Afghanistan: Two Dead In Camp Bastion Attack

[MikeL]

http://www.yumasun.com/news/marine-81810-aircraft-yuma.html

Two Marines killed in Afghanistan identified
September 17, 2012 12:44 PM
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FROM STAFF REPORTS
The two Yuma-based Marines killed over the weekend in Afghanistan have been identified as Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible and Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell.

Raible, 40, of Huntingdon, Pa., was the commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 211, while Atwell, 27, of Kokomo, Ind., was assigned to Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13. Both were part of Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

“The deaths of Lt. Col. Chris “Otis” Raible and Sgt. Bradley Atwell are a stark reminder of the selfless service and extraordinary sacrifices made by our Marines and Sailors and their families each and every day,” said Brig. Gen. Steven W. Busby, commanding general, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and loved ones of those brave Marines. We will honor their memories and continue to support our Marines and Sailors still in the fight and their loved ones here at home.”

Raible commissioned in the Marine Corps May 21, 1995 and served as an AV-8B Harrier pilot. He deployed previously in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Air Medal-Strike/Flight (numeral 10), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (second award), Air Medal-Individual Action, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal (second award), and NATO Service Medal-International Security Assistance Force.

Atwell enlisted in the Marine Corps October 17, 2005, and served as an electrical systems technician.

His personal awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal (second award), Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and NATO Service Medal-International Security Assistance Force.

According to a report from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the attack was well-coordinated. Six AV-8B Harrier jets were destroyed and two were badly damaged, according to the ISAF.  In addition, three refueling stations were destroyed and six soft-skin aircraft hangars were damaged.

Eight military members and one civilian contractor were wounded. Their injuries were reported as non-life-threatening.

“The insurgents appeared to be well equipped, trained and rehearsed,” ISAF Public Affairs said in a release.

Fifteen insurgents breached the perimeter of Camp Bastion in Helmand Province at about 10 p.m. (Afghanistan time) Friday and attacked the flight line with automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and suicide bomb vests, according to ISAF. They organized into three teams and penetrated at one point in the perimeter fence.

Coalition personnel returned fire and killed all but one of the known insurgents. The surviving insurgent was taken into custody and is receiving medical care.

 

[Infanteer]

6 Attack aircraft and a CO - that's high value/high payoff for the insurgency....

Look how easy hundred million dollar airframes can be torched by guys with flip-flops and 17 dollar rockets.

 

[Edward Campbell]

6 Attack aircraft and a CO - that's high value/high payoff for the insurgency....

Look how easy hundred million dollar airframes can be torched by guys with flip-flops and 17 dollar rockets.

Good point; that's been on my mind for a few days.

 

[MikeL]

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/09/isaf_captures_taliban_leader_i.php#ixzz26pzw2PsD

ISAF captures Taliban leader involved in Camp Bastion attack
By BILL ROGGIOSeptember 18, 2012 9:44 AM


Today the International Security Assistance Force reported that it captured a Taliban leader involved in the Sept. 14 suicide assault on Camp Bastion. The assault killed two US Marines, including a commander of a Harrier squadron [more below], and resulted in the destruction of six US Marine Corps Harrier strike aircraft and three refueling stations, as well as two seriously damaged aircraft.

According to ISAF, the Taliban commander "is suspected to have provided support to the insurgents," and two other "insurgents" were also detained during the operation:

In Nad 'Ali district, Helmand province, today, an Afghan and coalition security force arrested one of the Taliban leaders behind Friday's Camp Bastion attack.
The Taliban leader was successfully taken into custody by the security force following joint efforts by Afghan and coalition forces to track down the Taliban insurgents responsible for the Camp Bastion attack. No civilians were harmed during the operation.

The Taliban leader is suspected to have provided support to the insurgents whose attack killed two ISAF service members and caused damage to multiple aircraft. ISAF forces killed all but one of the attacking insurgents, who was wounded and currently in ISAF custody.

The security force also detained two suspected insurgents as a result of this operation.
As I mentioned the other day, given the sophistication of this operation, I suspect that it was carried out by the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's military arm that operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is composed of both foreign and local fighters. The assault team would need local support to stage and execute the attack (and might even include several local fighters familiar with the terrain).

Yesterday, the Department of Defense announced the identity of the two US Marines killed during the assault. Among them was Lieutenant Colonel Christopher K. Raible, who was the commander of Marine Attack Squadron 211, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

It is difficult to argue that this was not one of the jihadists' most effective assaults on a major Coalition base since the war began. Beyond penetrating one of the most secure installations in Afghanistan, the attackers made it to the airfield, took a Marine Attack Squadron offline by destroying six Harriers and badly damaging two more, and killed the squadron commander.

Estimations of the monetary losses incurred in the attack are unclear, but you can get a ballpark figure. The Harriers are estimated to cost between $20 million to $30 million each. Even if the value has depreciated over the years, there have been investments in upgrades, and the aircraft will need to be replaced. Add in the destruction of the three refueling stations and the hangars, and the cost is significant.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I'm guessing that this report, which is reproduced without comment under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from Reuters, refers to this attack:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/01/us-usa-afghanistan-generals-idUSBRE98T16W20131001?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637

Two U.S. generals ousted over failure to secure Afghan base

By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON

Mon Sep 30, 2013

(Reuters) - The head of the Marine Corps on Monday effectively fired two U.S. generals over their failure to defend a major base in Afghanistan from a deadly Taliban attack last year, in an extraordinary and rare public censure.

Two Marines were killed and eight personnel were wounded when Taliban insurgents breached what a military investigation determined was inadequate security at Camp Bastion, in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.

A four-month investigation concluded that Major General Charles Gurganus, the top Marine commander in the region at the time, and Major General Gregg Sturdevant "did not take adequate force protection measures within the range of responses proportionate to the threat," the Marine Corps said.

Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos asked both men to retire on Monday, speaking personally with Gurganus at the Pentagon and by video-conference with Sturdevant, who was abroad, one Marine Corps official told Reuters.

Both men accepted that request, the official said. U.S. officials could not recall any similar top-level firings in the 12-year-old Afghan war over failure to properly defend a base.

"Every Marine commander must properly position his command and his Marines to both successfully accomplish the mission and defend itself in any clime and place," Amos wrote in endorsing the findings of the investigation by the U.S. military's Central Command.

"We owe this duty to the courageous Marines like Lt. Col. (Christopher) Raible and Sgt. (Bradley) Atwell, who so faithfully served our Corps" and died in the attack, he wrote.

Beyond the loss of life, the Taliban also caused millions of dollars in damage, destroying six Marine AV-8B Harrier jets during a large-scale Taliban attack including use of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire.

The Central Command review concluded that Gurganus "made an error in judgment when conducting his risk assessment of the enemy's capabilities and intentions."

Sturdevant, who commanded the aviation arm of the Marine force, also did not adequately assess security at Bastion Airfield, the Marines said.

Gurganus had been awaiting Senate confirmation to promotion to the rank of lieutenant general. Amos has recommended that nomination be rescinded and that Sturdevant receive a letter of censure from the secretary of the Navy.

Central Command declined to discuss the results of its investigation until after family were notified.

Camp Bastion is a British-run air base that is connected to the U.S.-run Camp Leatherneck, which serves as the headquarters for the NATO-led mission in southwestern Afghanistan.