regardless of the danger they knew the al qaeda would treat roberts badly and time was running out for him. despite intense ground fire, the six men successfully returned to takur ghar. nevertheless, the battle continued and sergeant chapman was killed along with several enemy fighters. surrounded by gunfire, the men on the ground called upon a quick reaction force (qrf), designed for such emergencies. those forces consisted of 23 men and two helicopters. the team included tech sergeant miller. "we were notified that we would be launching in 45 minutes," he recalled, "and were going into [an al qaeda and taliban] infested area." also on the team were army rangers. during operation enduring freedom, rangers and special operations formed the focal point of the u.s. ground campaign. because of communications failures, the quick reaction force landed in the same spot as the previous helicopters and, like them, was greeted with gunfire. miller's helicopter managed to land, and the qrf called in close air support. for the next five and a half hours, they battled with the enemy. three rangers died and others were wounded.