EPISODE 26
THE FINAL MISSION OF EXTORTION 17
LOOKING FOR AN OPTIC?
The JonBenet Ramsey Murder Mystery
In the mid-90s a little girl was reported to be kidnapped but was later found dead in the basement of her large, Boulder CO home. The case remains unsolved today, and several procedural errors on behalf of the officers and investigators who responded to the scene tainted our best chances to identify and prosecute Jon Benet’s killer. Many believe the parents or her older brother were to blame. A sex offender claimed to be responsible but there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove it. Some think that the family’s wealth and political ties had something to do with it. We may not ever know the truth. Mike and Jim give a synopsis of the event and talk about some of the mis-steps that might have helped detectives solve the mystery.
“I would just shoot him,” and other imaginary outcomes.
Most of us have daydreamed, imagined, and rehearsed what certain survival or self-defense encounters will look like in our minds, so we are going to make fun of our younger-selves and shed some light on something we are all guilty of: The Tactical Fantasy. This episode is about making sure that we ground those fantasies in reality. This goes beyond truck guns and the Zombie Apocalypse, it also speaks to the OODA loop, tactics, risk management, and other important concepts. Mike and Jim walk through some practical steps to stage our equipment, preparedness, and mindset accordingly.
The Millennium Bomber: Terrorist Attack Thwarted by CBP
A terror plot at the turn of the century was thwarted by the professionalism of CBP Agent Diana Dean. You might not have heard of the foiled plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport amidst New Year’s celebrations for the year 2000. This Al Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack was prevented by an Agent who noted Ahmed Ressam’s suspicious behavior and sent him to a secondary inspection. We touch on pre-attack indicators, the radicalization process, and a defense strategy called “The Swiss Cheese Model.”
Ed Darack is an author and war reporter who has embedded with US forces in Afghanistan and written a couple books about it. Extortion 17 was a US Chinook helicopter that was shot down by a lucky hit by a Taliban fighter with an RPG. 38 US and Afghan personnel and a military working dog were killed in what became the largest single loss of Special Operations personnel in Afghanistan. Just so happens, Jim was deployed at the time of the incident and has personal connections with the story. In the aftermath, several rumors and conspiracy theories surfaced about the incident, and Ed wrote an article and then a book to get the story right and honor the memories of the personnel and crew who were killed that night.
The article, The Final Flight of Extortion 17
The book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17
For an overview on Afghanistan, Ed’s book Victory Point
Remember that we publish new episodes on the 1st and the 15th of every month! Find us on Facebook @TacTangents or email us at info@tacticaltangents.com
Intro music credit: Bensound.com
Photo Credit: Ed Darack and Luke Downey (used with permission)
The Final Mission of Extortion 17, has brought relief to so many parents who were disgusted with the baseless and ignorant conspiracy theories. We were needlessly tortured by the thought it was a setup, when those that really bothered to interview the soldiers, and from soldiers that were there the night of the shoot down.
So our sincere thanks to you for telling the truth in a book, that factually reported it was just a lucky shot. Not some dumb thing attached to Bengasi.
thank you too for remembering those in other branches of the service that lost their lives that night.