的亨特陆军机场。将这两架JSOC飞机与其他飞机（它们共享许多相同的基本机身和发动机部件）集中部署，可以降低维护成本，并使它们不被陆军自身的机队发现。

一架在阿富汗的MARSS飞机，美国陆军

无论这架飞机的来源如何，也无论联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）实际控制了多少架飞机，事故报告中关于N6351V最引人注目的细节或许是其机组人员。四名机组人员中，只有一人是美国军方人员。这位美国海军陆战队炮兵中士担任飞机的“战术系统操作员”，负责操作信号情报系统。审查人员隐去了此人的姓名，报告中也没有提及他所属的部队，但他可能来自海军陆战队特种作战司令部（MARSOC）或海军陆战队三个鲜为人知的通信截获无线电营之一，并被调派至联合特种作战司令部。

飞机上其余人员——飞行员、副驾驶和全动态视频专家——都是 ASKII Technology, Inc. 的合同工。毫不奇怪，这家总部位于新泽西州的公司在其网站上自豪地宣称，过去曾为特种作战司令部 (SOCOM)、奥丁特遣队 (Task Force ODIN) 和多传感器空中情报监视侦察 (MAISR) 计划提供支持，该计划为奥丁特遣队 (Task Force ODIN-E) 提供承包商支持。

坠机事件发生后不久，2016年3月23日，很可能来自欧洲远征军（ETF）的精锐部队在叙利亚的一次突袭中击毙了当时伊斯兰国的二号人物拉赫曼·穆斯塔法·卡杜利。2017年4月6日，在叙利亚进行的另一次类似特种作战行动中，一名乌兹别克族外国武装分子阿卜杜拉赫蒙·乌兹别克被击毙。五角大楼称他是伊斯兰国头目阿布·贝克尔·巴格达迪的“亲密伙伴”。

值得注意的是，我们并不了解联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）在伊拉克和叙利亚的各组成部分与统领该司令部的联合特种作战部队-坚定决心行动（SOJTF-OIR）之间的确切关系。在阿富汗，一支同样未明确具体身份的“特遣部队”负责对该国的恐怖分子进行定点打击，至少名义上是规模更大的阿富汗联合特种作战部队（SOJTF-A）的一部分。

美国特种作战人员和美国空军成员在科威特举行的“雄鹰决心2017”联合军演期间合影留念。（美国陆军）

此外，早在卡特宣布成立远征目标部队之前，已有证据表明美军正计划对“伊斯兰国”发起一场更加专业的军事行动。2014年7月，美国和约旦特种部队试图从“伊斯兰国”手中解救二十多名人质，但以失败告终。之后，恐怖分子公开斩首了部分人质，其中包括美国人詹姆斯·福利、史蒂夫·索特洛夫和彼得·卡西格。同年晚些时候，精锐部队在另一次营救行动中也以失败告终，他们试图解救被残暴的武装分子强迫“嫁给”其头目巴格达迪并沦为性奴的美国人道主义者凯拉·穆勒。穆勒于2015年2月在狱中去世。

根据一份平民伤亡指控汇总表，在直接打击恐怖组织头目方面，至少有一架A-10“疣猪”攻击机于2015年4月12日左右在伊拉克哈维贾附近袭击了一名代号为“安德斯·梅萨”的高价值目标。2015年5月，据报道，在叙利亚的一次地面突袭行动中，三角洲部队和英国特种空勤团（SAS）参与其中，击毙了当时的“伊斯兰国”副指挥官阿布·萨亚夫，并抓获了该武装分子的妻子乌姆·萨亚夫。据报道，两人曾一度挟持穆勒为人质。

“自 5 月初以来，高价值个人 (HVI) 袭击已造成约 70 名高级和中级领导人丧生，”时任联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动 (CJTF-OIR) 首席发言人的陆军上校史蒂夫·沃伦 (Steve Warren) 于 2015 年 10 月 13 日告诉记者。“这相当于每两天就有一名高价值个人被杀。”

随后，在2015年10月22日，陆军一级军士长约书亚·惠勒在与库尔德突击队联合突袭伊拉克北部哈维贾镇附近的一个恐怖分子监狱营地时阵亡。后来证实，惠勒是三角洲特种部队的成员，该部队专门为联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）的行动提供兵力。

美国中央司令部通过《信息自由法》

到2014年，五角大楼已经为伊拉克和叙利亚两个战线分别组建了规模更大的多国特种作战特遣部队——联合特种作战特遣部队-伊拉克（CJSOTF-I）和联合特种作战特遣部队-叙利亚（CJSOTF-S）。当“坚定决心行动”（SOJTF-OIR）成立时，五角大楼规定其指挥官必须兼任联合跨部门特遣部队-叙利亚（CJIATF-S）的指挥官，实际上将整个打击“伊斯兰国”的特种作战行动置于一人指挥之下。

