Enemy forces controlled the landing zone, which prevented the wounded from being lifted out. During the day-long battle at Combat Outpost Keating last Oct. 3, the base was temporarily overrun by an estimated 300 Taliban fighters. Christopher Cordova, the squadrons physician assistant, was manning the aid station where there was no power. After dispensing with the enemy, QRF continued their descent and entered the outpost at approximately 7:00pm. By allowing soldiers to tell their story, by hearing their story, you are also part of the healing. Much of this is the result of the real-life Battle of Kamdesh veterans who were involved in the film, both as technical advisors and actors. A recreated Red Platoon barracks bunk bed. 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. Eventually, supporting aircraft scattered the attackers; while air support provided decisive results. [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. Yes. Another 10 Afghan soldiers and several Taliban were killed during these operations. Capt. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. While exploring the movie's historical accuracy, we confirmed that during the real-life Battle of Kamdesh, Taliban fighters got inside Outpost Keating. It also showed Lieutenant Colonel Chris Kolenda (commander of American forces in Naray) with a crisis. [5] Within two minutes of the beginning of the attack, American forces suffered their first casualty. As the sun rose on Oct. 3, 2009, about 300 Taliban launched a surprise attack on COP Keating. 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. In Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming, Jonathan Shay calls this form of catharsis the communalization of grief, in which trauma survivors tell their stories and listeners can listen, believe and remember. This is when the circle of healing is complete. The battle is also the main focal point of the 2020 film The Outpost, which was in-turn based on the book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper. As a result, the depot was looted by the Taliban. Eight aviators were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping defend the base. The movie does take liberty with the way it portrays previous commanders of the outpost, 1st Lt. Ben Keating and Capt. The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered an estimated 150 killed. It was treacherous and subject to enemy ambush. Melvin Porter of the Fourth Infantry Division, as Keating has been furiously and repeatedly attacked since it opened in 2006. Click here for complete coverage of the Afghan war. Nine years earlier, Cordova and his medics toiled away in the aid station to treat the wounded and save the dying. By all quantifiable metrics, my unit won the fight, but at a devastating cost: Eight soldiers died, 22 were wounded and our camp burned to the ground. 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. Commanders of Camp Keating are disciplined for not taking proper measures that led to deaths of eight U.S. soldiers and the wounding of 22 others in a Taliban attack. To avoid damaging the trust they had established with the Afghans, Cali and another semi-hostile dog named Willie Pete were shot by Staff Sergeant Ian Boone and another soldier. "[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. 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. At one point, the insurgents even controlled the ammunition supply point. U.S. soldiers reported that none of the Afghan defenders held their positions. Keating was permanently shut down three days following the attack. The Allies hoped that extending these bases into Nuristan, one of the most remote and isolated eastern provinces in Afghanistan, they could demonstrate to the entire Afghan population the government's credibility and power. The high mountains around the camp provided the perfect perches for Taliban snipers to pick off the soldiers. 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. As they filmed one take after another, Cordova clenched his jaw and swallowed back tears, reliving the most traumatic day of his life. Jake Tapper, author of the bookThe Outpost, wondered the same thing when he embarked on his research. In December 2006, it was renamed Camp Keating after the death of ABLE Troop 3-71 Cavalry 10th Mountain Division's Executive Officer Benjamin Keating, who died November 26, 2006, while conducting combat operations south of the camp. The movie details Keating's November 2006 death, which occurred when his truck fell from a clifftop road during a convoy run. His death had a traumatic effect on the morale of 3-71 Cav. It is a story about the battle to defend against a coordinated Taliban attack that later came to be known as The Battle of Kamdesh. [7]:12930 1345,156. | Trademarks and service marks of VFW. He became the fourth surviving soldier from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to be awarded the Medal of Honor due to courageous actions during the battle. After an investigation, four officers in the chain of command were disciplined for their failure to adequately support the base. Rather off-topic but wasn't Poe at that moment demoted by Leia beforehand? Once OP Fritsche soldiers gained control of their mortar pit, Sgt. And he was becoming disillusioned with the possibility of what he thought. The entire Outpost Keating was recreated. By now, Porter had strained relations with nearly all of his subordinate leaders. [7]:28,41,908,123, The Nuristan provincial reconstruction team base was strongly recommended by Nuristani Province Governor Tamim Nuristani. Read more from At War here or follow us on Twitter. 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. The Outpost is a 2020 war film directed by Rod Lurie, based on the 2012 non-fiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper, about the Battle of Kamdesh in the war in Afghanistan.It stars Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, Orlando Bloom, Jack Kesy, Cory Hardrict, Milo Gibson, Jacob Scipio, Will Attenborough, and Taylor John Smith. But I never told the story from my own perspective. Ty M. Carter pauses during a patrol outside Combat Outpost Keating, Afghanistan, where he was deployed with the 61st Cavalry Regiment in 2009. Porter had already done two tours in Iraq and even before he was deployed to COP Keating, his superior officer Lieutenant Colonel Brad Brown and the men of his company thought he was "spent". Several of the dogs that hung around the camp were with them, one of which supposedly bit an old woman working in a field. 