The inquiry is in on Combat Outpost Keating:
Afghan soldiers failed to hold their position on the eastern side of the compound and insurgents penetrated the outpost's perimeter at three locations, according to the report. The readiness of Afghan forces to take over their own security so foreign troops can leave is a key component of President Barack Obama's war strategy.
The battle broke out when an estimated 300 insurgents — five times the number of defenders — stormed the base in mountainous Nuristan province near the Pakistan border with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic weapons just before 6 a.m., according to the report.
Our troops still hammered the enemy despite losing the perimeter integrity:
The U.S. soldiers "heroically repelled a complex attack" after calling in air support, according to the investigation, which was led by Army Maj. Gen. Guy Swan.
When the fighting was over, about 150 insurgents were dead, along with the U.S. and Afghan troops.
Sadly, since the outpost was on the verge of being closed, not enough attention was paid to it by our higher echelons:
Combat Outpost Keating, which was surrounded by high ground, was originally established in 2006 as a base for a provincial reconstruction team.
But the soldiers' mission had been reduced to defending themselves, eliminating any tactical or strategic value of holding the ground, the report said.
The base was supposed to be closed in July or August, but that was delayed after equipment and supplies needed to redeploy were diverted to support intense Afghan operations under way in another area.
The report added that the base also was deprived of other intelligence assets that were being used in the ongoing operation in Barg-e-Matal and the search for a missing U.S. soldier in the south.
"The delayed closing of COP Keating is important as it contributed to a mindset of imminent closure that served to impede improvements in force protection," an executive summary of the report said.
We have to remember that while it is certainly fine to close bases, as long as US forces are there they must be defended. Had we lost that platoon-sized element, it would have been a tremendous Taliban propaganda victory. They'd have filmed the conquered base, dead soldiers, and any captured.
Our troops did an amazing job holding that outpost. But it shouldn't have come to the point where we relied solely on the bravery and tenacity of the pitifully few on the ground at COP Keating that day.
