Military Review English Edition May-June 2014 | Page 72

COINvasion?

Korengal and Weygal Valleys Post-Mortem
Maj. David H. Park, U.S. Army

(Photo: Max Klimburg)

D

URING THE HEIGHT of the counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign in Afghanistan
(between 2007 and 2010), Army units engaged in sustained combat in the narrow
valleys of Korengal and Weygal in Kunar Province. Having identified Kunar as a crucial
region for the Taliban, U.S. forces established several small outposts. Some came under
heavy attack by insurgents, including Korengal Outpost, Combat Outpost Restrepo, and
Vehicle Patrol Base Wanat. The combat actions performed by U.S. troops in these regions
will be remembered as some of the most valorous and honorable in the annals of military
history.
Historians, strategists, and journalists have studied and written about these battles in depth.
Authors such as Bing West and Sebastian Junger have produced bestselling expositions of
the campaigns. The movie Restrepo (aired in 2010), illustrated the grunt’s view of the bat