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. 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. Justin Gallegos' Silver Star was later upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. 37 soldiers were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device for valor. The outpost itself also needed to be accessible by road since most of the helicopters were being used in Iraq and were unavailable. [7]:28,41,908,123, The Kamdesh village and most of Nuristan is located in the Hindu Kush. Killed by a single gunshot wound to the face while in the base mortar pit. 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. Roller attended his next meeting with village leaders dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. Meanwhile, back at the aid station, Cordova learned that the first medevac would not arrive until after 7:30 p.m. A critically wounded soldier needed a blood transfusion in order to survive. Scott Eastwood, right, in a scene from The Outpost. The film tells the story of the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan. "Needed force protection improvements were not made because of the imminent closure of the outpost. 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. This page was last edited on 25 January 2023, at 06:49. Many of the Afghan National Army members there in support of the coalition troops fled. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, View Video of Taliban Fighters in the Camp. Quick reaction forces (QRF) from 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment did not reach the outpost until 7:00pm that day, while insurgents remained in parts of the outpost as late as 5:10pm. Staff Sergeant Vernon Tiller, the most senior mechanic, was in the passenger's seat when it went over the cliff. It's a solid 10/10 read: No hot food, No fire support. When it came to infiltration from Pakistan, and setting ambushes, HIG was regarded as the most skillful. He was the last commander of Combat Outpost Keating. Portis had been in command of the platoon for less than two weeks when, on Oct. 3, 2009, the Taliban attacked Combat Outpost Keating while he was away visiting a mountain observation post. The fire was so intense they had to toss smoke grenades for concealment, just to get . The American forces were too outnumbered to survive sustained combat. The soldiers left so quickly that they didn't take all of the ammunition. 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. [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. Without adequate support, they were left to fight for their lives against overwhelming odds. [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]. 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. Jayson Souter, and 1st Lt. Cason Shrode, including attack helicopters, A-10s, a B-1 bomber, and F-15 fighters, destroyed the local mosque, where much of the insurgents' heaviest fire originated. [8] In addition, Afghan national forces manned checkpoints and roadblocks at various locations around the area. 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. prosthetic makeup effects administrator: Millennium FX. Camp Keating Officers Disciplined for Attack That Killed 8 U.S. That process helped us heal, but a bad rendering of the battle would leave us talking about what the movie got wrong instead of what actually happened. I'll have to give it a read sometime. American troops in Nuristan found themselves directly in opposition to the HIG forces. A deliberate withdrawal had been planned some time before the battle began, and the closing was part of a wider effort by the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to cede remote outposts and consolidate troops in more populated areas to better protect Afghan civilians. Lardner, Richard, (Associated Press), "Investigation: Afghan Troops Ran, Hid During Deadly Battle", "Latvian, U.S. soldiers reunite after deadly battle", "Eight U.S. Two days before the attack, I was en route to a mountaintop observation post when the helicopter I was flying in was hit by enemy fire. [5] The U.S. military estimated that 150 Taliban insurgents were also killed as a result of repulsing the assault. To make amends with the woman and her family, Meshkin agreed to shoot a shaggy brown dog named Franklin. Yes. Because the reports had not been verified by other intelligence sources, such as electronic intelligence, the reports were discounted. It took place while First Lieutenant Kaine Meshkin (not in the film) was leading a patrol to Observation Post Fritsche. JavaScript is disabled. Wed love your feedback on this newsletter. And appearing Holdo's subordinates were well aware of the plain. Fallen Heroes 3-61 Cavalry, 4th BCT, 4th ID. Some who fled even handed their weapons to Taliban fighters. As it became obvious that COP Keating was too isolated, indefensible, and impossible to supply, plans were made to close it beginning in December 2008. The attacks size and urgency may have had something to do with the US Soldier Bounty issued by the Ruskies. 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 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.". The camp was defended by a combined force of 140 U.S. and Afghan soldiers. "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." [24], The insurgents began to retreat later in the day. He wanted to avoid risking the lives of his men while traveling on an unstable road subject to ambush with an overweight vehicle. On Oct. 3, 2009, Keating was the site of the second costliest U.S. firefight of the Afghanistan War. 1.33 million dollars was budgeted for these projects. He was managing care for five Americans and seven Afghans, treating gunshot wounds, head injuries, shrapnel wounds, chest and abdominal wounds, eye injuries and broken legs, all in a makeshift station. It could not be seen or supported with indirect fire due to the multi-level and complicated terrain. The Distinguished Flying Cross was given to 7 aviators who assisted in defending the base. Years later, I still feel guilty for not getting there until nightfall, even if the circumstances were out of my control. [9] The Americans "declared the outpost closed and departedso quickly that they did not carry out all of their stored ammunition. These troops were ambushed on the Naray-Kamdesh road and shot up badly enough to prevent their arrival in Kamdesh. The transfusion was a radical move that brought Mace back to consciousness. Here's what else we covered in this week's newsletter. 