BRIEF

JDAM Gone Wrong

At around 11am local time U.S. and British Special Forces arrived and again made an attempt to retrieve Spann’s body.¹  They entered via the main gate and then divided their number between two positions within the fort, designated Close Air Support 1 (CAS 1) above the main gate and CAS 2 at the northeast tower.²  A Quick Reaction Force (QRF) was set up on the road 300-400 meters north of the fortress.

Twenty minutes later a 2000 lb. Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, GBU-31, struck the north wall, only meters from the northeast tower, basically on top of CAS 2.³  All five U.S. personnel were wounded, one seriously.  It is possible that British SBS troops were also wounded in the incident but it is unclear as the British government failed to say so.  Two Northern Alliance soldiers inside the T-55 tank on the northeast tower were killed instantly when their tank was flipped over, the blast ripping the turret from the hull.  Dozens of other Afghans scurried off the wall stumbling into nearby cotton fields, many of them bloody and covered in dust. Most of the Northern Alliance soldiers along the north wall withdrew from the fortress in fear of further errant bomb strikes. 

There have been multiple reports as to why the GBU-32 missed the designated target and hit CAS 2, including the possibility that the pilot mixed the coordinates.  Also, that the laser designator being used by CAS 2 went dead forcing the Air Force Combat Air Controller to put in new batteries, which reset the coordinates to the device’s position, which were then transmitted to the aircraft overhead.

The misguided bomb strike marked the end of any Afghan or U.S. military operations during the remaining daylight hours on Monday.  However, there continued to be a steady stream of mortar and rocket fire coming from the southern courtyard.  At dusk Special Forces and other U.S. personnel (referred to as OGA or other government agency) returned to the fortress to talk to Northern Alliance commanders and survey the bomb damage.  They were also there to discuss their next move.  The prisoner revolt was not yet over and Mike Spann’s body was still somewhere in the southern courtyard.

¹According to the London Daily Telegraph, March 26, 2002, the British Special Forces personnel at Qala-i Jangi were six members of the Special Boat Service (SBS).

²CAS 2 included the following U.S. personnel:  From the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell Kentucky; Captain Paul, Captain Kevin, Sergeant First Class Paul, and First Sergeant David.  There was also one U.S. Air Force Combat Controller, Sergeant Mike.

³The GBU-31 is a 2000lb bomb with a JDAM kit attached, while the GBU-32 is the smaller 1000lb bomb with a JDAM kit attached, and primarily used by the Navy/Marines.

Additional Afghanistan Material by CFR:

For an inside look at reporting the uprising at Qala Jangi see CFR’s feature length documentary Fog and Friction. CFR Director Dodge Billingsley and TIME Magazine’s Alex Perry were there as the battle unfolded, trying to make sense of this watershed event in the war for Afghanistan.

Qala-i Jangi Satellite Imagery

Spann Interrogates John Walker at Qala-i Jangi Transcript

Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan