On Oct. 3, 2009, a force of about 50 Americans faced down as many as 400 enemy fighters intent on overrunning COP Keating in eastern Afghanistan. In response to this, the local Afghan officials sent more government troops into the area. Again, it was later noted that many of Porter's decisions were sound. Div. The second incident happened in 2008 at Observation Post Fritsche. "We're constantly under observation." During the day-long battle at Combat Outpost Keating last Oct. 3, the base was temporarily overrun by an estimated 300 Taliban fighters. Tim Quinton. Insurgents had breached the camp in several locations, including at the main entrance, near the latrine area, and on the eastern side. Staff Sergeant Vernon Tiller, the most senior mechanic, was in the passenger's seat when it went over the cliff. The outpost's depot was promptly looted by the insurgents and bombed by American planes in an effort to destroy the lethal munitions left behind."[10]. The 48N6 missiles of the S-400 (and why they were designed by flat-earthers), WI: Instead of a NATO pull-out, the bases/forces in Afghanistan are handed over to the UN Peacekeeping. "Needed force protection improvements were not made because of the imminent closure of the outpost. [5] Within two minutes of the beginning of the attack, American forces suffered their first casualty. In 2006, HIG was actively resisting the Afghan government. So first and foremost: The movie is based off the book of the same name. But he was ineffective in actually making the men understand why/how he came to certain decisions. A commander who has no trust for or from his subordinates, keeps them in the dark, and fails to make the intent of his orders clear is making it harder for everyone else to do their jobs and jeopardizing mission success. Was the mortars limited supplies or an ROE thing? The initiating ISAF forces of 1-91 Cavalry had returned home, replaced by 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. In the end, we gaveThe Outpost movie a Historical Accuracy Score of 8.5/10. While en route the Platoon encountered a planned ambush on the side of the mountain resulting in three confirmed enemy KIA at approximately 6:00pm. 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. Seven other Americans and one ANA soldier were wounded. "[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. This agreement would recognize the authority of the Hundred Man Shura, and provide funds for economic development. This article is featured in the 2019 October issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Janie Dyhouse, senior editor for VFW magazine. American outpost in Nuristan, Afghanistan, List of post-Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients, "Latest Medal of Honor brings COP Keating battle back into spotlight", "A Medal of Honor recipient's ongoing burden", "COP Keating battle begins, Medal of Honor nominee Romesha takes action", "This Netflix series will tell the stories of Medal of Honor recipients", "The Battle of Kamdesh, which netted two Medals of Honor, is coming to the big screen twice", "Sony Enlists Director Daniel Espinosa, George Clooney's Smokehouse For 'Red Platoon', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Combat_Outpost_Keating&oldid=1137949129, Military installations of the United States in Afghanistan, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 06:20. 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. Other veterans also acted in the movie, including Henry Hughes. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Four U.S. Army officers were reprimanded for "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command." Let's get back on topic please. [8] Coalition forces responded with small arms fire, mortars, and by the afternoon, helicopters, heavy artillery, and airstrikes. | Trademarks and service marks of VFW. COP Keating, which was established in the summer of 2006, was put in the valley for the simple reason that it's where the roads are. The camp was defended by a combined force of 140 U.S. and Afghan soldiers. On July 20, 2006, 2:00 a. m. all of Cherokee Company and one platoon from Able Troop, 3-71 Cavalry Squadron dropped in two Chinooks on Landing Zone Warheit, a cornfield on a ridge near Kamdesh, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard to garrison the area. An after-action report stated that within less than a few minutes of fighting, the Afghan soldiers serving at Keating, as well as the Afghan security guards, had fled their positions, allowing the enemy to quickly overrun the post. The U.S. soldiers killed in the battle were: Amy Davidson Sorkin, writing in The New Yorker, tried to answer the question why the base had not been moved, when it was found to be unsuitable. This is a lofty mountain range characterized by steep slopes of enormous granite boulders separated by fast moving rivers in deep narrow valleys. The elder considers this to be a bad omen and demands that there be retribution. Through the summer and fall of 2008, Captain Joey Hutto, COP Keating's new commander, expanded this initiative. The attacks size and urgency may have had something to do with the US Soldier Bounty issued by the Ruskies. 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. The transfusion was a radical move that brought Mace back to consciousness. 