Running Estimates
Battle of Wanat
On July 13, 2008, Taliban fighters launched a major assault on a small U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan, killing nine soldiers and wounding 27. The story of Wanat is more then just one small group of commanders’ mistakes; it is a window into how the war in Afghanistan went awry and how we can learn from these mistakes to better future missions and future leaders.
Combat Outpost Kahler was a small, remote outpost in northeast Afghanistan adjacent to the village of Wanat in the Nuristan Province, manned by 48 U.S soldiers and 24 Afghanistan National Army soldiers and their three U.S Marine Corp advisors. It was attacked on July 13, 2008 by a significantly larger number of Taliban insurgent forces that used stealth, camouflage, communications discipline, and rapid movement over extremely rough mountainous terrain to establish positions close to the COP’s perimeter. The insurgents used coordinated rocket propelled grenades, small arms and heavy machine gun fire, and mortar barrages to inflict heavy casualties on the outpost. Ultimately, nine U.S soldiers were killed and 27 U.S and four ANA soldiers were wounded. To understand why this battle occurred and how it could have been avoided one must understand a few other things.
AO/ Area of Interest-
In December 2007, the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In March 2008, the Division Headquarters, the Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, and the 101st Sustainment Brigade joined the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as Combined Joint Task Force 101. The Battalion identified the village of Wanat as a location that would support the development ...
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Following the battle it was determined that Coalition Forces could no longer achieve their counterinsurgency objectives in Wanat, due to complicity in the attack by the local government officials, population, and Afghan National police. On July 15, 2008, Coalition Forces withdrew from Wanat.
Mission-
The original mission in October of 2001 was the destruction of al- Qaeda forces responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the overthrow of the Taliban regime that had given al-Qaeda a safe haven. Those goals had been met rather quickly and by the spring of 2002, Afghanistan had a new government and was seemingly proceeding down the path toward democracy. Coalition forces remained in Afghanistan but in the latter half of 2002 and through 2003, United States units largely resided in a small number of bases from which they mounted periodic security missions.
Kugler (2007) claimed that, “Operation Anaconda was an outgrowth of earlier events during the war in Afghanistan.” One of the main event he exposed in his case study, which according to him set the stage for Operation Anaconda, was the battle at Tora Bora. Located in in the mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan, Tora Bora was a caved complex, where U.S. authorities believed to be Osama Bin Laden safe haven. The plan were to use minimum U.S. troops and relied mostly local Afghan troops in order to secure the area and capture all High Value Targets (HVT). Dr. Kugler (2007) briefly explained that, the operation turned out to be a failure from the point of view of U.S. and coalition forces, since most HTVs including Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda leaders successfully escaped during the operation. The successful escape of these key leaders was in part due to the lack of necessary amount of troops needed to block all escape routes, and to the lack of experience from the local Afghan troops, the Pashtun militia. Chairman Kerry (2009) stated in his report to congress that, “the decision not to deploy American forces to go after bin Laden or block his escape was made by Secretary of
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Battle of Kamdesh and provide an alternate outcome based on the utilization of intelligence and intelligence assets. Many battles could have had a different outcome if they would trust intelligence reports without needing to validate the intelligence with another source or simply have other intelligence assets available. The Battle of Kamdesh was certainly one of those battles. The battle started just before 0600 on October 3, 2009 on Combat Outpost (COP) Keating and nearby Observation Post (OP) Fritsche in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. About 70 Soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, along with 30 Afghan National Army Soldiers (ANA), fought an enemy force of about 300 Anti-Afghan Forces (AAF) fighters. (Nordland, 2010) The battle took place in the Consolidation II portion of the Operation Enduring Freedom Campaign in Afghanistan. The AAF likely
Naturally they wanted to pull personnel and equipment from a unit that had some experience. So they turned to the branch and unit that had the most of both the 101st Airborne, having had the experience of flying in Vietnam. So they pulled Charlie and Delta Companies from the 158th Aviation Battalion with their new UH-60 Black Hawks, they also need some heavy lift capabilities and picked up Alpha Company of the 159th Aviation Battalion with CH-47C and then they needed some light scout aircraft so talked to Bravo Company 229th Attack Helicopter Battalion with the OH-6A...
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States was incredibly eager to strike back at the nations thought to be responsible for this horrific tragedy. These attacks were quickly attributed to the terrorist group al-Qa’ida, led by Osama bin Laden, and to the Taliban-run government of Afghanistan, which had provided sanctuary to al-Qa’ida. In response, Washington approved a covert plan led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to directly attack those responsible in their Middle East safe haven. Initiated on 26 September 2001 with the approval of the warlords of the Afghan Northern Alliance, with whom the CIA had formed an intelligence liaison relationship, Operation Jawbreaker resulted in the fall of the Taliban regime, the killing and capture of a significant amount of al-Qa’ida leadership, and elimination of a terrorist safe haven by early December 2001. Moreover, the Taliban’s collapse denied al-Qa’ida a pseudo-nation-state partner, serving to reduce the organization’s sanctuary to areas residing along the Pakistani border.
