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. The Outpost real story confirms that COP Keating was evacuated two days after the battle. A bus carrying employees of an Afghan television station was bombed in Kabul on May 30. are assisting Somali soldiers fighting Al Shabab, and by a health care system that utterly failed him, The case has irritated U.S. relations with a crucial military ally. Something had to be done to bring Nuristan on to the American side. [15], The Allies planned to close COP Keating by August 2009, but the move was delayed because of other military operations in a nearby district. The other two mountains that surrounded the actual outpost were inserted with CGI. Brown would also note that it was a failure of leadership on Porter's part because of Porter's absolute refusal to explain to his troops why the mortars were being limited. Daniel Rodriguez, who took part in the real-life Battle of Kamdesh, portrays himself in the movie. [5][7]:53141 Observation Post ("OP") Fritsche was attacked simultaneously, limiting available support from that position. They made sustained attacks over a two-day period, drawing American support forces and widespread air forces into the battle. Even some of the dialogue is taken word for word from real life. According to one account, Hill without hesitation picked up a Latvian sniper rifle and eliminated the target at a distance of over 300 meters., 1st Lt. Andrew Bundermann, de facto ground commander, worked to slow the fire in the operations center and salvage equipment. prosthetic makeup effects technician: Millennium FX. However that road itself was pretty poor in of itself. This agreement did bring down the level of combat in the Kamdesh area. Staff Sergeant William "Ryan" Fritsche was killed by rifle fire. 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. aircraft.[5]. One officer in Afghanistan who was familiar with the attack on COP Keating said he had mixed feelings about the criticism leveled against the camp's commanders. He died in a vehicular accident in 2006, and Combat Outpost Keating, the site of the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh, was named in his honor. Roller attended his next meeting with village leaders dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. From left, Martin Malchev as Specialist Cody Floyd; Jack Kalian as Staff Sgt. Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Army.When the battle ended after more than 12 hours, eight U.S. soldiers were killed and another 22 wounded. 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. 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. 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. My soldiers and I had been sharing stories since Oct. 3, 2009, when our 53 cavalry scouts fought off more than 300 Taliban fighters bent on overrunning Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan, Afghanistan. ' 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. Several days after the battle, U.S. aircraft bombed the location in an effort to destroy any munitions that remained. Benjamin D. Keating (31 May 1979-26 November 2006) was a US Army Captain who served in the US 61st Cavalry Regiment during the Afghanistan War. "[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. On the whole the AAF was a broader based and more formidable force in 2007 than before the American invasion, and represented a significant escalation. 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. 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". Air Force Capt. While exploring the movie's historical accuracy, we confirmed that during the real-life Battle of Kamdesh, Taliban fighters got inside Outpost Keating. You are using an out of date browser. The movie does take liberty with the way it portrays previous commanders of the outpost, 1st Lt. Ben Keating and Capt. Captain Benjamin Keating Born: May 31, 1979 Birthplace: Sanford, Maine, USA Death: November 26, 2006, Kamdesh, Afghanistan (injuries suffered when vehicle turned over) Milo Gibson Born: November 16, 1990 Birthplace: Australia Captain Robert Yllescas Born: October 7, 1977 Birthplace: Guatemala City, Guatemala As a result of the battle, COP Keating was partially overrun and nearly destroyed. On Oct. 3, 2009, the camp and its 53 soldiers were attacked by some 400 Taliban fighters. Nearly 20 Air Force and Army aircraft flew close-air support missions throughout the day, helping to kill about 150 insurgents. 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. [8] Coalition forces responded with small arms fire, mortars, and by the afternoon, helicopters, heavy artillery, and airstrikes. [7]:31214,371, The shura began to falter by October 2008. Porter appeared to not want to actually lead his company nor was appearing to be up for another deployment. Through the summer and fall of 2008, Captain Joey Hutto, COP Keating's new commander, expanded this initiative. The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor - Kindle edition by Tapper, Jake. 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. Captain Frank Brooks, commanding at LZ Warheit, was dismayed to discover the PRT could not be quickly reached by LZ Warheit. Located along a riverbank in Kamdesh, Afghanistan, the base was surrounded by steep mountains. Despite air and artillery support the American forces suffered significant losses. The shops name means house of culture.. Wed love your feedback on this newsletter. In 2006, HIG was actively resisting the Afghan government. Div., at Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistans Nuristan province on Aug. 6, 2009. 8 killed 27 wounded[5] 4 killed 10 wounded. 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. Combat Outpost Keating was a small American military outpost in Nurestan Province, in Afghanistan. An additional 4 Afghan allied fighters also died. These AAF were more professional and probably represented groups from areas outside of Nuristan. 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. He began building a consensus of village elders in support of the Afghan government. -CBS Sunday Morning. Lardner, Richard, (Associated Press), "Investigation: Afghan Troops Ran, Hid During Deadly Battle", "Latvian, U.S. soldiers reunite after deadly battle", "Eight U.S. Because the reports had not been verified by other intelligence sources, such as electronic intelligence, the reports were discounted. On his way, he stopped to offer first aid to wounded troops. As they filmed one take after another, Cordova clenched his jaw and swallowed back tears, reliving the most traumatic day of his life. It was this delay that proved fatal to some of the troops stationed at COP Keating. Extending control further along the river was expected to counter the AAF expansion and activity in the summer of 2007. Captain Matthew Kaplan, CW3 Ross Lewallen, CW3 Randy Huff, CW2 Gary Wingert, CW2 Chad Bardwell, and CW2 Chris Wright were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for conducting close combat attacks on the Taliban during the battle. Ground resupply became almost impossible due to the area's limited roads and the threat of insurgent attacks. Above their paygrade. On that day, then-1LT Bundermann's leadership and heroic actions in orchestrating the defense of Combat Outpost Keating, helped prevent it from falling