A new video posted on YouTube yesterday shows video footage of a U.S. blue on blue incident during a firefight in Afghanistan.
One of the soldiers in the Observation Post captured the video on a camera attached to his helmet.
It shows U.S. troops from the 1st Infantry Division at an undisclosed FOB engaging Taliban forces across the valley.
An air strike is called in to drop a 500 pound bomb on the enemy position. At the start of the video, the radio in the background can be heard saying “30 seconds to time on target.” About 15 seconds later, sounds of the jet flying over can be heard, along with the scream of the bomb that is about to hit just 15 meters from the OP.
After the bomb hits, the shock of the troops is apparent, as it takes a few moments for what just happened to sink in. Surprisingly, there were no deaths or serious injuries. This is more than likely due to the actions of the First Sergeant, who had the troops come in and bunker down for safety prior to the air strike.
A short interview posted by the author of the video states that three troops most likely would’ve died had it not been for the First Sergeant’s “stand to” call. A friend of this Author stated, after watching the video, that he had been about a quarter-mile from a 500 pound bomb blast in Afghanistan, and it shook him down to his bones. We can only image what these guys felt, being only 15 meters from the impact zone.
As of this writing, there is no available information regarding what caused the bomb to hit off target, or which NATO unit was flying CAS (Close Air Support) that day. From previous blue on blue incidents that have occurred in Afghanistan, it could of been something as simple as getting one number wrong when communicating GPS coordinates, or confusion as to the location of the friendly ground forces.
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Bjørn Broten for The Aviationist.com
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