The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor (103 page)
Read The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor Online
Authors: Jake Tapper
Tags: #Terrorism, #Political Science, #Azizex666
72
Pronounced as “STEFF-in.”
73
In the Army’s classification system for lunar illumination, Red Illume refers to those times when the moon is not visible at all; Amber Illume to when it’s partly showing; and Green Illume to when it’s full. By May 2009, helicopters wouldn’t fly to COP Keating during Green or Amber Illume, only during Red.
74
Two years before, Fabrizi’s sons Jason Allen, nine, and Tyler, six, had lost their stepfather, Specialist Ryan Bell, twenty-one, of Colville, Washington, after he and five other soldiers were killed by an IED in Samarra, Iraq.
75
This attitude and these advisers would ultimately bring about the end of McChrystal’s military career. He resigned in the summer of 2010, after
Rolling Stone
published “The Runaway General” by Michael Hastings, in which the general and hisadvisers were quoted making a number of disparaging comments about officials in the Obama administration, from President Obama himself to Vice President Biden to Jones and on and on. McChrystal was replaced as commander of ISAF by Petraeus.
76
Others believe Sadiq fled to Pakistan in fear of U.S. forces in 2002. It’s possible that both theories are true, given the porous border and the frequent trips made back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan by declared enemies of the United States and the Afghan government.
77
Some U.S. intelligence sources insist that there is no evidence for Amin’s son’s belief; others maintain that throughout the war with the USSR, HIG repeatedly tried to scuttle Mohammed Anvar Amin, and that Anvar’s killer was indeed backed by Sadiq.
78
Named after Specialist James Finley, twenty-one, of Lebanon, Missouri, and Private First Class Andrew Shields, nineteen, of Battleground, Washington, both of whom were killed by an IED on May 31, 2008, in Jalalabad.
79
Not his real name.
80
This seemed to last until April 2010, when McChrystal and his aides made disparaging comments about the president and his top advisers to Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings, resulting in the June publication of “The Runaway General,” which cost the McChrystal his job. (See footnote on page TK.)
81
“Target sixty” was an instruction to get on the 60-millimeter mortar tube and start firing.
82
Some of the shorthand in these mIRC messages has been spelled out—“FRI AND KEA” becoming “FRITSCHE AND KEATING,” for instance.
83
An “AH” is an Apache helicopter.
84
CAS
stands for “close air support.”
85
CCA stands for “close combat attack,” or helicopters.
86
“Stand-to” is the period during dawn and dusk when extra guards are added. At this time, Stand-To Truck 1 was parked at the southern edge of the camp, with its gun facing north.
87
Technically called JTACs, for “joint tactical air controllers,” these radiomen communicate with the pilots and tell them where to target their munitions.
88
TOW stands for tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided.
89
Not her real name.
90
Specialist Devin “Twiggy” Snyder, twenty, of Cohocton, New York; Corporal Christopher Bell, twenty-one, of Red Bay, Alabama; Private First Class Robert Voakes, Jr., twenty, of L’Anse, Michigan; and Sergeant Joshua Powell, twenty-eight, of Quitman, Texas, were killed on June 4, 2011.
91
“Physical Training” clothes—shorts and a T-shirt.
92
In an email to me, Lieutenant Colonel Brown called this “maudlin romanticism,” noting that there were B-10s all over Afghanistan, and differentiating between the Taliban at Combat Outpost Keating and those at Forward Operating Base Bostick.
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Contents
BOOK ONE:
“WITH YOUR SHIELD OR ON IT”
Roll Call: 3-71 Cav and Others
2. “Major Joe Fenty, Hard Worker”
3. Like Just Another Day on the Range
5. “This Whole Thing Is a Bad Idea”
6. Maybe That’s Just the Wind Blowing the Door
7. Monuments to an Empire’s Hubris
10. The Abstract Threat of Terror
12. Matthias the Macedonian and the LMTV
BOOK TWO.
TWO IN THE CHEST, ONE IN THE HEAD
Roll Call: 1-91 Cav and Others
Roll Call: 6-4 Cav and Others
16. “There’s Not Going to Be Any Ice Cream”
17. “Bulldog-Six, Where Are You?”
19. If You’re the Enemy, Please Stand Up
20. “We Will Go to Kamdesh Next”
22. After He Finished Washing the Blood Off
23. What Was Wrong with Kaine Meshkin
BOOK THREE.
ENEMY IN THE WIRE: THE END OF COMBAT OUTPOST KEATING
Roll Call: 3-61 Cav
26. The General’s Competing Considerations
39. Two Purple Hearts and Just One Scar
Copyright © 2012 by Jake Tapper
“Folsom Prison Blues” words and music by John R. Cash. Copyright © 1956 (renewed 1984) House of Cash, Inc. (BMI), administered by Bug Music, Inc., a BMG Chrysalis company. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
“When You Say Nothing at All” words and music by Don Schlitz and Paul Overstreet. Copyright © 1988 Universal Music Corp., Don Schlitz Music, Screen Gems–EMI Music, Inc., and Scarlett Moon Music, Inc. All rights for Don Schlitz Music controlled and administered by Universal Music Corp. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
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ISBN 978-0-316-18539-4
Table of Contents
B OOK O NE : “W ITH Y OUR S HIELD OR ON I T ”
2. “Major Joe Fenty, Hard Worker”
3. Like Just Another Day on the Range
5. “This Whole Thing Is a Bad Idea”
6. Maybe That’s Just the Wind Blowing the Door
7. Monuments to an Empire’s Hubris
10. The Abstract Threat of Terror
12. Matthias the Macedonian and the LMTV
BOOK TWO. T WO IN THE C HEST , O NE IN THE H EAD
16. “There’s Not Going to Be Any Ice Cream”
17. “Bulldog-Six, Where Are You?”
19. If You’re the Enemy, Please Stand Up
20. “We Will Go to Kamdesh Next”
22. After He Finished Washing the Blood Off
23. What Was Wrong with Kaine Meshkin
BOOK THREE. E NEMY IN THE W IRE : T HE E ND OF C OMBAT O UTPOST K EATING
26. The General’s Competing Considerations
39. Two Purple Hearts and Just One Scar
Epilogue
Glossary and Military Terms
Notes and Sourcing
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Jake Tapper
Newsletters
Copyright
