13 Hour Battle: 270 Taliban Dead. No U.S. Or Afghan Casulaties

Master Sgt. Rob Lee, left, Senior Airman Michael McCaffrey, center, and Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney coordinated airstrikes on attacking insurgents. Courtesy of Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney

TACP Airman Turned Tide Of 13-Hour Battle -- Air Force Times

A tactical air control party member from the Washington National Guard is set to receive the Silver Star for his actions in a 13-hour battle in Afghanistan that left about 270 Taliban fighters dead, without a single U.S. or Afghan casualty.

Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney, a TACP with the 116th Air Support Observation Squadron, was with another TACP alongside an Army unit May 25 near Do Ab in the mountainous Nuristan province, when his group was ambushed. Pinned down and outnumbered by the large Taliban forces above, Delaney called in airstrikes from 14 airframes from all four services.

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My Comment: A clear demonstration on what air power can do to concentrated enemy forces.

Helicopter Hero Who Saved 30 Soldiers By Flying One-Handed

Courage: Flight Lieutenant Dan Cullen, who saved the lives of 30 British soldiers by flying his helicopter one-handed, has been honoured by the RAF

Helicopter Hero Who Saved 30 Soldiers By Flying One-Handed Awarded One Of RAF's Highest Honours -- Daily Mail

* Flight Lieutenant Dan Cullen, 31, has received the Distinguished Flying Cross

A pilot who saved the lives of 30 British soldiers by flying his helicopter one-handed has been awarded one of the RAF’s highest honours.

Flight Lieutenant Dan Cullen’s Chinook was flying at 115mph just 50ft above the ground when his co-pilot – who had been shot by the Taliban – lost consciousness and slumped forward on to his controls.

As the helicopter plummeted to the ground, Flt Lieut Cullen pulled his co-pilot upright with one hand while fighting to regain control of the aircraft with the other.

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My Comment: All of these soldiers were very lucky that day.

Ambushed By The Taliban - M240 Helmet Cam Firefight

My Comment: Impressive video. Quality is excellent. But what caught my eye was in the first minute when the soldiers were walking through a marijuana field. Hmmmm ... impressive (and large) plants.

How Two British Officers Were Targeted And Killed In Afghanistan

Squadron Leader Anthony Downing of the RAF (left) and Royal Marine Captain Tom Jennings Photo: PA

Two Officers Killed On Covert Afghanistan Mission Named -- The Telegraph

Two officers killed in a blast while conducting a covert mission in Afghanistan have been named by the Ministry of Defence.

It is the first time two officers have been killed in a single bombing incident while travelling together in a vehicle in Afghanistan.

Captain Tom Jennings, of the Special Boat Service, and Squadron Leader Anthony Downing, died when their vehicle was targeted by the Taliban near the capital Kabul.

It is understood that the men were part of a special forces team that had been in contact with Afghans on an “outreach patrol” with Squadron Leader Downing acting as an interpreter.

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My Comment: I am not there, so it is difficult to give a proper analysis .... but from where I am standing .... I cannot help but feel that this was a set-up and that they were deliberately targeted.

I know that this will not bring them back .... but our prayers are with their families and loved ones.

Remembering The 2008 Battle Of Shewan

Belated Honors For Marines In Fierce Battle -- Sign On San Diego

Ambushed and outmanned, a 30-member Marine platoon fought back and before the long day was over, almost half had earned major military medals for valor — perhaps a measure of just how fierce the 2008 Battle of Shewan was.

The Camp Pendleton force-reconnaissance platoon is finally getting public recognition for that battle on Aug. 8, 2008, when they stumbled into a nest of 250 seasoned Taliban fighters while trying to secure a village in southwestern Afghanistan.

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My Comment: Outnumbered 8 to 1 .... and be able to survive .... now that is an incredible story. Defense Tech has more info on what happened that day.

Marines Firing Artillery Air Bursts On Taliban (Video)

Hat Tip: Rantburg

What really Happened At The Battle For Nuristan

US Reservists Reveal Truth About The Battle For Nuristan -- The Independent

Nato spoke of "some fighting" at the end of May in Nuristan province.

Parliament members and local media claimed dozens of deaths in an indiscriminate air strike.

Now, the US soldiers who fought in this remote corner of north-eastern Afghanistan appear to have cut through the spin, telling their local newspaper of a ferocious battle after Taliban fighters seized a tiny mountain village and raised the flag of the Islamist movement.

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My Comment: Nato's statement on what happened in this fight is clearly an understatement, and more information on how Afghan policemen and civilians were killed should also be released.

