Colonel describes firefight that killed 8 Carson soldiers

It’s been a month since 100 Fort Carson soldiers fought 400 insurgents in a narrow canyon in a remote corner of southeast Afghanistan.

Eight of Col. Randy George’s 4th Brigade Combat Team soldiers died in the day-long battle. So did as many as 150 of the enemy.

“They were phenomenal,” George said of his troops, by phone from his headquarters in Jalalabad.

The battle was the bloodiest for Fort Carson soldiers since Vietnam, and the scale of the sacrifice made by the soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron 61st Cavalry Regiment drew nationwide attention.

It’s becoming clear the blow dealt to the insurgency has slowed violence in one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous places, George said.

The enemy in the Oct. 3 battle at Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan province was a mix of angry locals and hardened fighters who may have come across the border from Pakistan.

George said the enemy planned the attack carefully, arranging firing positions on the craggy canyon walls to blast the outpost with mortar and rocket fire from the high ground while raking the American positions with heavy machine gunfire. The Army calls it “plunging fire.”

“Anywhere you’re at, you don’t want to face that,” George said.

Before the fight the insurgents had told villagers nearby to clear out. The local police fled in fear, too.

The enemy used the size of their force and a hail of rocket-propelled grenades to seize the airfield and force the Americans and their Afghan allies to fall back.

The Fort Carson soldiers gave ground, but they never gave up, George said.

“The enemy was obviously superior in numbers but not superior in discipline, professionalism and fighting skill,” he said. “That was our troopers’ advantage up there.”

The soldiers formed defensive positions and called for air cover. The Air Force flew in with B-1 bombers and F-15E Strike Eagles, dropping 30 bombs.

Still, the ground fight continued for hours; the soldiers had to reclaim the airfield before reinforcements could be airlifted in to help.

“They performed heroically and bravely,” George said.

The soldiers’ resolve didn’t end with the battle, he said. Some wounded troops chose to stay with their buddies rather than head for the comfort of an aid station.

It’s that kind of cohesion that won the battle, George said. The American soldiers fought for each other, George said. Nobody wanted to let his friends down.

“It’s a very close-knit troop and a close-knit squadron,” he said. “They were well-trained. They were disciplined. They worked together.”

In a new strategy to quell violence, the soldiers packed up and left the combat outpost two days after their desperate battle to hold it.

The soldiers in all of George’s battalions are working closer to cities and towns, pulling out of the remote canyons and valleys in an attempt to keep the enemy out of population centers so rebuilding and economic development can take place. Four outposts, including Keating, have been abandoned.

George said it’s never easy to leave a battlefield, but winning the war takes priority.

“It’s about doing the right thing on the ground for winning the whole fight over here,” he said. “We’re not here to hold a piece of ground, we’re here to be successful in our mission.”

October was the deadliest month for Americans since fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq began; Fort Carson lost 17 soldiers.

The cavalry troop is back on patrol now. After the battle, George sent a team of chaplains and mental health experts to work with soldiers who had lost friends and seen horror on such a massive scale.

“That’s something we’ll consistently keep watch over,” he said.

For now, the soldiers who won the day seem to be doing well, he said. “They’re out on missions; they’re motivated; they’re doing great.”