Page 49 - DFCS NEWS MAGAZINE 2020-1

Roberts recalled the initial weather, “not too bad at mission notification time: overcast clouds at about 1,000 feet and good visibility at two-to-three miles, with light rain. But everyone knew the weather in the mountains surrounding Kabul would be treacherous.” However, as they lifted off and headed east, they ran into a heavy layer of clouds hanging low and nearly turned around. Roberts climbed above the cloud layer as his wingman Willi brought his aircraft in tight to maintain visual contact. Gen. Barat navigated them up the familiar valley with the ancient Kabul-Jalalabad road below and as they crested the pass at the Tangi Abresham or “Gorge of Silk” they could see the raging river and severe flooding as it opened into the broad valley ahead.
The flood waters had completely washed out the land area in the river basins. Local farmers, families and nomadic herdsman were stranded on isolated little islands of land surrounded by the rapidly rising water. Roberts and Willi immediately started rescuing people and moving them to higher ground. Afghan crewmembers and interpreters aboard each helicopter helped with getting people aboard safely. Over the next 45 minutes the two helicopters rescued 38 survivors. After a last reconnaissance to make sure everyone in the immediate area had been rescued, the flight
returned to Jalalabad to refuel.
The Governor of Nangarhar Province and Mayor of Jalalabad requested more rescue flights to the north and east of
the city where severe flooding was taking place at the junction of the Kabul and Kunar Rivers. The flight set off in that direction to discover hundreds in need of assistance. As the day wore on, the advisors guided the Afghan crews into a routine. As the aircraft approached and landed, the Afghan crew, interpreters and MSgt. Fife or Lt. Col. Barrow would exit and carry or assist children, women, and the elderly in getting to and into the waiting helicopter. Flight loads swelled to as many as 30 aboard at a time, as they continued their life-saving efforts until dark. Roberts decided to keep the crews at the ready as they settled into the old Soviet control tower building at Jalalabad at nearly 10pm to get some much-needed rest.
Awakened at 4:30am, Roberts and Barat were advised that villagers just north of town needed immediate rescue. Using the same techniques as the day before, the Afghan crews and USAF advisors worked together to rescue 59 more survivors in three trips. One of those involved the rescue of 12 survivors in what Lt. Col. Willi recalled as “the most memorable and gallant individual effort of the entire mission....”
Colonel Willi described the details in his after-action report: “Our rescues involved the recovery of a group of two men and two children (a 10-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl.) MSgt. Fife had de-planed and was assisting the people to board the aircraft. The two men were ahead of the children. As Fife was hurrying over to assist the children, they fell into the fast water and started being swept down the river. Completely disregarding his own safety and without a
tether, Fife immediately jumped into the dangerously swift water and went after the children. I didn’t see him come up at first and I knew that if he continued to be swept down the river, there was nothing I could do. Miraculously Fife popped up from the water, retrieved the kids and secured them, tucked them under his arms and trudged through the rushing river and rotor wash back to the helicopter and to safety. He saved their lives.”
USAF MSgt. Kevin Fife helping a father and son get to the safety of the MI-17 rescue helicopter #702 before nearly losing his own life in a daring rescue of two children from the swift currents. His Aircraft Commander Lt. Col. Bernard “Jeep” Willi would describe Fife’s selfless actions as “the most memorable and gallant individual effort of the entire mission...”
SUMMER 2020 / DFCS News Magazine / 49