USSOCOM - SOF Truths

Humans are more important than their hardware.
Their quality is more important than quantities.
SOF cannot be mass-produced.
Competent SOF cannot be created after emergencies occur.
Most special operations require non-SOF assistance.

Thank you for your interest and support as I move forward on this intense and personal story about unsung bravery, triumphs and losses by the men of U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations.

Level Zero Heroes chronicles the battles and losses of U.S. Marine Special Operations Team 8222 in the remote and isolated Bala Morghab River Valley, Afghanistan from October 2009 through June 2010.

"Everything changed when two 82nd Airborne Paratroopers tragically drowned in the mudding Bala Morghab River while trying to retrieve vital supplies from an air drop that had gone terribly wrong. In this one moment, the focus and purpose of the friendly forces at Forward Operating Base Todd was forever altered. With the assist of U.S. Marine Special Operations Team 8222, a massive clearing operation was initiated to break the Taliban's stranglehold on the valley.

It took over six months..."

The Bala Morghab River Valley has been a Taliban stronghold since the being of the Afghanistan War (Operation Enduring Freedom). Located in the rural mountain region of northwest Afghanistan; Bala Morghab is being used by the Taliban as a rest and regrouping area during the winter season when fighting in the rest of the country is at a minimum.

Level Zero Heroes follows the twenty-two members of U.S. Marine Special Operations Team 8222 (MSOT 8222) on their seven month deployment to this unknown valley. The story begins with MSOT 8222 making the dangerous five day convoy through the wild west of Afghanistan to reach the isolated outpost of NATO forces at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Todd. MSOT 8222 gets their first opportunity to test their training when they are engagement by a small Taliban element during a sunset firefight near the Turkmenistan border.

Upon reaching FOB Todd, MSOT 8222 is thrown into the conflict and desperation of NATO and fellow U.S. Forces living there. FOB Todd is a prison, a small detachment of Italian and U.S. Forces are focused on protecting this tiny and vulnerable outpost from the swarming Taliban forces in the valley.

All of this changes when two 82nd Airborne Paratroopers tragically drowned in the mudding Morghab River while trying to retrieve vital supplies from an air drop that had gone terribly wrong. In this one moment, the focus and purpose of the friendly forces at FOB Todd is altered forever. In a massive attempt to recover the two lost soldier’s bodies, the residents of FOB Todd with the assists of MSOT 8222 penetrate outside of the small and fragile security bubble into Taliban held villages. This was called “Operation Hero Recovery” and became one of the most massive and lengthy Personnel Recovery missions in the history of the Afghanistan War.

Over the next six months the book follows MSOT 8222 and ISAF (International Security Assistant Forces) as they use the momentum generated by Operation Hero Recovery to execute an extensive and complex clearing campaign of the Bala Morghab Valley. The Taliban had never seen this type of offensiveness and aggressive actions from ISAF and Afghan Army Units before. Instead of being on winter rest from the heavier fighting in the southeast of the country, the Bala Morghab Taliban were forced to fight thought-out the freezing Morghab winter if they wanted to retain any hope of keeping control over the valley and its vital drug and smuggling routes.

Through-out the long and cold winter, MSOT 8222 was engaged repeatedly as they patrolled deeper and deeper into areas that had not seen U.S. Forces since the beginning of the war. During the early spring of 2010, MSOT 8222 loses a critical member and mentor of the team, Gunnery Sergeant Robert Gilbert, during a firefight in the small village of Burida. This event sends the team into a dark and confused state as they struggle to finish out the mission and the reaming two months of their rotation.

Level Zero Heroes concludes with two massive village clearing operation that results in the breaking of the Taliban’s stranglehold of Bala Morghab. ODA 1314 (Operational Detachment Alpha) and MSOT 8222 along with more than two-hundred Afghan Commandos crush all remaining will to fight in the Bala Morghab Taliban. This book will go into great detail on the largest ground combat operation conducted by Joint/Combined Special Forces Units in Afghanistan to date. The battle for the village of Daneh Pasab which occurred on April 6, 2010.

The events and actions of MSOT 8222 during this seven months transformed the future and provided new hope to the Afghan people of Bala Morghab.

MSOT 8222 leaves Afghanistan with a sense of accomplishment, friendships forged in combat, but still heartbroken over the loss of their teammate and fellow service members at FOB Todd.

Game on -LZH

Contact Information

Thank you for your interest in the Level Zero Heroes story. We look forward to your correspondence. Level Zero Heroes is the first book devoted exclusively to MARSOC and U.S. Marine Special Operations as experienced by the SOF Operators on the ground in Afghanistan. Michael Golembesky, former U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant with U.S. Marine Special Operations Team 8222. We ask that only professional and business related inquiry use the contact/email information provided below. All other questions and comments can be relayed via the Level Zero Heroes Facebook page. Thank you for your interest and support.

-LZH

The general questions and comments please use the following social medias.

Website: www.levelzeroheroes.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LZH
YouTube: www.youtube.com/LZH
St. Martin's Press Publishing: http://us.macmillan.com/SMP.aspx

*Please note that our mailing address is available upon request only.

 

 levelzeroheroes@gmail.com

 Phone number available upon request