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. The Los Angeles gift shop Bunkado, at center with a fan on its sign, in the 1950s. "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.". Served with United States Army since 2008. Despite overwhelming odds and volume of injuries, MAJ (R) Cordova was able to . Additionally, 20 Afghan troops, two Latvian soldiers and a dozen Afghan security guards were at Keating. Air Force Capt. Something had to be done to bring Nuristan on to the American side. A year later COP Keating would be the location for the fateful October 2009 Battle of Kamdesh for . Defense officials confirm that two senior officers who oversaw the forces at COP Keating have received administrative punishments that could impact their careers. Basically, the air support was leaving and coming back. Within moments of entry, members of the QRF discovered and confirmed the death of Sgt. Armando Avalos, Sgt. [7]:1238,1368,18191,407, Despite recommendations not to drive the large supply vehicle, First Lieutenant Ben Keating took the wheel while returning an armored supply truck to the Naray FOB. The smaller U.S. force ultimately beat back the attack after a fierce hours-long battle where Apache helicopters, that raced to assist the besieged soldiers, made all the difference. The battle unfolded on October 3, 2009. Despite air and artillery support the American forces suffered significant losses. Four U.S. Army officers were reprimanded for "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command." This had the potential to boost the local economy, which had seen few civic improvements. prosthetic makeup effects sculptor: Millennium FX. Staff Sergeant William "Ryan" Fritsche was killed by rifle fire. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. ' The Outpost ' is a 2020 war drama which tells the story of 53 US soldiers who battled some 400 enemy insurgents in north-eastern Afghanistan, during Operation Enduring Freedom. The report said the heroic action of American and Afghan soldiers contributed to a "severe tactical defeat for the Taliban" that resulted in as many as 150 Taliban fighters being killed. Many of the Afghan troops, however, were a different story. The difference there being the writers seemingly supporting her reticence to explain anything. Towards the end, resupply flights were limited to moonless nights when near total darkness offered some protection to helicopter crews and their craft. Nearly 20 Air Force and Army aircraft flew close-air support missions throughout the day, helping to kill about 150 insurgents. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday. The outpost was renamed Camp Keating in December 2006 (not in 2009). A common misconception is that the Taliban are primitive fighters who lack the necessary skills to be effective in battle. 1st Class Jonathan Hill rallied his 3rd Platoon troops in a counterattack, despite his multiple shrapnel wounds. Combat. 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. Gul Mohammed Khan, the government administrator for Kamdesh District, lived at the intersection of the Landay-Sin and Darreh Ye Kushtoz rivers. The fighting at COP Keating, which is also known as the Battle of Kamdesh, involved an attack by over 400 insurgents against the combat outpost, which was slated to be dismantled. Served with United States Army since 2005 and Participated in. Yes. In the year that followed the agreement, ANA and American deaths dropped from thirty to three. Died of his wounds after his legs were hit by RPG shrapnel. 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. From left, Martin Malchev as Specialist Cody Floyd; Jack Kalian as Staff Sgt. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and 27 wounded; eight Afghan soldiers were wounded, along with two Afghan private security guards. Unlike Donahue, Nicholson was a supporter of COIN in addition to seeing Kamdesh as a decisive control point. Actor Milo Gibson, the son of Mel Gibson, portrays Capt. Located along a riverbank in Kamdesh, Afghanistan, the base was surrounded by steep mountains. SHAPLEIGH, Maine It's been nearly 14 years since Ken and Beth Keating lost their son, Army Captain Benjamin Keating, in Afghanistan. Tiller was also thrown from the truck but his injuries weren't nearly as severe. 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? Originally built to engage the locals in community development projects, Combat Outpost Keating located at the bottom of three steep mountains just 14 miles from the Pakistani border faced . The Nuristanis had resisted Islam as late as the year 1895 and before that had been considered a Hindu nation (Islamic invaders called them "Kaffir" or heathen) with a long tradition of violently resisting outsiders and their beliefs. It was one of many reasons Cordova was later awarded the Silver Star. At such time the platoon cleared the remaining areas of the outpost which members of 3-61 had not yet retaken. An officer also received administrative punishment for his role in a delayed artillery response to an ambush last September on a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol that left four Marines and nine Afghans dead. During this battle Taliban members outnumbered US forces in a staggering 5 to 1 ratio and was considered one of the bloodiest battle of the War. [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. Given its proximity to Pakistan, Combat Outpost Keating was part of a counter-insurgency strategy. Skola karalauk", "COP Keating Investigation Findings Released", "Afghan, US troops kill 40 militants in east", "Camp Keating Officers Disciplined for Attack That Killed 8 U.S. The pick up zone for Able Troop 2nd Platoon was called PZ Reds, located on the side of an 8,000-foot mountain. "whatever you think of their ideology, these are fierce and smart fighters. The idea was to stop the insurgents' supply lines coming in from Pakistan. 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