The Untold Story Of The Battle Of Camp Bastion In Afghanistan

Camp Bastion is the main British military base in Afghanistan. Accommodating 28,000 people it is situated northwest of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province and is several square miles in size

Revealed: How Prince Harry Was Whisked To Camp Bastion Safe-House As US Marines Battled Taliban Suicide-Squad Who Infiltrated Base In Assassination Attempt -- Daily Mail

* September 2012 Camp Bastion raid was a Taliban raid that killed two United States Marine Corps (USMC) service personnel and destroyed or severely damaged eight aircraft
* The total cost to the United States military was $200 million
* The British base in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan was home to serving military officer Prince Harry
* The raid on the aircraft was also an assassination attempt on the Prince's life by the Taliban

Prince Harry was frantically rushed into a heavily secured safe-house during the Camp Bastion raid of September 2012 as 15 heavily armed Taliban soldiers ran amok in the British base a new report claims.

The fourth-in-line to the British throne was serving at the base in Afghanistan when fighters dressed in U.S. Army uniforms unleashed a ground assault on September 14th and destroyed or damaged eight aircraft worth a total of $200 million.

Two U.S. Marines also lost their lives in the melee described as 'the worst loss of U.S. air-power in a single incident since the Vietnam War' and Captain Harry Wales, identified as a legitimate military target by the Taliban, survived the four hour battle that raged inside the base which had been thought to be impregnable.

Read more ....

My Comment: The GQ article .... Enemy Inside the Wire: The Untold Story of the Battle of Bastion .... is a fascinating read. The link is here.

U.S. Soldier Survives A Direct RPG Hit

Photo: AFP/Strdel

Solider Survives Grenade To The Leg -- Herald Sun/AFP

A US soldier has described how he survived a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade on his first patrol in Afghanistan, after the projectile bounced off his leg.

Specialist Devin Hagar's brush with death came during a patrol in Logar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan. His platoon retreated along a river after coming under attack, and were about to cross when his squad leader decided they were in a bad spot.

"I turned and put one foot up on the riverbank and that's when I saw the back-blast of the RPG and the guy's silhouette and a silver thing with a red tip coming at me," the 22-year-old from Kansas said.

Read more ....

Update #1: US soldier in Afghanistan survives grenade direct hit -- Indian Express
Update #2: US Soldier Survives Direct Hit From A Rocket Propelled Grenade After It Bounces Off His Leg -- Business Insider

My Comment: His time was not up.

Helmet Cam Video Captures Terrifying Video Of U.S. Soldier In Firefight With Taliban

'I'm Hit, I'm Hit!': Helmet Cam Video Captures Terrifying Video Of U.S. Soldier In Firefight With Taliban Machine Guns -- Daily Mail

* Soldier, who was not identified, shot at as he tried to draw fire away from members of his unit
* Taliban fighters shoot gun out of soldier's hand as he tries to duck for cover
* Soldier now safe and sound after he was shot four times

A new video shot from the point of view of a U.S. Army soldier in Afghanistan has captured the desperate moment when a soldier ducks for cover as he's fired on by Taliban militants.

The three and a half minute video captures the soldier’s plight as gunshots can be seen and heard all around him.

The soldier fires several shots as he heroically descends a mountain in an effort to draw fire away from his comrades.

Read more ....

My Comment: He was lucky .... very lucky.

An Embed Is Observing A Worsening Situation In Afghanistan

U.S. Army Cpl. Casey Leimbach and U.S. Army Spc. Timothy Rigg provide security during a patrol to Black Rock in Afghanistan's Khost province, July 31, 2012. Leimbach and Rigg are assigned to 25th Infantry Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. Their unit conducted the patrol to investigate an attack to Combat Outpost Bak. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kimberly Trumbull

I Went Back To Afghanistan With The US Marines And It's Worse There Than Ever -- Business Insider

I spent four years in the Marine Corps covering everything from combat patrols in Iraq to commanding generals cutting ribbons. It was challenging, exciting, life-changing and boring in almost equal measure.

