For commanders at higher echelon, I don’t know what goes on at the 3-star general’s level. We tried to do improvements there at COP Keating, at our level, knowing that our position was less than ideal, and that’s what we tried to affect on the ground there. The higher echelon dictates your mission, and sometimes the mission that’s dictated is not in the best interest of your safety or health, but keep in mind: affect what you can affect. And there are times in your military service where things are out of your hands. (Romesha) The biggest thing I think our soldiers, or our commanders, should really learn from what happened there on that day -and the stuff leading up to it- is to understand that, yeah, at times we’ve got to follow orders. In your view, what are the essential lessons every soldier and commander should carry away from the Battle of Kamdesh? And really more importantly, do you think the Army has learned those lessons? The battle was a testimony to American courage and audacity under fire, but it was also a condemnation of mission creep and inflexible planning. (HHUSA) Even without the benefit of hindsight, a competent military observer could have predicted an eventual decisive battle for Outpost Keating, given the level of Anti-Afghan Forces (AAF) activity in the area and the outpost’s remarkably poor location. Hire Heroes USA received advance copies of the book before its release in 2016, and our Chief Operating Officer – Nate Smith – a Marine infantry veteran of two combat tours in Iraq, had the opportunity to speak with Romesha and ask him some questions: military campaign in Afghanistan, and the story of that day-long firefight on October 3, 2009, is told in Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor, a firsthand account by Medal of Honor recipient Clint Romesha, who lost eight members of his platoon that day.Ĭombat Outpost Keating was the most remote base in Afghanistan, just 14 miles from the Pakistan border and described in the book as “ensconced in the deepest valley of Nuristan’s Kamdesh District at a spot that resembled the bowl of a toilet.” At the time of the deadly Taliban attack on COP Keating, Army Staff Sergeant Romesha was a section leader assigned to Bravo troop, 3-61 Cavalry, 4 th Brigade Combat Team, 4 th Infantry Division.

It’s regarded as one of the largest and fiercest battles during the U.S. Hire Heroes USA Speaks with Medal of Honor Recipient Clint Romesha

Red platoon