Patrol Base Pashad Against 100 Taliban

Staff Sgt. Rodrigo Arias-Hernandez poses for a photo taken during his 2009 deployment to Afghanistan. Arias-Hernandez earned a Bronze Star with "V" for leading a successful defense of Patrol Base Pashad against more than 100 enemy fighters in 2009. Courtesy of Brian Allis

'Rambo Did Stuff Like That' -- Stars And Stripes

With only five weeks on the ground, the last thing three enlisted American servicemembers defending a mud-walled compound want to hear from a Special Forces commander is, “you guys are crazy for even being here.”

He had a point. If military strategists were building a base to test the skills of their fighters, they might devise something like Patrol Base Pashad.

Located just a few miles from the Pakistan border, the primitive compound is susceptible to fire from anyone who pops over the nearby mountain ridgeline.

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My Comment: The sense of loneliness that one must have when posted in such a location .... it reminds me of the movie Dancing with Wolves (with Kevin Costner) and the scene which shows his outpost in Indian country.

A Solider's Fight Against 30 Taliban Is Honoured

Sgt Dipprasad Pun Photo: PA

Afghanistan: Gurkha Fought Honoured For Lone Fight Against Taliban -- The Telegraph

A Gurkha soldier has received one of the highest awards for bravery for single-handedly fighting off up to 30 Taliban trying to storm his position in Afghanistan.

A Gurkha soldier has received one the highest awards for bravery for single-handedly fighting off up to 30 Taliban trying to storm his position in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Dipprasad Pun got through more than 400 rounds of ammunition and an assortment of grenades during his extraordinary one-man stand on the roof of an isolated sentry-post.

At one point, when his gun could no longer fire, he resorted to battering one Taliban fighter, who was trying to scale the wall to attack him, over the head with the tripod of his machine gun.

The 31-year-old from Bima in western Nepal, has been awarded the conspicuous Gallantry Cross – second to the Victoria Cross and George Cross.

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My Comment: I am sure that his story is one of many in this war.

The Important Role That Junior Officers Play In Afghanistan

Soldiers from Alpha Company, First Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment during a group therapy “debriefing” in Kunduz. Damon Winter/The New York Times

Life And Death Decisions Weigh On Junior Officers -- New York Times

QURGHAN TAPA, Afghanistan — The hill wasn’t much to behold, just a treeless mound of dirt barely 80 feet high. But for Taliban fighters, it was a favorite spot for launching rockets into Imam Sahib city. Ideal, American commanders figured, for the insurgents to disrupt the coming parliamentary elections.

So under a warm September sun, a dozen American infantrymen snaked their way toward the hill’s summit, intent on holding it until voting booths closed the next evening. At the top, soldiers settled into trenches near the rusted carcass of a Soviet troop carrier and prepared for a long day of watching tree lines.

Then, an explosion. “Man down!” someone shouted. From across the hill, they could hear the faint sound of moaning: one of the company’s two minesweepers lay crumpled on the ground. The soldiers of Third Platoon froze in place.

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My Comment: There is a lot of more info and news in this story. Read it all.

A Soldier's Heroism May Yield Him The Congressional Medal of Honor, But It Also Reveals How Afghan Rules of Engagement Is Costing U.S. Lives

From left to right: Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, Cpl. Dakota Meyer and Hospitalman 3rd Class James Layton. Photo courtesy of Brent Layton

Heroism In Ambush May Yield Top Valor Awards -- U.S. Navy Times

With no air or artillery support, the Marines of Embedded Training Team 2-8 were trapped deep in a kill zone in eastern Afghanistan. Their radios worked only sporadically, and dozens of insurgents fired on them repeatedly from three sides.

“We’re surrounded!” Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson yelled into his radio in the early-morning hours of Sept. 8, 2009. “They’re moving in on us!”

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My Comment: The paragraph that sums up this story is the following ....

Meyer’s five-page, handwritten statement to investigators is part of a 300-plus page report compiled by Combined Joint Task Force 82, then based at Bagram Air Base, in the days following the ambush. The military has declined repeatedly to release the full report, but Marine Corps Times obtained a declassified version that not only outlines heroism on the battlefield by numerous troops, but raises new questions about the mission’s failure, the Army officers in charge and why repeated, frantic pleas for air and artillery support from troops on the ground were ignored.

Sighhh .... our prayers are for the fallen soldiers families and their loved ones .... and a salute to Cpl. Dakota Meyer.

An On The Ground Action Report From Afghanistan

British soldiers pause during their offensive to drive the Taliban's fighters from Saidabad. Corporal Gary Kendall RLC

Ambushes, Firefights And IEDs Hamper Latest British Offensive -- The Independent

Kim Sengupta reports from Operation Tor Shezada's front line.

"We are moving to the compound of Rahmad Yar," was the intercepted Taliban message.