After I'd gotten out and finished my Master's in journalism at NYU, I took what little money I had saved and decided to head to Afghanistan. I needed to go back, I needed to see the guys I knew and remind myself what seemed more real to me than anything else in my life.

So, I did. I got approved to embed with a Marine unit, filled out the paperwork absolving the Corps of my not unlikely demise, and took off for Kabul.

Read more ....

My Comment: A sobering analysis from one embed on the ground in Afghanistan.

An Eyewitness Account Of Bravery And Tragedy In The Confusion Of The Afghan War

Zaranj, Afghanistan, is a relatively peaceful town near the border with Iran. But when a suicide bomber struck a convoy there in April, WSJ's Michael M. Phillips found himself in the middle of a harrowing firefight. He shares his eyewitness account of the bravery and the tragedy that followed.

Under Attack -- Wall Street Journal

When a suicide bomber struck a convoy in Afghanistan, a routine Marine patrol turned into a harrowing firefight. Michael M. Phillips with an eyewitness account of bravery and tragedy in the confusion of war.

When the suicide bomber exploded, the world skidded to a stop. The Afghan police pickup truck, 30 yards directly behind us, disappeared in a geyser of thick gray-brown smoke. The only visible object was its hood flying through the air, a black silhouette against the murk, followed by the sound of broken glass falling. Then the smoke thinned, like the curtain rising on a stage, revealing the chaos the bomber had set loose.

The pickup truck wasn't where it was supposed to be. The blast had hoisted it into the air and dropped it onto the median strip. There was a moment's hesitation among the troops next to me in the lead pickup. A lone motorcyclist emerged from the cloud, inexplicably upright and seemingly uninjured.

Read more ....

My Comment: A must read on the ground action report from Afghanistan.

Life At A U.S. Base In Afghanistan

Spec. Cherry Maurice, right, and her supervisor Staff Sgt. Tawana Roberts get ready for the dinner rush at Combat Outpost Sayed Abad.

U.S. Soldier’s Gift To Afghan Workers At Her Base Underscores Divide -- Washington Post

COMBAT OUTPOST SAYED ABAD, AFGHANISTAN — In a big war, Army Spec. Cherry Maurice believed that one small gesture could make a difference.

Temperatures at her mountain base plunged to 20 degrees below zero in January, and snow covered the ground. Maurice noticed that the eight Afghan workers on the outpost were coming to work in rubber flip-flops. The 35-year-old soldier labored with the men in the outpost’s kitchen, which is not much bigger than a walk-in closet. She dug into her personal savings and spent $135 to buy them eight pairs of boots.

Read more ....

My Comment: I love these stories. They .... more than most reports .... give an accurate "on the ground report" of what is happening 99% of the time in Afghanistan

British Officer Fends Off Taliban Attack With His Bayonet

Lt Adamson, who is single and comes from the Isle of Man, was moving between two eight man sections when a group of Taliban fighters attempted a flanking attack Photo: CHRIS SAVILLE/APEX

British Officer Wins Two Gallantry Awards For Fending Off Taliban Attack With Bayonet -- The Telegraph

A young British officer, Lieutenant James Adamson, who won two gallantry awards while serving in Afghanistan has told how he fended off an enemy attack by bayoneting a Taliban fighter to death.

Lieutenant James Adamson was awarded the Military Cross after killing two insurgents during close quarter combat in Helmand's notorious "Green Zone".

The 24-year-old officer, a member of the 5th battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, revealed that he shouted "have some of this" before shooting dead a gunman who had just emerged from a maize field.

Seconds later and out of ammunition, the lieutenant leapt over a river bank and killed a second insurgent machine-gunner with a single thrust of his bayonet in the man's chest.

Read more ....

My Comment: He was lucky .... but his training gave him the edge.

Combat Outpost Margah Ranks Among The Most Attacked Army Base In All Of Afghanistan

Soldiers from Charlie Company patrol near Combat Outpost Margah in the wake of an attack last month. Photo: Spc. David Barnes

Steadfast Under Siege -- The Daily

A remote U.S. outpost in Afghanistan weathers a constant barrage of insurgent attacks

A dusty U.S. Army compound in the hills near the Pakistani border has withstood more than 60 insurgent strikes in 2011, making it one of the most-attacked bases in the Afghanistan war.

