And 14 years since the Battle of Kamdesh (COP Keating.)

Indeed. I recall my first time stepping off a bird there in late 2008 and getting the feeling it was only a matter of time.

I was at HQ ISAF (LNO from RC-East/82nd to ISAF) when it happened. Observed it 3rd hand on SIPR mIRC chat.

The screwed up thing is, the brigade (4/4) commander for the area, then-COL Randy Gregory, had planned to close Keating down a month or so before the attack happened.

But the search for Bowe F***ing Bergdahl, plus the need to send a company to re-take and hold an isolated district center called Barg Matal (ordered by McChrystal, because it was important to Karzai. Place returned more votes for Karzai than it had people in the August elections) used up all the CH-47 blade hours.

Ground evac was impossible; I doubt the road up to there would support much more than a Hi-Lux. So they ended up evaccing the troops and arc lighting the place.

(And GEN Gregory was just recently confirmed as the new CSA.)