Battle Of Wanat Analysis

The battle of Wanat was a major battle during Operation Enduring Freedom. It took place early in the morning of July 13, 2008. Combat Outpost Kayler is the small outpost that was over run at Wanat, in the Waygal district of Afghanistan. The Soldiers of second platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Combat Team, were the primary forces under attack along with some coalition forces. The conflict originated a few weeks before the battle, when attack helicopters engaged a convoy of Taliban. The aircrews believed the Taliban opened fire on the helicopters during a patrol. The engagement killed seventeen combatants. Locals claimed that the seventeen killed were in fact civilians and not combatants. After this initial attack, the United States Soldiers were in preparation to build a connecting Combat Outpost to help protect the local populous. Prior to the battle, the unit was waiting on delivery of heavy equipment so that they could build up the perimeter with HESCO barriers (The Staff of the US Army Combat Studies Institute, 2010, 2010). Temporarily, guards and concertina wire secured the perimeter. In the days leading up to the battle, the Soldiers in the unit noticed that some of the locals were acting suspiciously.

The aviation assets arrived on station approximately 20 minutes after the initial attack began. Over all, the attack lasted about 4 hours. “The bloodiest battle” since the war in Afghanistan began is what the battle of Wanat has come to be known as. Nine U.S. Soldiers killed, between 21 and 51 militants killed, and 20 to 40 militants injured at the completion of the battle. Shortly after the battle, the U.S. withdrew from the area (The Staff of the US Army Combat Studies Institute, 2010,