Even as plunging temperatures mark the end of this year’s fighting season, there’s been no reprieve for the soldiers defending Combat Outpost Margah: insurgents struck again earlier this month, cloaking themselves in space blankets to hide from the Americans’ night vision and firing machine guns from a nearby riverbed, according to a BBC crew on the scene.

As they had done many times before, the Charlie Company Spartans of 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment repelled the assault with a combination of superior firepower and skill.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is a must read on the ground action report from Afghanistan. Part #2 can be read here.

Hat Tip: Bennie Sham, Rubenstein Communications, Inc.

During Bomb Factory Raid British Troops Find Afghan Policeman About To Be Executed

Swoop: British soldiers flew into the Nahr-e Seraj district of Helmand Province and found a Taliban bomb factory

To The Rescue: Spectacular Images Of British Troops As They Raid A Bomb Factory And Save Afghan Policeman Set For Execution -- Daily Mail

These graphic pictures show the bravery of British troops as they raided an Afghan bomb factory in a daring dawn raid.

Not only did they seize IEDs, drugs and an AK-47 sub-machine gun, but rescued a police officer who was due to be executed later that day.

The troops from Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) came under fire from the Taliban as they flew into the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand Province on three Chinook helicopters.

Read more ....

My Comment: This Afghan cop was very very very lucky.

A Mexican Standoff Between British Soldiers And Talban Fighters

Dispatch: British Troops And Taliban Fighters In Mexican Standoff -- The Telegraph

Across a flat, open expanse of ground 600 yards to our front we could see three Taliban standing at the corner of a mudbrick compound.

The insurgents also knew precisely where we were.

But they would only grab their weapons and open fire if the patrol from 2nd Bn The Rifles and Afghan army dared to advance.

It was a stalemate. A Mexican stand off under the increasing heat of the mid-morning sun.

We were on the Forward Line of Enemy Troops, the FLET. In fact we had gone beyond the frontline and the Taliban did not like it.

The patrol was part of the grinding battle in a corner of Helmand over who controls the water for the 17,000 people living in the stretch of the Nar-e-Saraj desert.

Read more ....

My Comment: After 10 years of warfare .... one comes to the calm realization that (after reading this post) nothing has really changed.

The sun sets behind U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jamie R. Johnson, a platoon sergeant assigned to Bayonet Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, Task Force No Slack, as he patrols Afghanistan's Kunar province, March 17, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Mark Burrell

A First-Hand Report from Afghanistan -- Powerline

Our effort in Afghanistan is complex and daunting. Our troops there have done great service, but Afghanistan itself is almost unimaginably primitive. I, along with many others, have had mixed feelings about a strategy that sometimes seems to mortgage the success of our often-heroic efforts to the ability of the Afghans to create a decent society.

So, when our friend Pete Hegseth told us that he was assigned to go to Afghanistan as a counter-insurgency instructor, we asked him to let us know what the real story is on the ground. We know of no one more reliable than Pete to convey for our readers an accurate and balanced picture of how things are going in that corner of the world. So, here is Pete’s first dispatch from Afghanistan. It is long, but you won’t find a more knowledgeable, balanced assessment of the situation on the ground in that country anywhere:

Read more ....

My Comment: My must read article for today. Read it all.

An Officer's Experience In Afghanistan

First Lt. Troy Peterson of the Army, right, helping his radio operator, Pfc. Justin Cobbs, across a ravine during a patrol near Combat Outpost Mizan in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, in August 2010. Senior Airman Nathanael Callon/United States Air Force

Desk Guilt -- First LT. Troy Peterson, At War/New York Times

ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan — I deployed last June with the Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment from Vilseck, Germany, to an isolated combat outpost in a remote district of Afghanistan’s Zabul Province.