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. Colonel John W. Nicholson Jr., Commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, had observed that Kamdesh was located at a point where three of the valley systems from the Pakistan border in the north converged. To make amends with the woman and her family, Meshkin agreed to shoot a shaggy brown dog named Franklin. On the day of our visit, the cast and crew were filming the scene when Mace finally arrives at the aid station. The movie details Keating's November 2006 death, which occurred when his truck fell from a clifftop road during a convoy run. 1.33 million dollars was budgeted for these projects. The Distinguished Flying Cross was given to 7 aviators who assisted in defending the base. Mace survived long enough to be evacuated to a nearby medical facility. Contained between the Landay River and steep mountains, Keating was attacked from multiple directions by 300 enemy fighters. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor. Ground resupply became almost impossible due to the area's limited roads and the threat of insurgent attacks. Youre reading this weeks At War newsletter. The Taliban surprised the outpost with mortar fire and a massive infantry assault which partly overran and nearly destroyed COP Keating, and, while the Americans and their allies held off several Taliban attacks on the base in the bloodiest battle in Afghanistan since the 2008 Battle of Wanat, the outpost was shut down shortly after and its depot 3-71 Cavalry conducted many successful combat missions in the area surrounding the camp and repelled various attacks on the base. Second, the search for Bowe Bergdahl, in June 2009, had used up so many resources none were available to address the base's unsuitable location. [9], Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron "Destroyers", 61st Cavalry Regiment manned COP Keating. Then tragedy struck again. "The investigation concluded that critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets which had been supporting COP Keating had been diverted to assist ongoing intense combat operations in other areas," the report said. These AAF were more professional and probably represented groups from areas outside of Nuristan. Without air support, I dont think we would have made it, considering the number against us and the area we were in, McMurtrey said. The landing zone was placed on the other side of the river on a rocky peninsula jutting into the river near Urmul. The idea was to stop the insurgents' supply lines coming in from Pakistan. [4] She noted two claims the military put forward in its report: first, the resources to relocate the base had not been available because the brigade was concentrating on guarding a village that Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, considered strategically important. I have my own war stories from that day, but watching one of my best friends relive his on set was the closest I could come to fully understanding his heartache and pain. They were commanded by Captain Tom Bostick. 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. As a result of the battle, COP Keating was partially overrun and nearly destroyed. Using the 120mm mortar means the base can command the entire valley. The shops name means house of culture.. [33] 1st Lt. Andrew Bundermann's Silver Star was upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross as well. [37], Staff Sergeant Ty Carter (then Specialist) was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage during the battle. The military had planned to relocate the outpost in August 2009, but the resources needed for such a move were tied up elsewhere. Stoney Portis, an officer in the Army and a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University, is a guest contributor to the At War newsletter. Sylvanius Broward in the movie is a fictional name for a real captain, Mel Porter. "As evening fell on the night of 3 October 2009, COP Keating remained solidly under US control, and enemy forces had suffered severe tactical defeat," according to the Army report, although "eight American soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice defending their outpost and their fellow soldiers." After Keating's death, the camp was renamed Combat Outpost Keating in his honor. It was treacherous and subject to enemy ambush. It was adapted for the screen by Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy (Patriots Day and The Fighter). October 03, 2019. The movie does a good job of capturing the nerve-racking tension of being posted at Combat Outpost Keating. Breaches occurred at a latrine area close to the perimeter wire; also the main entrance where civilian Afghan security guards were overwhelmed; and from the eastern sidewhere Afghan National Army soldiers were stationed. A dog named Cali growled at the eldest son of an Afghan Security Guard, who would often come to the post with his father. Keating was killed in November 2006 when he volunteered for a dangerous mission to drive an army truck loaded with supplies up to the camp, along treacherous 200-foot cliffs. In the wake of the attack, several soldiers based at COP Keating told ABC News that they did not know the attack was as large as it was because they received enemy fire with such frequency. [19] At 6:00 a.m, the fighters opened fire from all sides of the outpost with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades,[10] immediately putting the Americans' mortar pit out of action. [7]:1238,1368,18191,407. The outpost was manned by 54 American personnel from B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, who faced greater than seven-to-one odds in the battle. It looked just like our outpost on the day of the battle. Director Rod Lurie is himself a West Point graduate and an Army veteran. The outpost was renamed Camp Keating in December 2006 (not in 2009). However, Army 1st Lt. Benjamin Keating's death actually happened three years earlier, in 2006, not 2009. Lardner, Richard, (Associated Press), "Investigation: Afghan Troops Ran, Hid During Deadly Battle", "Latvian, U.S. soldiers reunite after deadly battle", "Eight U.S. U.S. air support directed by Sgt. The difference there being the writers seemingly supporting her reticence to explain anything. [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. