He wanted to avoid risking the lives of his men while traveling on an unstable road subject to ambush with an overweight vehicle. As the sun rose on Oct. 3, 2009, about 300 Taliban launched a surprise attack on COP Keating. Within moments of entry, members of the QRF discovered and confirmed the death of Sgt. The first effort was made by First Lieutenant Dave Roller. My soldiers and I had been sharing stories since Oct. 3, 2009, when our 53 cavalry scouts fought off more than 300 Taliban fighters bent on overrunning Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan, Afghanistan. Director Rod Lurie is himself a West Point graduate and an Army veteran. U.S. soldiers reported that none of the Afghan defenders held their positions. It was only then that I truly appreciated how important the listeners role is in the healing process. He died when his. ABC News' Karen Russo contributed to this report, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. The punishments reflect a recent trend in Afghanistan to hold military commanders accountable for battlefield failures. The camp was defended by a combined force of 140 U.S. and Afghan soldiers. "It is one of the most well-planned and carefully choreographed attacks in the history of the Afghan war," Tapper told NPR. MAJ Porter talks about his first couple of days into country as he was getting set up and received direct attack resulting . Aaron Dove, pilot and weapon systems officer of one of the F-15E aircraft coordinating close air support, were also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. A common misconception is that the Taliban are primitive fighters who lack the necessary skills to be effective in battle. . [18], At about 3:00a.m. on October 3, over 350 Taliban backed insurgents ordered all Kamdesh villagers to leave the area. The difference there being the writers seemingly supporting her reticence to explain anything. Benjamin D. Keating was born in Sanford, Maine on 31 May 1979, and he served as Chair of the Young Republicans at the . Div. [7]:1238,1368,18191,407, On August 8, 2006, 19 days after the first American landing, the PRT was attacked for the first time. Keating landed between two rocks nearly 150 feet down the cliffside, next to the river. They should had just followed their fucking orders. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. "The little bastards keep shooting at us every day. The rock could not be demolished without raining fragments into the town of Urmul across the Landay-Sin river. The climate of the area has hot summers, a monsoon season in the summer, and cold winters of ice and snow extending down into the valleys. (Multiple explosions near the ammo supply set off a series of fires at the post.). American troops in Nuristan found themselves directly in opposition to the HIG forces. At such time the platoon cleared the remaining areas of the outpost which members of 3-61 had not yet retaken. These groups could clash violently over water rights, pasture, and religious beliefs. ", Yes. [7]:12930 1345,156. The American forces were too outnumbered to survive sustained combat. The basic approach to victory by the PRT involved three steps: Nicholson hoped the PRT would seed a process to be developed by the Nuristanis rather than imposed from the outside. The brigade was busy guarding another village, and numerous other resources had been consumed looking for Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier who was held captive by the Taliban after he deserted his post on June 30, 2009. Unlike the movie, The Outpost true story reveals that Keating was not alone in the truck. 1.33 million dollars was budgeted for these projects. Moreover, again according to Romesha, the officer who was in charge until very shortly before the battle, Captain Melvin Porter, was criminally incompetent and allowed the perimeter defenses to fall into decay, despite repeated requests from Romesha and his friends to improve them. [7]:803,945,11620, After marching into the proposed site for the Kamdesh provincial outpost, Captain Michael and Cherokee Company's second platoon were confronted by a large boulder in the middle of the site that made landing a helicopter in the PRT site impossible. Understandable discrepancies emerge when a book that covers four years at a remote mountain outpost is compressed into a two-hour production, but the film unquestionably captures the essence of the soldiers sacrifices, as well as the love we feel and the sorrow we share. The AAF responded to this advance with a well-organized ambush on July 26, 2007, in the river valley at Saret Koheh. It may not display this or other websites correctly. An additional 4 Afghan allied fighters also died. [2] A day after, on October 7, Taliban fighters were seen among the ruins of the outpost. His actions saved the lives of several soldiers, and he alone accomplished the work of four medical professionals without stopping for food or sleep, the battle narrative aptly concluded. Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan, Afghanistan, as recreated on the set. One officer in Afghanistan who was familiar with the attack on COP Keating said he had mixed feelings about the criticism leveled against the camp's commanders. Actor Milo Gibson, the son of Mel Gibson, portrays Capt. Sylvanius Broward (1972-) was a US Army captain who served in the US 61st Cavalry Regiment during the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.. History. [7]:1238,1368,18191,407, Combined with difficult conditions for air supply, and little support from the local population, supply to what was renamed Camp Keating on November 26, 2006, was wholly inadequate. The Outpost true story reveals that the soldiers were surrounded by more than 300 Taliban fighters, many of whom were rushing in from Pakistan, which was only 14 miles from COP Keating. During the Soviet occupation, HIG received more support from the CIA than any other Mujahideen resistance group. According to army records, the Taliban commander of the attack on Keating, Abdul Rahman Mustaghni, was killed by the following drone strike along with thirteen other insurgents. [8] In addition, Afghan national forces manned checkpoints and roadblocks at various locations around the area. These resources were limited by the fact that only 5,000 American troops were available to occupy a rugged area the size of Virginia that had little infrastructure. Keating's death, while mostly historically accurate, is pushed up in the film as a way to condense the storyline.Knowing the LMTV armored supply vehicle was too heavy for the road in Kamdesh, Keating volunteered against protocol to drive the truck, choosing to risk his own life instead of the lives of the men serving underneath him. Captain Sylvanius Broward (Kwame Patterson), whom the men refer to as "Broward the Coward," shoots the dog to appease the elder and calm the situation. In 2006, Allied commanders identified the Kamdesh area to be key to denying anti-coalition militia the required access