I turned 24 two days after we arrived in Afghanistan, but I’d trained for six years to get this chance to lead soldiers in combat; four years at West Point, then infantry training and Ranger School, finally followed by training with my platoon through a frigid German winter. After a long helicopter flight to Combat Outpost Mizan, where my platoon and I would live and fight, I knew my chance had come to do what I’d trained for.

Read more ....

My Comment: For a 24 year old to have such a great responsibility .... wow .... this is a great read.

Are British Commanders More Concerned With Protecting Soldiers Than Defeating The Taliban?

The officer claims that by the end of a routine patrol soldiers struggle to make basic tactical judgements because they are physically and mentally exhausted Photo: JANE MINGAY

Britain's 'Donkey' Soldiers Are Losing The War In Afghanistan -- The Telegraph

A senior Army officer has warned that Britain risks losing the war in Afghanistan because commanders are more concerned with protecting soldiers than defeating the Taliban.

Attacking the British strategy in Helmand, the officer claims that soldiers are now so laden with equipment they are unable to launch effective attacks against insurgents.

The controversial account of situation in Afghanistan appears in the latest issue British Army Review, a restricted military publication designed to provoke debate within the Army.

Writing anonymously, the author reveals that the Taliban have dubbed British soldiers "donkeys" who move in a tactical "waddle" because they now carry an average weight of 110lbs worth of equipment into battle.

Read more ....

My Comment: When the enemy is more mobile than your soldiers .... you are fighting a losing war. So .... the Taliban calling the British soldiers "donkeys" is probably appropriate, and one that I must confess gives a certain sting .... but the truth usually does.

British Soldier Captures Taliban Leader With His Bare Hands

Hero: Private Lee Stephens leapt unarmed from his Warrior armoured car to tackle a suspected suicide bomber

'I Just Grabbed The Geezer': Hero Squaddie Seizes Top Taliban Leader After Desert FIST FIGHT -- The Daily Mail

'My muckers were getting shot at on the ground and I thought "I'm not having that".'

Face to face with a Taliban bomber after a high-speed desert chase, Private Lee Stephens acted on instinct and adrenalin.

With no time to consider his own safety, he leapt unarmed from his Warrior armoured vehicle, dragged the insurgent from his motorcycle and laid into him with his fists.

Gunner Pte Stephens, 30, from Solihull, did not have time to get his gun. He said: ‘I jumped out and I grabbed the geezer.

Read more ....

My Comment: Not the course of action that I would recommend for this soldier, but he did get the job done under dangerous conditions.

Saving Our Soldiers After An IED Attack

Vantage Point: Protecting the Eyes That Face Explosions -- New York Times

Late in the afternoon on May 27, 2010, a Marine and Afghan foot patrol working in the scrub and dunes along the Helmand River in Afghanistan unknowingly walked up to a hidden bomb. The description of what happened next will be familiar to anyone who has closely followed the war, or walked Afghanistan’s rural provinces with Western troops for any length of time.

The patrol was being watched by someone who was himself in hiding, and who detonated the device when the patrol was close. At least two Marines were standing beside the bomb, which had been buried in the soil.

Read more ....

My Comment: A short but riveting account on how wounded soldiers get treated in Afghanistan.

An On The Ground Report From An American Unit In Afghanistan

Active duty and reserve component U.S. Navy Seabees secure and fortify a remote combat outpost on the eastern edge of Khavejeh Molk, Afganistan, Dec. 13, 2010. The village is located approximately 25 miles north of Kandahar and is being used as a patrol base for the U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Michael B. Watkins

The Afghan Diaries: The Long Blooding Of The 1-22 Infantry -- Time Magazine

The convoy finished snaking its way slowly though Kandahar city just after 10 p.m. From the only open seat in the middle of a supply truck cab, I could see little other than broken roads and tiny trees until finally the driver cut to the left, over what looked like a small concrete footbridge with culverts on either side.

My heart stopped for a moment. This was just the type of spot where we used to find IEDs in Iraq. But the trucks passed over the narrow clip without incident and rolled into a small base known as ANCOP (Afghan National Civil Order Police) that also contains the headquarters of 1-22 Infantry. A sergeant who was bundled up against the cold led me through a dark maze to a small building and I immediately recognized the blue and white shield on the plywood door: the regimental crest of the 22nd Infantry.

