A dog named Cali growled at the eldest son of an Afghan Security Guard, who would often come to the post with his father. Afghan contractors were unable to keep the narrow mountain road in safe condition, and convoys were subject to constant ambush from the surrounding mountains that lined the route. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers fought. Killed by a single gunshot wound to the face while in the base mortar pit. A note was attached to his body which said: "Don't work with coalition forces. Written by CNN journalist Jake Tapper, he tells the story of soldiers living in the remote mountains of Afghanistan and Combat Outpost Keating. 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. These AAF were more professional and probably represented groups from areas outside of Nuristan. They expanded the perimeter all the way back to the entry control point and to the buildings on the western edge of the outpost, which became their final fighting position. Using the 120mm mortar means the base can command the entire valley. 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. A recreated Red Platoon barracks bunk bed. The first effort was made by First Lieutenant Dave Roller. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/magazine/the-outpost-afghanistan-movie.html. Anthony Parker. The high mountains around the camp provided the perfect perches for Taliban snipers to pick off the soldiers. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? [33] 1st Lt. Andrew Bundermann's Silver Star was upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross as well. Seven other Americans and one ANA soldier were wounded. 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. At one point, the insurgents even controlled the ammunition supply point. The veterans who served as technical advisors on the film said that the set was eerily similar to the real outpost, which no longer exists. A press release issued by the NATO military command in Afghanistan said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, had taken "appropriate action" against the officers after reviewing the report. Constant ambushes and firefights along the road to Naray did little to relieve Keating's doubts. Despite air and artillery support the American forces suffered significant losses. Robert Yllescas. 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. Shot in the head by a Taliban sniper after being wounded by RPG fire. U.S. soldiers reported that none of the Afghan soldiers held their ground. [16] Because Keating was scheduled for closure in the near future, coalition leaders had decided not to make more than minimal efforts to improve fortifications at the base. What if there was a country in place of the Bay of Biscay? [7]:327328 The nearest attack helicopters were located in Jalalabad, a thirty-minute flight away. [7]:363383[13], COP Keating became increasingly isolated in the summer of 2009. 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. In real life, there is no record of Porter shooting a dog.According to Jake Tapper's book, two real-life incidents inspired the scene in the movie. When Captain Aaron Swain of Cherokee Co. had sounded out Afghan Border Police Commander Ahmed Shah about setting up near Kamdesh, he was told that HIG insurgents tried to blow up Shah's jeep on his last trip there and it was a bad place. [24], The insurgents began to retreat later in the day. It's true that some of the Taliban fighters casually strolled through the camp, believing they had won. Combat Outpost Keating is best known as the setting of the Battle of Kamdesh which occurred on October 3rd, 2009.. After an attack on October 3, 2009, where the base was nearly . We were all crushed when, later that night, we found out that Mace succumbed to his wounds while undergoing surgery. Despite the efforts of two Latvian military advisors, First Sergeant Jnis Lais and Corporal Mrti Dboli,[21] who tried to convince the Afghan National Army forces not to flee,[22] the Afghan defenders quickly broke and ran. He assumed command of CO Keating following the death of Captain Robert Yllescas in a Taliban IED attack in December 2008, and he almost immediately acquired a negative reputation among his new command, who called him "Broward the Coward" for planning . Everything was so realistic that had the cameras not been there I would have thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Keating died while serving at the base in 2006 and it was . [36], On 11 February 2013, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha, a survivor of the battle. 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. ", was Keating's assessment. 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 "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. This seems to be displayed rather accurately in the movie, at least with regard to how it's described in Tapper's book. 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. This letter was written in Pashto and signed "Mujahideen". 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.". For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Extending control further along the river was expected to counter the AAF expansion and activity in the summer of 2007. For the most part, yes. Several of the surviving soldiers were technical advisors on the film, including Medal of Honor recipient Ty Carter, who is played by Caleb Landry Jones. -The New Yorker, "On average, we'd get hit three to four times a week," says Sgt. Another 10 Afghan soldiers and several Taliban were killed during these operations. The PRT site resembled the bottom of a funnel. Known as COIN and refined by General David Petraeus, Commander of US forces in Afghanistan, the Army and Marine Counter-insurgency Field Manual FM 3-24 was to convert the population of Nuristan to American goals. The action takes place at Combat Outpost Keating, which was initially built to engage the locals in community development projects. Their checkpoints[11] and "taxes" was used to finance AAF operations. 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. 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. He later set up the tactical satellite radio to coordinate air support and medevac. They should had just followed their fucking orders. 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. [7]:228,249,469, At the end of May 2007, Bulldog Troop, 1-91 Cavalry Squadron, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, arrived at COP Keating. Follow-up attacks attempted by Taliban forces were subsequently thwarted by U.S. By allowing soldiers to tell their story, by hearing their story, you are also part of the healing. Air Force Capt. During the Soviet occupation, HIG received more support from the CIA than any other Mujahideen resistance group. As soon as they left, the insurgents would come back.. Like in the film, Sgt. Many of the Afghan National Army members there in support of the coalition troops fled. Defense officials confirm that three other Army officers face disciplinary action for their role in the attack on the military outpost in Wanat in July, 2008 that led to nine dead U.S. soldiers and 27 wounded. Again, it was later noted that many of Porter's decisions were sound. "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. In my moment of being the listener to a war story I previously told, I realized that The Outpost was as honest as any war story. Email us at atwar@nytimes.com. Captain Frank Brooks, commanding at LZ Warheit, was dismayed to discover the PRT could not be quickly reached by LZ Warheit. Unlike the movie, The Outpost true story reveals that Keating was not alone in the truck. It was this delay that proved fatal to some of the troops stationed at COP Keating. 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. prosthetic makeup effects sculptor: Millennium FX. Does this give anyone else flashbacks to he purple hair admiral in The Last Jedi? In this December 2012 interview, MAJ Melvin Porter, US Army, Signal; discusses his deployment to Afghanistan as a company commander for 3-61 Cavalry (CAV) in 2009 through 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). As a result of the battle, COP Keating was partially overrun and nearly destroyed. Without air support, I dont think we would have made it, considering the number against us and the area we were in, McMurtrey said. "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." Need to know. Without adequate support, they were left to fight for their lives against overwhelming odds. It was treacherous and subject to enemy ambush. Located near the border with Pakistan in the Afghan province of Nuristan, COP Keating was the scene of a coordinated attack by as many as 300 Taliban fighters who stormed the exposed base. [7]:95,268. Basically, the air support was leaving and coming back. Daniel Rodriguez, who took part in the real-life Battle of Kamdesh, portrays himself in the movie. Above their paygrade. The U.S. evacuated the camp three days later. Died of his wounds after his leg was hit by a single gunshot wound. Within moments of entry, members of the QRF discovered and confirmed the death of Sgt. I reached out to the films director, Rod Lurie, to vent my concerns. It's at least the third time officers were disciplined after soldiers' deaths. For his gallantry, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal *, the U.S. Army's third highest award for valor. 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. New roads would be the final stage, built and maintained by local contractors. 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. 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