...ce again they were pinned down from three sides and the only way to not be shot was to jump down the mountain side again, which they did. However, once Luttrell stopped falling down the mountain he realized that he had lost sight of Axelson. Sadly, Axelson was found by the Taliban and shot and killed, leaving Luttrell all alone. After just two hours of fighting Luttrell was the only American left in the fight. At this time in the battle it was almost night time, so Luttrell tucked himself under a rock to hide from the Taliban for the night. When he woke up, he started to walk down the hill and found a stream of water. This was a huge relief for Luttrell for not having water a good amount of water for the past day. When he reached the stream he jumped right in. However, when he got out he was standing face to face with a man. This man’s name was Mohammad Gulab.
In 1968, the United States Army activated the 123rd Aviation Battalion, creating a remarkable unit that was comprised of several Army assets. The design of the battalion revolutionized how assets could be combined to complete many missions by mixing infantry, signal, aviation, and support units. The 123rd’s mission ranged from was to collect intelligence, deliver supplies, insert and extract infantrymen, and provide air support. In addition to their primary mission they also participated in medical evacuation, an invaluable asset on the battlefields of Vietnam.
army out of harms way. The author briefly discusses the troubles at Kip’s Bay and Fort Washington.
September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden decided to “wake the sleeping giant.” The US immediately sent SOF units and CIA officers to recon the area and meet with the Northern Alliance. The primary battle leading up to this operation was Tora Bora, which was absent of conventional forces. Up until this point, the war on terror was predominantly a Special Operations fight along with Air Force for overhead support.3 SOF and the Northern Alliance had already displaced Taliban forces out of many towns and villages in northern Afghanistan to gain control of key terrain. Key towns in northern Afghanistan including Taloqan, Konduz, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif took only three weeks to clear.4 The SOF units were making huge impacts across the country calling in air strikes. At the same time the SOF units were diligently...
The Battle of Kamdesh was fought in Afghanistan during the Afghan War. It is an occurrence in the ongoing NATO campaign of the Operation Enduring Freedom since the year 2001. It was one of the bloodiest battles the USA forces engaged in during this campaign against the Taliban insurgents. The Taliban insurgents, assisted by local Nuristan militias, attacked Kamdesh, which is an American combat outpost, located deep in the Nuristan tribal Areas. They carried out a well-coordinated attack on the outpost, leading to a breach and an overrun of the post. This paper, seeks to analyze why, when, how, and what were the resulting impact of the battle.
The battle I will be discussing is the battle of Tora Bora. The engagement took place in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan from December 12, 2001 to December 17, 2001. The units involved were from the CIA, numerous Special Forces groups, Pakistani soldiers and local anti-Taliban fighters. The mission given to the forces was to kill Osama bin Laden from the caves, leave the body with the Taliban and disrupt the Al Qaeda organization by removing their leader. The intent was to infiltrate the cave system, remove bin Laden and return home.
- - -, dir. “Air Force Special Operations Command.” The Official Web Site of the United Stated Air Force. U.S. Air Force, 20 Sept. 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. .
On March 18, 2003, Coalition forces would launch the initial attacks on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. A full invasion of the country followed, and Hussein was overthrown from power. While the end of Hussein’s oppressive reign was considered a victory for many of the Iraqi people, the Sunnis of the Ba’ath Party refused to accept his demise. Although the Sunnis were in the minority, the city of Fallujah would remain home to many of the Ba’ath Party supporters. On March 31, 2004, almost a year to date from the end of Hussein’s reign, four American Blackwater contactors working in Fallujah were attacked, brutally beaten, burned and dismembered by a group of Iraqi insurgents. Two of the bodies were hung from a bridge for all of the citizens of Fallujah to see, and a mob style celebration took place in the city. The highly publicized incident would be the igniter for the First Battle of Fallujah, known as Operation Vigilant Resolve. On May 1, 2004, the battle would end with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the city and control being turned over to the newly formed Fallujah Brigade. The mission as a whole was a failure, and the shortcomings of Operation Vigilant Resolve were ultimately a demonstration of the underestimation of the power, size, efficiency, organization and control that the Insurgent Forces had in Iraq as well as the lack of a consistent strategic plan from the American forces.
... of Staff, Joint Operations, Joint Publication 3-0 (Washington, DC: U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, 11 August 2011),III-10
Corporal Daniel Keighran was just a shy, quiet boy living in poverty in Outback Queensland until signing up to be a part of the Australian Defence Force. He was born on the 18th June 1983 in Nambour, Queensland, and the oldest with a younger sister, Sarah. Daniel grew up in poverty. He grew up in a bush box with no electricity and dirt floors. His mum and dad bred and quartered horses while he would be out, fishing with his grandpa, who also fought in World War II. His career started at the age of 17, just after he finished high school under the influence of his grandpa. Protecting his country runs deep in his blood, eager to be doing doing it, until 11 years later, after facing the most terrifying time of his life, after repeatedly exposing himself to the Taliban enemies, to draw cover from his ambushed team mates.
United States starts fighting terrorism in Afghanistan by overthrowing Taliban (Terrorist Organization). Tried to support Pakistan and Afghanistan people by bringing their Force into their countries to end war. When Osama Bin Laden was killed, it was a big victory for the US to change everything and not weaken Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has a mission to overthrow all American troops from the land of Muslim countries. Here I recommend the United States to leave Muslim countries in their own way and do not intervene in their foreign policies and other internal decisions, if they really want to end up in a war on terror.