Forward Operating Base Salerno FOB Salerno is a forward operating base of the U . S . military in the southeastern province of Khost , Afghanistan , near the city of Khost . It has been nicknamed " Rocket City " due to the large amounts of incoming rocket and mortar fire in previous years . The facility was built by TF Panther in 2002 , centered around the 3rd Battalion , 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from Fort Bragg , North Carolina . It was named for the beachhead in Salerno that the 505th PIR parachuted onto on 14 September 1943 ( Operation Avalanche ) . 19 August 2008 attack . On 19 August 2008 insurgents attempted to assault FOB Salerno with a double car bomb . The bombs detonated close to the base perimeter and killed 15 Afghans . Around midnight the next day the base came under mortar fire and was attacked by about 30 Taliban insurgents . The attackers attempted to breach the base near the airfield , where there is no HESCO bastion . The attackers were also accompanied by suicide bombers , three of which detonated their vest early as they came under machine gun fire from the base . Afghan commandos are credited with surrounding the other suicide bombers before they had a chance to attack . Another group of Taliban was observed preparing for an attack 1000 meters from the base before coalition forces opened up small arms fire . Helicopter gunships later pounded the Taliban staging area , resulting in 3 deaths . After the attack the insurgents were found in possession of anti - personnel Type 69 RPG ' s . As anti - personnel RPG ' s are rare in Afghanistan it is unclear how the weapons were obtained . Continued volatility . On 2 July 2009 a US soldier went missing from nearby Camp Clark . The soldier was later seized by the Taliban . Taliban commander Mullah Sangreen Zadran claimed responsibility for the kidnapping . This is the only known US soldier held captive in Afghanistan . FOB Salerno continued to receive a large amount or mortar and rocket fire through the summer of 2009 . A rocket hit a large tent inside the base . Fortunately the tent was unoccupied at the time . In November 2009 , a portion of FOB Salerno , where US Special Forces worked and lived with an Afghan Commando unit , was renamed as Camp Pucino after this US Special Forces soldier ' s death in November 2009 . SSG Matthew Pucino was a member of ODA 2223 . On 30 December 2009 FOB Chapman , another nearby installation was attacked by a suicide bomber . The attacker managed to sneak by security as he was allowed into the base and detonated himself . Seven CIA operatives were killed , making this attack the deadliest for the agency since the 1983 United States embassy bombing . FOB Salerno was once again attacked by a group of Taliban on 28 August 2010 . The attack started around 0400 with small arms and mortar fire . In addition , suicide bombers participated in the attack . As the attack commenced , some of the insurgents were able to penetrate inside the base and attempted to detonate themselves , but were stopped by coalition forces . Afghan forces also detained five insurgents and destroyed a recoil - less rifle at the scene . After the failed assault , NATO forces conducted an airstrike on a truck occupied by three Haqqani Network fighters in the area . There was a complex attack against the FOB in early June 2012 . Insurgents utilized a local truck packed with 1 , 500 - 2 , 000 pounds of explosives ; a suicide bomber detonated his truck bomb on the southern edge of the base , breaching the perimeter and causing significant damage to the base ' s buildings . ABC News reported that the dining hall was levelled in the blast . Moments later , ten insurgents entered the breach armed with rifles , machine guns , grenades , and rockets ; each bomber wore various military camouflage uniforms and wore explosive suicide vests . After an hour - long firefight , US service members repelled the attack , killing all ten insurgents . Two base contractors were killed in the attack , and a US Soldier died of his wounds days later . Although initially downplayed in the media , in July 2012 both Long War Journal and al Jazeera published an unedited attack video released by the Taliban . Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed that an airplane on an airstrip at the base was destroyed and that ' tens ' of foreign forces were killed and wounded in the attack .