By Gil Barndollar and Sam Long
It was the shot of a lifetime. A lone Taliban fighter, armed with a cheap rocket-propelled grenade launcher, had destroyed the enormous surveillance blimp tethered to our patrol base. The $500 rocket tore through the blimp from end to end, obliterating $25 million of vital cameras and sensors. The explosion sounded like the sky itself was being ripped apart.
The destruction of the blimp left our little outpost vulnerable at the worst possible moment. The long-planned withdrawal of U.S. Marine units from northern Helmand province was scheduled to begin in weeks. Preparations had been under way for months; the impending operation was no secret to either side. Robbed of our critical eye in the sky, we braced ourselves for what we assumed was the next step in an audacious Taliban plan to maximize our casualties as Marines and allies withdrew from our patrol bases to the relative safety of Camp Leatherneck, a few hours drive south.
Our worst fears never materialized. That cold winter of 2013 witnessed the largely undisturbed departure of thousands of American and allied troops from Afghanistan’s deadliest province. In the end, the Taliban chose to keep most of their powder dry, conserving resources to fight their fellow Afghans rather than sacrificing fighters in high-profile but tactically meaningless attacks against departing foreigners.
This piece was originally published in The Wall Street Journal on December 10, 2020. Read more HERE.