I have received numerous PMs regarding my comments, thank you - so much better than venting your spleen in public.
Just to make sure that it is publicly acknowledged, the individual personal courage of those crews/personnel that day that made those tactical decisions at that specific moment in time of the battle was never in question. Brave indeed.
However, I believe that there may be some mixed messages with many believing that the CH 47/'twin engined Tq monster' was not suitable for the job.
I can readily accept this point of view (having no love for either the 'Freaks' or the 'Old Queen of the skies', but those in the know or those that aren't who just Google CSAR-X, will see that the US obviously believe that the 'happy hooker' (as they refer to their CH-47s) is more than suited in their opinion as they have just procured 141 of them for this role after a quite exhaustive tendering process looking at a number of platforms.
If availible (and there lies the question), an Apache/CH 47 mix would have been a pretty potent rescue package that has seemed to have worked so far in theatre for some of the other recovery style missions.
Last edited by MaroonMan4; 1st February 2007 at 12:54.