60 Sqn Tuesday 9th Back to Bekaa

[0405 Andrew]

60 Squadron

Please sign up below for the forthcoming Back to Bekaa series of missions.

60 squadron is currently awaiting an ATO, but I have been told we will be the lynchpin that the whole series of missions revolve around
I would imagine we will be inserting infantry teams, in the Golan heights and maybe some CASEVAC in the Bekaa valley.


A link to the live brief (to be updated shortly):
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/ ... sp=sharing

A link to the main mission forum:
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=4653

60 Squadron sign up here:
Andrew
Grizzly
Flyco

[0405 Andrew]

The ATO has just arrived.

60 Squadron will be heading to Mount Hermon. This mountain is steeped in history and through the ages has been an important feature in the landscape.
We will be reinforcing the Israeli position with Alliance troops. There will not be a repeat of the First battle of Mount Hermon:

At around 13:00, four Soviet-built MI-8 helicopters lifted off near Damascus and flew west into Lebanon,[clarification needed] where they circled until forty-five minutes into the Syrian shelling of the Golan. They then headed southeast toward the Israeli outpost. The Israelis detected the helicopters at about 15:00, when the team at the upper ski lift reported the sighting and fired at them until they flew out of sight.[11] At 13:45, the artillery officer, along with other officers, noticed that the Syrian artillery units in the plain below were taking the camouflage nets from their guns.[7]

The Syrians began shelling the outpost at 14:00. All the Israeli soldiers in the outpost concentrated in the central hall of the bunker. The platoon officer and the mortar sergeant climbed up to the observation point but had to come back down due to the heavy shelling.[12] An observation officer, a technical assistant and a driver from the 334th Artillery Battalion left the outpost in a half-track for their planned position in the "tank curve" to help pinpoint the artillery in the northern Golan. Six Syrian MiG-17 aircraft attacked the outpost.[13] Three of the helicopters arrived from the west. Two of them landed about thirty paratroopers on Hill 2072, south of the lower ski lift. Most of the Syrian force deployed above the curve south of the upper ski lift to block access to the outpost. A few of them advanced toward the outpost to provide cover. A third helicopter with sixteen paratroopers, who were supposed to block the "tank curve", crashed (a rotor-blade hit the slope[12]). Only three paratroopers survived and joined their comrades at the upper ski lift.[13] They opened fire on the Israeli half-track, which kept driving. The company commander of the EW unit and his driver, who were riding in a jeep on their way to the outpost, saw the Syrians landing and turned back to their unit at the "tank curve", under fire. Three Golani soldiers at the upper ski lift observation post saw the Syrian landing but failed to fire at them due to a machine gun malfunction. After a few minutes, they abandoned their post, which was equipped with a radio, and went down to the lower ski lift to join a platoon positioned there without informing the outpost of the Syrian landing.[13]

Author Abraham Rabinovich wrote that "the fall of the Hermon was for Israel the single most humiliating episode of the Yom Kippur War".[12] Author Walter J. Boyne commented that this was the first time in Israel's history that a commander had abandoned a position while his troops were still fighting.[26] Funk was believed by many Israelis to be at fault for the defeat, as summarized by one soldier: "The officers ran away".[28] The Israelis made a failed attempt to recapture the Hermon on October 8, but finally succeeded on October 21, in Operation Dessert.[29]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Bat ... unt_Hermon

[Grizzly061]

Andy, I'm definately in - This looks like it's going to be a hoot..

[0405 Andrew]

Paul, no you are not!

[Paul(Dragon)0043]

Quit right to, had a bit of a wobbly there, must be my age.

[Flyco]

Yes please.

[Grizzly061]

Has anyone tried the mission recce? The FOB is miles away from Mt Hernon as far as I can see or am I doing something wrong?

[0405 Andrew]

It's not the recce mission. I was still working out what our mission would be

Here's our mission, we'll be taking off from Kiryat Shmona, reinforcing mt Hermon OP at 36 S YC 665 009 , then we will transit south along the border checking for Syrian forward elements. When we get to Quneitra YB 647 668 we will turn back to Kiryat Shmona and report what we have seen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quneitra

Grizzly, would you like to take flight lead? If you would like to plot the route that would be really helpful. Intel indicates that there are Syrian recce patrols in the area. We should be wary of them, tensions have been easing with Syria, but with the flare up in the Bekaa, we are not sure what is going on. I can catch up with you over the weekend.

[Grizzly061]

Roger Andrew - That all makes sense - I will get on it.