Insurgents have fired rockets at the base in the past, but the assault was “not something that commonly happens quite in this way,” said Army Master Sgt. Tom Clementson, a U.S. military spokesman at Bagram.
“That’s a dog chasing a school bus. You don’t attack Bagram with 20 guys,” one U.S. official said. “Either they’re crazy or brave or both.”
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I haven’t a clue as to who the contractor is, and if they were part of the guard force or not. If a reader can fill in the details on this, if it is appropriate, feel free to do so in the comments. Rest in peace to the fallen.
Now on to this attack. I tried to get as many articles as I could, to piece together how the attack went down. The reason for this, is there might be some clues that guys can pick up on for the defense of their positions in other parts of the war. These ever evolving tactics and strategies of the enemy are used in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and contractors as well as the military are in static security positions all over. So understanding the dynamic of these types of attacks is essential for the defense of outposts and FOBs everywhere.
Last week I posted a deal on suicide assaulters and the swarming attack that the Taliban and extremists have been using, and they are really playing around with the concepts to find a sweet spot for complex assaults. I wanted to get the mental juices flowing on this, so everyone is thinking about how best to defeat this in their AO.
The other point I want to emphasize is that the attackers were supposedly dressed like NATO or US troops. That isn’t confirmed yet according to the article, but that is a crucial element to this whole thing. The enemy is famous for using Afghan police or army uniforms as cover, and if this latest deal would not surprise me if they were wearing our uniforms.
Overall though, it sounds like the defense at Bagram was able to defeat these bumbling fools, and bravo to them for a job well done. And with attacks like this, the defense will only learn more about how to do it better, and further implement SOP’s that are effective and successful at defeating this stuff. Attacks like this also emphasize how important it is to be constantly vigilant and focused with your job. If you let your guard down, the enemy will definitely teach you a deadly lesson.
It also emphasizes the point of why you do not want the lowest bidder defending these bases out there. You want the best value company defending a base, just like you would want the best doctor looking out for your health.
One last thing with this. I am completely disgusted with the accountability the government promised when it comes to keeping track of contractor deaths. Even the current accounting measures with icasualties or Wikipedia sucks, and they have done a terrible job in keeping up or listing everyone that has been killed. Why is it so hard for the government to keep track of the who, what, where, when, and why’s of contractor deaths or injuries? That information should be collected(and mandated by law), and it should be available to the public to read. It is also extremely disrespectful to that fallen contractor and their family to not recognize their death.
It also bothers me that we do not recognize the deaths of local contractors, like in Afghanistan or Iraq. They died transporting our food or fuel, interpreting our language to other locals, working on our bases, protecting outposts, and to not recognize their sacrifice is just wrong. I know other contractors feel the same, because all of us that have been in this business for awhile have lost local national friends/contractors out there, and their deaths should be counted. Hell, guys have trusted the lives with local national contractors at outposts, or fought side by side with them in combat. To not recognize their sacrifice is wrong…… just plain wrong. –Matt
Edit: 5/22/2010 -The name of the fallen contractor is Bryan Farr. Ms. Sparky has more on her blog about him here.
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U.S. contractor killed, 9 soldiers wounded in Taliban attack on Bagram air base
By Joshua PartlowMay 20, 2010
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — The Taliban’s brazen assault against the heavily fortified, city-size Bagram air base Wednesday demonstrated again the insurgents’ penchant for headline-grabbing strikes at the most potent symbols of foreign power in Afghanistan.
The attack before dawn, with gunfire, rockets and grenades, killed one U.S. contractor and wounded nine American soldiers. The U.S. soldiers at the base responded by killing 10 insurgents, including four wearing suicide vests.
It was the second ambitious attack in as many days, and possibly a demonstration of the new offensive the Taliban promised this month. As the U.S. military sends thousands of new troops to the southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban vowed to respond by targeting Afghan officials, contractors and NATO forces.
On Tuesday, a suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. convoy in Kabul, killing five U.S. troops, a Canadian and at least a dozen Afghan civilians. The attack, coupled with the death of two American troops in separate bombings, pushed the U.S. death toll past 1,000 for the nine-year Afghan war.
The attack at Bagram involved 20 to 30 insurgents and began before 4 a.m., U.S. military officials said. None of them breached the perimeter, but gun battles continued for several hours.