Return to Afghan combat outpost leads to unexpected firefight

here he comes show force beyond this Ridge is Taliban controlled territory these are the men of the US Army's dragon tree their operation here represents the extreme edge of America's waning conventional war against the Taliban as sniper a gun run along the ridge line for suppression this is the combat outpost or cop Americans have long abandoned these remote austere fighting positions and consolidated into larger forward operating bases which are now being closed one by one far from a peaceful process closing down these fobs as sometimes meant leaving the fight to the NA instead of finishing it decisively at fob airborne a complex attack and prolonged 6-hour firefight heralded the American exit and closure there at fob kasnia American paratroopers had to call in close air support after being him down a two-hour firefight they visited their Savior 810 pilots on Bagram Airfield to say their thanks Dragon troop 2 is in the process of closing a fob shank also known as rocket city in light of the near daily rocket attacks there it's while I shanked that they get their unique mission helping coordinate a major Afghan National Army or AAA offensive involving multiple battalions for one week the soldiers of Dragon troop 2nd squadron 3rd Cavalry Regiment returned to outpost car way and low guard province built in 2009 the post was left to Afghan forces in 2011 US and Afghan Intel States surrounded by villages deemed supportive to the Taliban and American forces haven't set foot here in 3 years that is until now so we're at the stage right now in the game where the AAA is pretty much in the lead we are almost 100% in a support role they're coming out here testing their ability to project power into a more remote area and so how this fits in with the overall strategy in the country is that we're showing the AAA that they can do it you know there'd have to test their own systems we're here to help watching and in coach where we can but it's pretty much showing them that they have the ability to and what this is going to do is it's going to make it safer as we retrograde out for the local population the AAA and for the US forces here just since they got that confidence they'll be able to secure the area allowing us to go two days into the operation and the Americans remain on power building up its defenses for simply passing the time however even before their advise-and-assist mission takes a turn toward open combat almost all of dragon troops soldiers have already seen action the u.s. combat mission is slated to end in December but the experiences of these and other soldiers proves that for servicemembers still in the ground and in harm's way over the next few months ending America's longest war won't be as easy or as safe as simply waiting out the clock so I almost got shot in the head and it just doesn't feel real like rounds are flying over your head and there's just we like the snap and the crack I'm around I like how close it is the first time we got shot at we're in like a like a big crater in the ground and like everyone got in the prone I still standing up like what's happening everything they told me I wouldn't do I've done on this deployment like what they said we don't do night missions anymore doesn't like four of them already know to combat you're not supposed to stay outside the wire we're gonna be out here for like six days I was just expecting to watch movies all deployment give me the mission while the Americans coordinate from the top AAA does battle in the surrounding area getting these soldiers a close look at what years of training Afghan forces has accomplished just got hit with ten huffard is very much a thinking man's soldier a Stanford graduate he was already living and working in Kabul as a civilian when he got his approval for Officer Candidate School when you have a chance and you go back to these places that we've left and obviously we left this three years ago and you kind of see how they faking it and Apted it to their own needs it's almost giving you a little glimpse into the future that you don't really see every day so you know it's that whole Americans were always looking forward we never really come back to the places we've abandoned her left and just kind of get a feel of this is what Afghan sustainability looks like how do the AAA take 5 casualties early on but most they've killed a mid-level Taliban commander they also capture eight prisoners which they ask the Americans to help transport to an intelligence base 40 kilometers away two of these men are former government soldiers Afghan intelligence officials say underscoring the insider attack threat by and large of American forces have been separated from the Afghans they've been charged with training and advising nationwide as a response to the scores of American soldiers killed by their supposed allies in the past here at the cops the Americans have no choice but to be near their Afghan journalists and apparently revel in the experience General Abdul Rosi commands a brigade of AAA fighters his men are charged with