to supply lines crossing into and out of nearby Pakistan. Benjamin D. Keating (31 May 1979-26 November 2006) was a US Army Captain who served in the US 61st Cavalry Regiment during the Afghanistan War. In the end, as part of an effort by General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, such remote outposts were closed so that more troops could be used to protect civilians in populated areas. In 2006, HIG was actively resisting the Afghan government. Fallen Heroes 3-61 Cavalry, 4th BCT, 4th ID. The movie does a good job of capturing the nerve-racking tension of being posted at Combat Outpost Keating. Formalized as "The Commitment of Mutual Support" the agreement also provided the Shura would provide local security in return for an end to uninvited American military searches of local towns and mosques. During the first minutes of battle, mortar rounds hit the main generator, cutting power to most of the camp. The transfusion was a radical move that brought Mace back to consciousness. On October 28, the commander of COP Keating, Captain Robert J. Yllescas, was severely wounded in a targeted assassination attempt with a remotely detonated IED less than 400 meters from the outposthe later died from his wounds on December 1. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor. Gul Mohammed Khan, the government administrator for Kamdesh District, lived at the intersection of the Landay-Sin and Darreh Ye Kushtoz rivers. [8] US Army soldiers at both outposts had been ordered to prepare to evacuate the outposts and had informed local Afghan leaders of their intention to do so. [7]:1238,1368,18191,407, From August 8 to November 25 of 2006, strenuous efforts were made to supply and expand the PRT by supply convoys using the Landay-Sin valley road from Naray FOB. I witnessed the making of The Outpost, a film about the day my unit fought off 300 Taliban fighters who tried to overrun our camp in Afghanistan. [7]:21530, The closeness of the action, and coordinated fire from both sides of the valley indicated that the attackers in this ambush were different from the groups that had been using sporadic, long range, harassing fire. These bases were a key element of the American counterinsurgency strategy. Extending control further along the river was expected to counter the AAF expansion and activity in the summer of 2007. "But it is very difficult for us when people who weren't there and weren't involved, question the decision of leadership in a fight, but sometimes it is also necessary.". Lurie, a West Point graduate and Army veteran, listened to what I had to say and agreed to let me visit the set. Combat. I reached out to the films director, Rod Lurie, to vent my concerns. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers fought. Above their paygrade. [7]:803,945,11620, While attempting the pickup, a Chinook transport helicopter crashed in the darkness at 10:09 PM when the rear rotor hit a tree, and the helicopter slid down the slope and over a cliff, exploding in flames and killing all the crew and passengers. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32km) away from Kamdesh. As I neared the camp that evening, Cordovas voice crackled through my radio and asked for more blood donors. The report, released to the public in June 2011, concluded "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command" facilitated the attack, but praised the troops fighting at the base for repulsing the attack "with conspicuous gallantry, courage and bravery. Omar was the top Taliban leader, but U.S. Intelligence stated that HIG had done the killing, crediting Omar to instil more fear due to Omar's greater reputation. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32 km) away from Kamdesh. At one point, the insurgents even controlled the ammunition supply point. It was this delay that proved fatal to some of the troops stationed at COP Keating. After an attack on October 3, 2009, where the base was nearly overrun, and 8 Americans and 4 Afghan defenders were killed, the base was abandoned and demolished by a bombing from an American B-1 bomber on the night of October 6th, 2009. Thomas Rasmussen fought back and was knocked off his feet by a rocket-propelled grenade. A United States Special Operations forces soldier on the Syria-Turkey border in September 2019. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 400 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan. Tears were streaming down his face. Please email thoughts and suggestions to atwar@nytimes.com. [9], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}352523N 711944E / 35.4231N 71.3289E / 35.4231; 71.3289 (Location of Combat Outpost Keating). Five languages and various dialects are spoken by these groups, rendering translators from other areas of Afghanistan useless. Four U.S. Army officers were reprimanded for "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command." This separation of the landing zone, and the fact that the site was surrounded by mountains on three sides made the site unappealing because of the difficulty of mounting an effective defense. Why would the U.S. military put an outpost at the base of three Afghan mountains that were teeming with Taliban fighters who were eager to kill U.S. soldiers? In May 2016 CBS News profiled Staff Sergeant Romesha, after he published an account of his experiences at the base, entitled Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor. After assisting with securing the OP from potential follow on attacks, members of the Quick Reaction Force descended from the mountain's peak to COP Keating on foot. "[16] Four U.S. Army officersCaptain Melvin Porter, Captain Stoney Portis, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Brown, and Colonel Randy Georgewho oversaw COP Keating were admonished or reprimanded for command failures. When I learned that my U.S. Army cavalry troops war story was being made into a major motion picture, I worried that a Hollywood account of the battle would be inaccurate. To a man, they all felt they had an obligation to help out in those areas where they saw Portar as failing, but upon hearing their recommendations, the captain consistently told them, point blank, that he was the commander, not them. Read more from At War here or follow us on Twitter. [14] At the time, Afghan national forces were supervised and trained by members of the Latvian Operational Mentor Liaison Teams. [5] The U.S. military estimated that 150 Taliban insurgents were also killed as a result of repulsing the assault. It was nicknamed "Heart Attack Ridge" due to its steep slope and obstacles hazardous to low-flying aircraft. Avalos began directing indirect support to help the defense of COP Keating. Youre reading this weeks At War newsletter. The 13-hour battle to re-take Combat Outpost Keating from an assault by 300 Taliban fighters on Oct. 3, 2009, was a team effort. Cop Keating it was only then that I truly appreciated how important listeners. 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