Bulgaria. Sofia. 2018. On the set of the film The Outpost, based on the Battle of Kamdesh in Eastern Afghanistan. Eight American soldiers died in the battle, and it’s estimated that hundreds of insurgents were killed. Two American soldiers won the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor. In the aftermath, the military tried to maintain a heroic narrative, describing the battle as a small platoon of American soldiers fighting back against overwhelming odds. How- ever, in many ways, the battle was a prime example of strategic incompetence. The outpost, COP Keating, was poorly placed in Nuristan, one of the most remote and isolated parts of Afghanistan. The base was surrounded on all sides by tall mountains from which to fire down into it, and the terrain made the mission of disrupting weapons and supplies coming to local insurgents from Pakistan nearly impossible. Additionally, the base was so undermanned that it was difficult to patrol and defend at the same time, and the local Nuristanis were unlikely to be helpful; they speak a language unlike the other main languages of Afghanistan and are traditionally hostile to outsiders.
I was briefly at the base not long after it was established. I flew in on a medevac helicopter to pick up a soldier who had been shot in the arm, his brachial artery severed by the bullet. The helicopter spiraled quickly into the landing zone, knowing it was an easy target. A few soldiers manning the outpost rushed the casualty to the helicopter, as others scanned the mountains through the scopes of their rifles. We were out of there moments later, the helicopter weaving through the mountains at full speed to escape the badly exposed position. I’d seen some poorly placed outposts before, but Keating was the most shocking in its vulnerability.