Takur Ghar

What you are about to read is a personal description of a place I called home during the summer of 2014 while to deployed to Panjwai District of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Combat Out Post (COP) Masum Ghar was once a Canadian Forward Operating Base (FOB) established during Operation Enduring Freedom. After the Canadian forces had pulled out of the country, the United States Army took their place. COP Masum Ghar, situated in a bowl at the top of a mountain range, called Masum. Ghar is Pashtun for Mountain. Thus is the origin of the COP's name. At the base of the mountain was the Panjwai Bazar. The bazaar was large open air market where merchants and farmers would gather from great distances to peddle their goods. The COP consisted of living areas, a Tactical Operations Center (TOC), a chow hall, a landing zone for helicopters (LZ), a motor pool, and defensive positions on the peaks around the COP.…

THE BATTLE FOR TAKUR GUAR USAACE SSG Patrick M. Roach 15UK1N1 17-002 SFC Maradol “Silent Professional” is a term often used when referencing the Special Operations community. It means do not brag about what you have done or where you have been because secrecy is your only real ally. Every night since the World Trade Center towers fell, there have been Soldiers overseas taking the fight to those responsible. Night after night, these nameless warriors have been planning and…

A small group of US SOF would fight against Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in a 17-hour intense battle atop Roberts Ridge. Eight US SOF personnel were killed atop Takur Ghar with multiple wounded in action. The eight American lives were more combat deaths than any US unit had suffered in a single day since 1993, when 18 SOF Soldiers died in the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia. In honor of Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts, the battle would be known as the battle of Roberts Ridge. In support of…

TSGT Chapman, who was an Airforce combat controller embedded with the SEALs, immediately got on his radio, and contacted a nearby AC-130 gunship to aid in securing Razor 03’s crash site. Razor 03’s sister ship Razor 04 landed nearby the crash site to exfil all the passengers, crew of Razor 03, and flew them directly to Gardez to treat for wounds sustain in the crash. Once reaching Gardez, all the remaining team members that were not hurt during the crash were trying to do everything in their…

The valley is two and half miles wide and five miles long. Located on the floor of the valley are four towns: Serkhankhel, Marzak, Zerki Kale, and Babulkhel. Surrounding the valley are high mountainous ridges. A humpback ridge, located on the western side, nicknamed The Whale, is nine thousand feet in altitude, one mile wide, and four miles long. The highest peak in the valley is Takur Ghar and is ten thousand, four hundred and sixtey-nine feet in altitude, with the eastern ridgeline running…