The Battle of Wanat, the name given to the July 2008 incident in which two hundred Taliban fighters nearly overran a U.S. army base, remains one of the deadliest days in Afghanistan for U.S. troops. Nine soldiers died in the fighting, and several more were wounded.
This week, there’s one more apparent casualty: the career of a soldier who fought to defend the base and, at one point, called in close air support to destroy targets less than ten meters from his position inside the walls of the besieged outpost in Kunar Province.
U.S. Army Cpt. Matthew Myer received a Silver Star for his valor in the incident, but he’s now also received what is generally regarded as the kiss of death for a career in the military: a letter of reprimand for not properly securing the base in the first place.
The letter can be appealed.
Reports CNN — with the money line at the end:
After the attack, the U.S. military scrutinized how enemy forces were allowed to get as close to the base as they did. Officials familiar with the after-action review said Taliban fighters got within grenade-throwing distance of U.S. troops.
Four-star Gen. Charles C. Campbell was chosen to review the final investigation and make disciplinary decisions. Campbell decided Myer would receive a career-ending letter of reprimand for failing to prepare the base’s defenses sufficiently against an enemy attack.
Army officials acknowledge the base, built to protect the people in Wanat, was at the bottom of a valley surrounded by high hills, an almost impossible location to defend.
WATCH MYER’S BRAVERY IN ACTION
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