driving the Taliban out of southern Logar province and into a decisive fight with another AAA unit further south in the midst of his operation he falls victim to his own success his forces have taken so much ground while leaving behind check puns that he finds himself stretched too thin he asks the Americans to expand their advisory role and help provide ground cover for his men on their upcoming missions was dragon troop agree style yeah I'm done I yet Oh up until now the Americans have acted on the fringes of the AA's capabilities helping to coordinate attacks or providing intel on air support to spook the Taliban today they mount up to leave the wire yeah bizarre but all bands warm keepers to close their shops three months ago so the shopkeepers close their shops watch they move along the AA's flanks to provide cover while the Afghan soldiers meet with locals or engage with the Taliban no one but the insurgents has held sway in some of these areas for years from Samus Bob all right he's running he's running this guy has a what telling me has a weapon sergeant turns in a small team continues ahead of Marine Force Recon giving the a a heads up to possible Taliban moments spotted through his sniper scope you want to go where nobody else would want to go you know it's where they look at that position and say oh there's nobody there it's too nasty or something you know that's where I wanna be you know it's where you can put eyes on that guy and then look out there and be like oh surely he's not crawling around to that field at the right window catch it over here gotcha all right get that on that window after we got in that window there's no way out there nope snipers mission is also to identify non-combatants as any civilian casualties could derail the AA's entire mission hi Roger we got a lot of civilian movement around it seems like the atmospherics art is normal or while the American sniper doesn't find his target his Taliban counterpart nearly does hit or you go I'm good I'm sniper die a gold doze close later patrol will find the Taliban sniper's hideout he said apparently he took a shot from over 1300 meters away they find dragon off sniper and PKM machine gun casings lieutenant Holford searches the basement of this compound in its darkest corner he finds a white Taliban flag bursts of small arms fire follow the snipers opening volley and the fight is on trying to shoot at 320 man he's beads up camp don't worry babe I know that balance between us and AAA out there our role really wasn't to fight yesterday just so happened to fight creeped its way over to us on top of our battle position up until now clothes and aircraft have only have to fly alone fastest Carrollton Taliban this time with soldiers still pinned down and f15 has to unleash suppressive fire from its cannons stem the insurgents after the firefight finally subsides the soldiers move down into the village where some of the fire came from they find farmers and almost no one else on their way up from the village and back to their vehicles pot shots ring out from a distance and send the men toward cover you guys think through Watson's they're watching us right now they cry see us right yeah that's why as soon as we got our back to the issue would be whether the Taliban at large is simply watching me waiting as a matter of great concern for US and Afghan leaders general rosy cos hopeful for the future even mentions the funding promises made to Afghanistan by NATO leaders at the recent Wales summit and speaks cheerfully of a future Afghan Air Force that is at the moment little more than a tiny fleet of ageing Soviet aircraft years away from matching the air support the Americans can provide during the final day of the Afghan operation and the third day the Americans spend outside the wire Zeke holds a share with village elders from the villages he's cleared of the passengers this the potshots the Americans have come to expect upon their exit from the village never come instead the only shots fired are from celebrating ene soldiers general Zeke has completed his mission this year's fighting season is drawing to a close but next year's is a certain thing also clear is the Afghan Army's willingness to fight they've taken nearly all the casualties inflicted by the Taliban it's seasonal the exact numbers are difficult to pin down less certain is how they'll fare without American combat soldiers like the men of Dragon troop on the ground next summer now in the northern edge of this very province the Taliban massive hundreds and a na control of checkpoints there is in constant flux but here today in this corner of lo gar the future seems bright it is exactly quiet [Music] but it is a measure more peaceful for now reporting from mobile province for Stars and Stripes I'm Chad sleep

Channel: Stars and Stripes

Views: 2,632,565

Keywords: Stars and Stripes, news, military news, U.S. miltary, U.S. Army, Dragon Troop, Logar province, Afghanistan, Jad Sleiman, Combat (TV Genre), Battle (Quotation Subject), Military

Id: lrmbc0LwDBY

Length: 13min 36sec (816 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 26 2014