into the hands of a Taliban force of more than 400 fighters. Soldiers Dead in Bold Attack in Afghanistan", Attack on Afghan outposts kills 8 soldiers, "U.S. ignored warnings before deadly Afghan attack", "U.S. Military Faults Leaders in Attack on Base", "Courage at Keating: 2 Medals of Honor, 1 DSC, 8 Silver Stars for standout B Troop", "Army releases report on battle at Combat Outpost Keating battle", "Afghan insurgents pushed into U.S. base, official says", "Strategic Plans Spawned Bitter End for a Lonely Outpost", "Defense.gov News Release: DoD Identifies Army Casualties", "Defense.gov News Release: DoD Identifies Army Casualty", "Insurgents breached U.S. outpost in battle", The Gazette: Mom works to help Carson soldiers honor battle bonds, "They 'weren't going to get beat that day' the Medal of Honor recipients who held COP Keating against all odds", "US premiere of film about Battle of COP Keating and Latvian soldiers | Aizsardzbas ministrija", Latvijas Televzija: Videofilma "Afganistna. Benjamin D. Keating was born in Sanford, Maine on 31 May 1979, and he served as Chair of the Young Republicans at the . [9], Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron "Destroyers", 61st Cavalry Regiment manned COP Keating. The bounty was a thing back then? 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. Killed by a single gunshot wound to the face while in the base mortar pit. 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. Set up new plants in Mirdesh and Gawardesh. 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. 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. He was thrown from the truck, which rolled over him and sank into the river. U.S. soldiers reported that none of the Afghan soldiers held their ground. prosthetic makeup effects administrator: Millennium FX. 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. Unlike the movie, The Outpost true story reveals that Keating was not alone in the truck. 37 soldiers were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device for valor. Melvin Porter of the Fourth Infantry Division, as Keating has been furiously and repeatedly attacked since it opened in 2006. A common misconception is that the Taliban are primitive fighters who lack the necessary skills to be effective in battle. 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. A United States Special Operations forces soldier on the Syria-Turkey border in September 2019. 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. Eight aviators were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping defend the base. The movie is based on the 2012 nonfiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by CNN's Jake Tapper. Another example of his leadership failure was his failure to tell his troops why he was banning hot meals at the base. 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. [3] Romesha was critical of the choice of site for the base, describing it as "like being in a fishbowl or fighting from the bottom of a paper cup. "[5], On November 9, 2018, the Netflix series Medal of Honor featured two separate episodes for both Romesha and Carter's personal accounts of the events that took place at COP Keating during the Battle of Kamdesh. Another 10 Afghan soldiers and several Taliban were killed during these operations. Capt. The idea was to stop the insurgents' supply lines coming in from Pakistan. Jake Tapper, author of the bookThe Outpost, wondered the same thing when he embarked on his research. As a result, the depot was looted by the Taliban. The entire Outpost Keating was recreated. Matthew McMurtrey a cyber systems operator was attached to the 61st Cav and woke at6 a.m. that day to the walls of his bunk shaking, alerting him to the attack. Tears were streaming down his face. A new counter-insurgency strategy seemed to offer a way around these problems. Again, it was later noted that many of Porter's decisions were sound. Lieutenant Keating, first commander of the Kamdesh PRT, was determined to make COIN a success in the region. [39] The Netflix documentary series, Medal of Honor, includes an episode detailing the actions of Clinton Romesha and Ty Carter.[40]. [24], The insurgents began to retreat later in the day. For the most part, yes. "whatever you think of their ideology, these are fierce and smart fighters. 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 am almost 100% certain it was deliberately placed in a shitty location to goad locals into attacking the base, allowing the US to attack the enemy directly. "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. 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. Cordova continued to treat the wounded even after flames were within 10 feet of his location. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Keating died while serving at the base in 2006 and it was . 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. SHAPLEIGH, Maine It's been nearly 14 years since Ken and Beth Keating lost their son, Army Captain Benjamin Keating, in Afghanistan. Urdu and Pashtun HIG warriors brought arms and ammunition from Pakistan. Chris Cordova with actors who portrayed him and medics under his command. Captain Bostick was killed by a rocket propelled grenade. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers fought. [7]:327328 The nearest attack helicopters were located in Jalalabad, a thirty-minute flight away. "It doesn't really take a lot to sort of trigger the emotions again," said Beth Keating. 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. Surprised they didn't frag him. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor. Many of the Afghan troops, however, were a different story. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and 27 wounded; eight Afghan soldiers were wounded, along with two Afghan private security guards. Ty M. Carter pauses during a patrol outside Combat Outpost Keating, Afghanistan, where he was deployed with the 61st Cavalry Regiment in 2009. Area of Operations. Within the first hour, the American and Latvian defenders had collapsed to a tight internal perimeter, centered on the two buildings that were not burning. A dog named Cali growled at the eldest son of an Afghan Security Guard, who would often come to the post with his father. Zorias Yunger), most of what unfolds in the movie is largely accurate. 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. 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. By now, Porter had strained relations with nearly all of his subordinate leaders. Insurgents had breached the camp in several locations, including at the main entrance, near the latrine area, and on the eastern side. 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. Or invite someone to subscribe through this link. And he was becoming disillusioned with the possibility of what he thought. [7]:1238,1368,18191,407, On August 8, 2006, 19 days after the first American landing, the PRT was attacked for the first time. U.S. air support directed by Sgt. "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.". A result, the base mortar pit Aug. 6, 2009, the depot looted! [ 9 ], the base story confirms that COP Keating 's new commander, this... Building a consensus of village elders in support of the Afghan soldiers their. 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