Read more ....

My Comment: 9 years (+) of fighting ..... sighhhhh .... and still no signs of any breaks in the conflict.

On The Ground Action Report From British Soldiers In Afghanistan

General Petraeus visits 3 Para Battlegroup, based in the northern Nad e Ali district of Helmand Province Photo: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY

Gen Petraeus Hails Paras For Precision Attack -- The Telegraph

Gen David Petraeus, the commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, has hailed a Parachute Regiment operation involving a precision attack that killed 15 Taliban but left two civilans unharmed.

Two Afghan civilians survived unscathed as bombs and bullets rained down on Taliban during a "precision strike" campaign being run by the 3rd Bn The Parachute Regiment.

Read more ....

My Comment: Congrats to the Paras for a job well done. One must give credit where credit is due, but what struck me about the story was not the engagement itself, but the fact that it happened at the end of November. Late November is winter in Afghanistan, a time when the Taliban cease to conduct military engagements. The fact that they are continuing the fight is a shift in their military strategy .... a worrisome trend that tells me that this is going to be a bloody winter.

On The Ground Action Report From British Soldiers In Afghanistan

Image from The Daily Mail

Paratroopers Defeat Taliban In Decisive Day Of Battles -- The Telegraph

Paratroopers have defeated the Taliban in a decisive day of battles in fighting similar to scenes from the Second World War.

A day of heavy fighting left 25 insurgents dead in a former haven in northern Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand.

The story of the Battle of Washiran can be told for the first time after soldiers described the assault to The Daily Telegraph.

Surveillance first identified eight fighters readying their weapons for attack in a compound that was targetted by RAF Tornado with a 500lb satellite guided bomb.

Read more ....

My Comment: When one also read stories like this one .... you know that the fighting in Afghanistan is now getting intense (and just before winter).

How Ordinary Afghans See The Surge. An On the Ground Report From The Battlefields Of Afghanistan

U.S. Army soldiers return fire while engaging enemy combatants in the Chak district, Wardak province, Afghanistan, Sept. 25, 2010. The soldiers are assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Donald Watkins

Nato Surge On Taliban Stronghold Drives Civilians Into The Line Of Fire -- The Independent

As troops step up their attack on the militants' Kandahar heartland, Julius Cavendish meets the ordinary people caught on the frontline.

The first eyewitness accounts of Nato's assault on the final Taliban sanctuary threatening Kandahar City have begun to emerge, painting a picture of sporadic fire fights, steady progress by Afghan and coalition forces, and flight by those inhabitants wealthy or lucky enough to escape the violence.

Earlier this week, Nato began its final and critical phase of a major offensive designed to clear Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban, with hundreds of troops carrying out an air assault on the main insurgent base in the region. In interviews with The Independent, tribal elders, government officials and civilians in Kandahar City provided vivid descriptions of special forces night raids and Nato's bombardment of the area in the preceding month – designed to damage the local Taliban leadership – and the tactics the insurgents used to cow inhabitants before fleeing in the face of coalition firepower.

Read more ....

My Comment: This report from the Independent was made from the viewpoint of how ordinary Afghans see (and experience) the conflict that is around them. An interesting perspective, and worth the read.

On The Ground Report From Michael Yon In Afghanistan

Photo: Michael Yon

To Follow These Steps -- Michael Yon

I first met Steve Shaulis about 27 years ago during Special Forces training. We’ve been friends ever since and have traveled many places together.

Back in 2001, six months before the 9/11 attacks, we were at his U.S. home in Vero Beach, Florida. We were preparing to swim out into the night in the Atlantic Ocean when Steve began to tell me more about Afghanistan. Steve had been to Afghanistan many times and had been exporting agricultural products from the war-ravaged land since 1997. Steve told me that the Taliban, who were not supposed to watch television, loved professional wrestling. Their favorite was “The Undertaker,” and when Taliban could not get television, they longed for wrestling updates from Steve.

Read more ....

My Comment: Another priceless piece from Michael Yon. Read it all.