Operation Nightfall

Operation Nightfall was a secret mission authorized by Senotor David Palmer to assassinate Balkan war criminal Victor Drazen. The Delta team, lead by Jack Bauer, failed and Drazen survived. All of Bauer's men were lost in the mission, and Drazen's wife and daughter were among the casualties.

Bauer was ordered to assemble a six-man operation detachment (OD) team that would infiltrate Kosovo by air, eliminate the threat posed by Victor Drazen, and move to a distant extraction point where they would be extracted by a Pave Hawk helicopter.

The Operational Detachment team
Warrant Officer Swayne Shelton (Former Green Beret) First Sergeant Brice Gardener (Weapons Officer) First Sergeant Haj Illijec (Communications Officer) First Sergeant Gary Graham (Medical Officer) Technical Sergeant Roger Voss (Air Force Special Operations combat controller) Master Sergeant Fred Peltzer (Intelligence Specialist)

Once they had made visual confirmation of Victor Drazen, they were to call down "Hammer One" - the codename for the F-18 Hornet that would make the air strike against the Drazen Compound.

They arrived at the Drazen Compound at 0800 hours and completed reconnaissance at 0900 hours. At 1111 hours they spotted an armoured car approach the compound and watched the man they assumed to be Victor Drazen enter the house. They called hammer one who had an ETA of 6 minutes.

After the explosion, Bauer called for them to leave the area when he heard shots and realized their radios were being jammed. Bauer hurried to their position to find Shelton, Gardener and Graham dead. Illjec and Peltz were on their way to the extraction point. Bauer followed them and realised they were being tracked by their radio frequency and attacked. It was too late for the others who were shot and killed by the remains of Drazen's men who had located them as they called to be picked up.

From the the Congressional Investigation
Intelligence sources had located Victor Drazen's compound in a Kosovar village called Dakovica. Under instruction from NSA agent Robert Ellis, Jack Bauer put together a six man team charged with eliminating Drazen.

Drazen's bodyguards had stolen military equipment, such as anti-aircraft guns, to defend the compound against attack. Using laser guidance provided by Bauer's team, an F-18 destroyed Drazen's home using an SLAM missile.

The team's escape was hindered due to jamming of their digital radio frequency, preventing communication between Bauer and his men and the Pave Hawk rescue helicopter. All of Bauer's team were killed but he managed to escape.

Bauer claimed that the mission was set up to fail and, with he and his team killed, Drazen would then be captured, held in the DOD's secret prison complex and used for intelligence purposes. Jack suspected the activities of a traitor high up in the intelligence community and well above Nina Myers.

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin J. Newton of the DOD was called to the committee to provide further information about Operation Nightfall and the detention facilities.

The following details are a selection of his comments:

Intelligence suggested that Drazen was plotting to develop a new international terrorist organization, using wealth acquired through his criminal activities.

Robert Ellis sought authorization from Senator Palmer, (as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee), to undertake Operation Nightfall.

As soon as it was discovered that Drazen has survived the attack a second covert operation was actioned to snatch him.

Unbeknownst to the Senate, the NSA and the UN, Drazen was then held in the secret prison network.

Newton issued a specific denial that the radio frequencies used by Bauer's team were provided to Drazen's men.