The attack came 53 minutes later, long raking bursts of machine-gun fire along with intermittent Kalashnikov shots. Other targets around the area also began to be hit. The Taliban were not giving up their stronghold without a fight.

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My Comment: Recently, the British paper 'The Independent' has been providing excellent coverage of the war in Afghanistan .... a tradition that they continue in this post.

Recalling A Firefight With The Taleban

The ‘Bullet Magnet’, Mick Flynn, Recalls A Firefight With The Taleban In 2006 -- Times Online

If the crossing turned out to be as dangerous as it looked, it was better if I led from the front. I always get a buzz out of going first.

There wasn’t even a squeak of birdsong. The silence was setting off all my alarm bells. In a war zone, a close, brooding silence like the one we had now is a strong combat indicator. It means the locals have cleared out. All my instincts and training told me we were taking an almighty risk.

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My Comment: This story comes from a book that is to be published this week. If this story is any indication, I suspect the rest of the book will be captivating reading.

Afghanistan: On The Ground Action Report -- September 1, 2009

U.S. Marines and Afghan national army soldiers return fire after insurgents ambushed their patrol in the Garmsir district in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Aug. 13, 2009. U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st Lt. Kurt Stahl

Ten Dollar Taliban and Rules of Engagement -- Captain's Journal

The AP has an informative update on the U.S. Marine efforts in Now Zad.

After three tours in Iraq, U.S. Marine Sgt. Andre Leon was used to brutal shootouts with enemy fighters and expected more of the same in Afghanistan.

Instead, what he’s seen so far are anonymous attacks in the form of mines and roadside bombings — the mark of what he calls a cowardly adversary.

“I’m not impressed with them,” Leon, 25, of Herndon, Va., said this past week from a Marines camp deep in the southern province of Helmand, where U.S. forces are challenging Taliban insurgents and their devastating use of IEDs, or homemade bombs. “I expected more of a stand-and-fight. All these guys do is IEDs.”

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My Comment: These "unimpressive" Taliban have killed numerous NATO/US forces in the past month and are expected to continue with this trend. While money is a big motivating factor, among the leadership it is religion and a cause .... two dangerous ingredients in the hands of the enemy.

On The Ground Action Report From Afghanistan -- Two Posts From The Captain's Journal

Marine Combat Action in Dahaneh -- Captain's Journal

The U.S. Marine are staying on the offensive in the Northern part of the Helmand Province, in Dahaneh.

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan are meeting fierce Taliban resistance as they push deeper into the strategic Helmand province town of Dahaneh.

Surface-to-surface missiles and Harrier fighter jets have pounded insurgent positions in the surrounding hills.

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Have We Taken Now Zad? -- Captain's Journal

Several days ago this report appeared about the U.S. Marines in Now Zad.

Cpl. Justin Thompson crawled out of his rat hole dug deep into a wind-beaten, barren hilltop. Stepping over mounds of protective sand bags, he watched the sun rise over the Now Zad valley, a Taliban stronghold.

Thompson is part of a small Marine force that keeps watch over the deserted town of Now Zad.

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General McCaffrey On Afghanistan (After Action Report)

Anti-Taliban fighters observing U.S. bombing of the cave sanctuaries of the al-Qaeda terrorist
organization in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan on December 16, 2001.

From Small Wars Journal:

After Action Report (AAR) by General Barry R McCaffrey USA (Ret) on his visit to NATO SHAPE Headquarters and Afghanistan – 21-26 July 2008.

This memo provides a strategic and operational assessment of security operations in Afghanistan.

Full AAR at the link above. Excerpts (emphasis and links by SWJ) follow:

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My Comment: This is the best report that I have read (recently) which covers the Afghanistan situation in a comprehensive manner.

Key points:

Bottom-Line: Six Assertions

(1) Afghanistan is in misery.
(2) The magnificent, resilient Afghan people absolutely reject the ideology and violence of the Taliban (90% or greater) but have little faith in the ability of the government to provide security, justice, clean water, electricity, or jobs.
(3) The courageous and determined NATO Forces (the employable forces are principally US, Canadian, British, Polish, and Dutch) and the Afghan National Army (the ANA is a splendid success story) cannot be defeated in battle.
(4) 2009 will be the year of decision.
(5) US unilateral reinforcements driven by US Defense Secretary Bob Gates have provided additional Army and Marine combat forces and significant enhanced training and equipment support for Afghan security forces.
(6) There is no unity of command in Afghanistan. A sensible coordination of all political and military elements of the Afghan theater of operations does not exist.

Each assertion is examined extensively in the report. Again .... if you want to understand the predicament that Afghanistan is in, and what we are getting ourselves into, this is a report that you should read.