Operation Red Dawn
Operation Red Dawn was a counter operation during Operation Hellhound. As in the description of Operation Hellhound, many black hawks went down during the operation. One of them was an exfil helo for the retreating Task Force Ghost operators. The Blackhawk was shot down while going in for landing. This Blackhawk had two pilots, one who was KIA, and shall not be named. The other was Nightstalker 1-2, Petey. Nightstalker Petey went MIA during the crash of the Blackhawk and wasn't heard from in a few days.
A few Search and Rescue teams were sent in however non of them found the missing pilot.
Ghost Actual was given Intel that Petey was being held captive at a NOOSE building a few miles out of Los Santos. Ghost Actual Ordered a team of 4, including a pilot to rescue the missing pilot before he was executed by the hostile forces.
The team consisted of, Ghost "Optic", Ghost "Athens", Ghost "Death", Ghost "Fives" and Nightstalker "Semtex".
Ghost Optic was head of this Operation, himself and his fellow team members knew that there was no support for this Operation. So this may of been a one way ticket.
The mission was quite simple, infiltrate the NOOSE HQ over night and find evidence of what happened to the missing pilot. Nightstalker "Semtex" would infil the team at the cost, and then exfil the team once ready. When the team did land on the coast they moved through the hill side very effective without alerting on coming hostile patrols. When they were outside the HQ, Ghost "Death" took out the guards on night duty and then the team were clear to move in.
When they arrived, Ghost "Fives" & "Athens" went to look for signs of interrogation while "Optic" and "Death" stood as look outs.
However the operation took a big toll and the local authorities who were on pay roll by the infamous PMC "Merry Weather" went over to the NOOSE HQ to re-secure their building.
A solid firefight between "Death" & "Optic" verses the local police forces went on for at most 10 minutes while the rest of the team were looking for intel.
Once they had gathered all the intel they needed and no sign of the pilot they decided to bug out and leave. "Death" & "Optic" fell back to the heart of the building and went for the roof, attempting to secure an LZ.
Once the team had regrouped and were ready for exfil, they saw a flare off in the distance over the hillside. "Optic" very hiestate about this, knew in his gut that it was Nightstalker "Petey".
They continued to hold off the incoming waves of hostiles, they then saw a black outline on the hillside.
As dusk was coming in and it become early morning, Ghost "Athens" without a second to think twice, ran towards "Petey" to recover him, the team covered "Athens" the best they possibly could and both of them made it back to the LZ for exfil.
"Athens" has now been awarded the Purple Heart for his bravery in battle and putting his team before his own safety.
Once exfil was successful the team went back to FOB for debriefing and for "Petey" to go to med-bay for patching up. Here is "Petey's" story of what happened.
'When I woke up, I was in a dark room, I must of been knocked out for hours, maybe days. I had no idea. They tried to interrogate me of course. But that never works on Ghosts or Nightstalkers. Ever. We don't break and never will. Once they had told me I was a waste of their time I knew my end was coming up soon. I was worried for my loved ones but also for my fellow soliders as I had no idea how Operation Hellhound had went as I was MIA.
'Two men escorted me out of the building, armed with weapons of course.They put a bag over my head and took me down to the coast, I knew the smell of the sea all too well. As they put me on my knees on the sandy beach and put a 45. to the back of my head, shots rang out and they were distracted.' 'When they heard them they were confused and they called in their reports of the shots. They were told that friendlies were in bound to assist.'
'As they were debating on what to do with me, I felt at my knees a large rock and I grabbed it quickly, hoping they didn't notice. One man said he needs a pee, the other man said he would clean up here and that they should head back to the NOOSE building. As the man put his pistol back up at my forehead, I followed my training, disarmed him, got on top of him and even with the bag over my head I killed him with the rock. I managed to do it without him even shouting for help.' I took the bag off and cut the rope that bounded my hands together. I waited for his friend to return and then I shot him from the bushes.' 'I then searched their bodies for a radio and I found a flaregun on one of them'.
'I had no idea if it was friendlies, but I ran the best I could on a messed up leg towards to gun fire, when I saw "Optic" on the roof, I shot the flare gun and that's when "Athens" incredibly ran to me and took me from the hillside all the way to the building.'
'I guess you all know the rest, I'm just happy I'm home again and I can still fly...'
Operation Red Dawn serves as a brave and unforgettable reminder that 'No man is left behind' no matter where they are we will always find and bring our men home, no matter their condition.
