The men and women serving overseas often find themselves in perilous combat situations. It is unlikely that any civilians would experience a similar danger, but footage from the United States Army offers a glimpse of what soldiers deal with during their deployment.
Video from 2010 shows airborne troops in Afghanistan carrying out a fierce firefight with the Taliban and brave men using every weapon at their disposal to try and thwart the threat
U.S. Army Paratroopers from 173rd Airborne Brigade participating in Operation Pakawul in Wardak, Afghanistan, 2010. (Military Archive/YouTube)
The video features U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. The video description explains that the airmen were participating in Operation Pakawul in the Chak District in Wardak, Afghanistan.
Throughout the video, the men take cover in a compound as they attempt to return fire against a Taliban threat in the distance.
Check out the entire 12-minute long video below to see the confrontation in action:
According to the video information, this was at least the third deployment in Afghanistan for the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
“From November 2009 until November 2010, the 173rd Airborne Brigade once again returned to Afghanistan, this time to the provinces of Logar and Wardak,” the video description states. “With combat experience already earned in other similar mountain regions in 2007 and 2008, the Brigade distinguished itself in combat regularly against the Taliban and fought tenaciously against them, while still promoting and attempting to legitimize the Afghan government.”
U.S. Army Paratroopers from 173rd Airborne Brigade participating in Operation Pakawul in Wardak, Afghanistan, 2010. (Military Archive/YouTube)
In the video, the men can be seen returning fire with assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers. The highly skilled soldiers fire back from all angles as they attempt to gain an advantage on the Taliban
Towards the end of the harrowing footage, the brigade is joined by a helicopter and an armored vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a mounted machine gun, and a soldier fires hundreds of rounds at once towards the enemy.
U.S. Army Paratroopers from 173rd Airborne Brigade participating in Operation Pakawul in Wardak, Afghanistan, 2010. (Military Archive/YouTube)
The video description explains that the brigade returned to its home station in Europe in November of that same year. While this footage shows the brigade in a protected area returning fire from a distance, the video description notes that seven soldiers from the brigade lost their lives during the deployment.
