afghanistan kamdesh battle alert !! The US deploys thousands of troops
Channel: VBS defense
Date: 2023-06-15

The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the War in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 300 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh of Nuristan province in eastern Afghanistan. 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. The attack on COP Keating resulted in eight Americans killed and 27 wounded.

As a result of the battle, COP Keating was partially overrun and nearly completely destroyed.[Observation Post ("OP") Fritsche was attacked simultaneously, limiting available support from that position. The Coalition forces withdrew from the base shortly after the battle. 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.[8 The Americans "declared the outpost closed and departed — so quickly that they did not carry out all of their stored ammunition. 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.
The key to denying Anticoalition Militia (ACM) access to supply lines to Pakistan and extending government control by 2006 was considered to be the provincial reconstruction team base (PRT). By extending these bases to Nuristan, one of the most remote and isolated provinces in Afghanistan, government credibility and power could be demonstrated to the entire Afghan population. These bases were a key element of the American counter-insurgency strategy. This approach was supported by the stationing of Navy Commander Kimberly Evans, a PRT leader in the First Lady’s box at the 2006 State of the Union address. Colonel John “Mick” Nicholson, Commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (BCT) 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. Nicholson and officers of his command believed that much of the flow of weapons and troops from Pakistan could be stopped at Kamdesh. Gul Mohammed Khan, the government administrator for Kamdesh District lived at the intersection of the Landay-Sin and Darreh Ye Kushtoz rivers intersection. These valley and road intersections combined with the political leadership in the area inspired the positioning of the Nuristan PRT. The Nuristan PRT in particular was recommended by Nuristani Province Governor Tamim Nuristani. 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 Kamesh, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard to garrison the area. The camp was constructed by 3-71 Cavalry, 10th Mountain Division (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition) in the summer of 2006 and was manned by their ABLE Troop element until June 2007. The area had not been occupied by any conventional US forces prior to 3-71 Cavalry's takeover, although Special Operations forces, including a Navy SEAL team that took major casualties when their helicopter was shot down by enemy fire in Operation Red Wings, operated in the area. The camp was originally constructed to be a PRT, called PRT Kamdesh, but due to extremely high levels of fighting in the area it remained a fire base instead of a PRT. 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. 3-71 Cavalry conducted many successful combat missions in the area surrounding the camp and repelled various attacks on the base.

FORT CARSON, CO, UNITED STATES

06.09.2023

clip credits:Video by Staff Sgt. Yesenia Barajas, Capt. Aaron Blevins, Cpl. Tyler Brock and Sgt. Scyrrus Corregidor

4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office