虽然这些部队的主要任务一直是并将继续是训练和指导两国当地部队，但这些活动也使美国特种作战人员越来越接近前线。正如前文所述，美国联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（SOJTF-OIR）的大部分战果可能正是在争夺关键城市（例如摩苏尔，ISIS在伊拉克的实际首都）的艰苦战斗中，通过呼叫空袭和炮火支援取得的。

部分空中袭击很可能来自特遣部队内部。联合特遣部队-坚定决心行动（CJTF-OIR）媒体办公室在发给“战区”（The War Zone）的电子邮件中证实，该部队内部存在一支联合特种作战航空部队，但拒绝透露其具体机型和数量。公开的图片和视频片段中出现了陆军第160特种作战航空团（SOAR）的MH-60M和MH-47G直升机，以及至少一架美国空军第27特种作战联队的AC-130W“毒刺II”炮艇机。在伊拉克和叙利亚上空飞行的MQ-1“捕食者”和MQ-9“死神”无人机可能来自其他空军特种作战中队。此外，空军的CV-22“鱼鹰”倾转旋翼机也加入了海军陆战队MV-22的行列，负责运送精锐部队。

MH-60M直升机可携带迷你机枪、2.75英寸火箭弹和“地狱火”导弹。五角大楼的数据显示，第160特种作战航空团在伊拉克、叙利亚和阿富汗发射了大量火箭弹，其中可能包括激光制导的先进精确杀伤武器系统-II（APKWS-II）改进型。同样，美国特种作战司令部（SOCOM）报告称，在2016年的某个时期，世界各地的特种作战部队平均每天发射两枚AGM-176“格里芬”导弹，该导弹采用激光和GPS制导。

AC-130W、MQ-1 和 MQ-9 都能携带这些小型武器。毒刺 II 导弹也配备一门 30 毫米机炮，并可携带小直径滑翔炸弹 (SDB)；而捕食者无人机和死神无人机则可投掷地狱火导弹和 GBU-12 激光制导炸弹。所有这些武器在定点打击或为特殊任务（例如对叙利亚拉卡市附近的塔布卡大坝的突袭）提供近距离空中支援时都可能发挥重要作用。此外，可能还包含一些此前未曾见过的武器。

美军精锐部队，包括狙击手，在与伊拉克、叙利亚和库尔德部队并肩作战的过程中，或许能够使用小型武器和轻型武器击毙更多“伊斯兰国”武装分子。尽管特朗普政府愿意向该地区派遣更多常规部队，但这些特种作战任务很可能仍将是打击该恐怖组织全面行动的关键组成部分。据报道，在特朗普于2016年11月赢得大选后，奥巴马总统已经扩大了联合特种作战司令部（JSOC）在全球范围内打击武装分子的权限。

可能是美国海军特种作战司令部（NSW）在摩苏尔战役中使用的装备，MC Black与最近的照片相符，配备精良的Mk13（Mod5/7/8？）、Spuhr支架、PEQ-15和RULR。老式HTC对讲机包？ pic.twitter.com/LV011fJ5PD — Abraxas Spa (@AbraxasSpa) 2017年3月17日

可能是美国海军特种作战司令部（NSW）在摩苏尔战役中使用的装备，与最近的照片相符，包括一把整洁的Mk13步枪（可能是Mod5/7/8？）、Spuhr枪架、PEQ-15红外测距仪和RULR无线电对讲机。还有个旧的HTC对讲机包？ pic.twitter.com/LV011fJ5PD

特朗普的国防部长詹姆斯·马蒂斯对“伊斯兰国”采取了强硬立场。今年2月，他向白宫提交了一份新的计划，旨在打击伊拉克、叙利亚以及世界其他地区的恐怖分子。“这是一项迅速击败‘伊斯兰国’的计划，”五角大楼发言人、海军上校杰夫·戴维斯在2017年2月28日的新闻发布会上表示。

然而，马蒂斯也曾表达过他对统计伤亡人数的普遍反感。2017年4月，他在视察中东地区的美军行动时告诉记者：“多年来，我们并没有简单地通过量化敌军死亡人数来衡量战争的结果。你不能用粗略的战斗伤亡人数来衡量真正重要的事情。”

但无论 SOJTF-OIR 估计的击杀数是否是一个有用的指标，它确实清楚地表明了一点，五角大楼修订后的打击伊拉克和叙利亚境内 ISIS 的战略仍然严重依赖特种作战人员追捕相对较小的恐怖组织，甚至追捕特定个人。

联系作者：joe@thedrive.com

评论加载失败，请刷新页面。