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Situation
Ratyan changed KRA's posture from watching American activity to hunting it.
A second element of 7th Reconnaissance Platoon was raised and equipped at short notice, from whatever transport could be found. It went out larger than the platoon had fielded before, with a replacement anti-air vehicle attached.
The task was a set of raids on suspected CIA compounds. It never started.
2 American UH-60s came down near Mansoura, close to the platoon's staging position, with crew and passengers believed alive. The Americans would move fast to recover both.
Command set 2 conditions. Both flight recorders were to come back. The platoon was not to be lost getting them. Holding ground came second to staying intact.
How it played out
Both crash sites were reached ahead of the American recovery force.
The aircraft were stripped of flight recorders, radios and documents. Surviving Americans were taken alive rather than killed. What they knew about the build-up around the airbase was worth more than anything left in the wrecks.
The American answer was the same as at Ratyan, and harder. Rather than fight for the wreckage or leave it, they put air over their own downed aircraft.
The platoon withdrew under attack with both recorders, the recovered material and the prisoners.
The marked compounds were raided afterwards, as the situation allowed.
Outcome
Both recorders came back. The prisoners came out alive. The platoon was neither surrounded nor lost.
1 lesson was recorded and has held since. When the Americans want ground they bring air, and they do not leave their equipment standing for anyone else to use. Seen at Ratyan, confirmed at Mansoura.
It set the value of ground-based anti-air for everything that followed.
Shrike: Prelude
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