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers fought. [7]:363383[13], COP Keating became increasingly isolated in the summer of 2009. Keating died while serving at the base in 2006 and it was . 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. [2], The attackers overran Keating's perimeter defenses about 48 minutes into the battle. Enemy forces controlled the landing zone, which prevented the wounded from being lifted out. Military commanders had already decided to close the base the previous summer, but delayed doing so because of other operations. A base at the bottom of a valley surrounded by hills which are. Feb. 5, 2010— -- A military investigation of a Taliban attack last fall on a remote U.S. army outpost that left eight American soldiers dead and 22 wounded has resulted in administrative punishments for two commanders blamed for "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command.". [2] Two Americans, Staff Sergeants Clinton L. Romesha and (then Specialist) Ty Carter were awarded the Medal of Honor for their role in defending the base.[3]. Several days after the battle, U.S. aircraft bombed the location in an effort to destroy any munitions that remained. Captain Melvin Porter, 4th Infantry Division, US Army, said: "We're sitting in a bowl so we are constantly under observation." This is how the war went at COP Keating: a few pot shots from. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. I support this diversion into a discussion of the operational art and command structure as practiced by the New Resistance under Leia Organa. These subgroups were in turn divided into clans and sects, depending on lineages and the interpretations of individual religious leaders. Christopher Cordova, the squadrons physician assistant, was manning the aid station where there was no power. For the most part, yes. SHAPLEIGH, Maine It's been nearly 14 years since Ken and Beth Keating lost their son, Army Captain Benjamin Keating, in Afghanistan. There was an element of ABLE Troop 3-71 CAV 2nd Platoon still left on the PZ after the crash that worked relentlessly to recover the bodies of their 10 comrades and destroy sensitive equipment in the wreckage. Not an Ordinary Engagement American troops in Nuristan found themselves directly in opposition to the HIG forces. These factors resulted in an attractive target for enemy fighters," the report concluded. Five languages and various dialects are spoken by these groups, rendering translators from other areas of Afghanistan useless. 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. Unconfirmed footage reportedly shows a short segment from a November 2008 battle at Combat Outpost (COP) Keating, in which ISAF troops attempt to defend the stupidly-placed position from an enemy that holds the high ground on all sides. 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. "Reviewing and examining and improving are part of our process and when we do it from within, it is embraced," said the officer who asked not to be identified. Despite air and artillery support the American forces suffered significant losses. And he was becoming disillusioned with the possibility of what he thought. In Afghanistan, MAJ (R) Cordova was involved in the Battle of Kamdesh at Combat Outpost Keating on the 3rd of October 2009. Between each take, the director and actors paused and turned to Cordova, who offered feedback to make the scene match his memory. Captain Frank Brooks, commanding at LZ Warheit, was dismayed to discover the PRT could not be quickly reached by LZ Warheit. ", was Keating's assessment. They should had just followed their fucking orders. After dispensing with the enemy, QRF continued their descent and entered the outpost at approximately 7:00pm. This series of meetings over two days involved more than 800 representatives of the people of Nuristan, and had the goal of bringing order and economic development to the region. [14] At the time, Afghan national forces were supervised and trained by members of the Latvian Operational Mentor Liaison Teams. 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. Troops, Amazon.com: The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor eBook: Tapper, Jake: Kindle Store, Wehrmacht wins at Dunkirk: Description of the battle that never was. That was our troopers advantage up there. He was awarded the medal on 26 August 2013. The latest acronym for attackers used by the Americans was AAF, for anti-Afghan fighters. [17], 27 soldiers were awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat. [10], OP Fritsche was established to provide overwatch for COP Keating and was manned by a mix of US and Afghan national forces. Over the years, I have learned that sharing the experience allowed many of us to put our emotions into words. Camp Keating Officers Disciplined for Attack That Killed 8 U.S. The steep mountains rendered two dimensional maps and landmarks useless. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and 27 wounded; eight Afghan soldiers were wounded, along with two Afghan private security guards. The first of these would be "Operation Mountain II", an effort to extend a series of observation posts west to control the villages between COP Keating and the Afghan village of Saret Koheh. Those guys were amazing. This page was last edited on 25 January 2023, at 06:49. prosthetic makeup effects technician: Millennium FX. Recognize the authority of the attack, American forces suffered their first casualty incident in... 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