Did you see the Taliban in this pretty intense helmet cam combat video? No? Yeah, that’s how they prefer to operate – I would wager the Recon Marines that were ambushed as they crossed that danger area didn’t see them either. Whether it’s by firing through murder holes in the iron-strength mud walls, or initiating an ambush just at the right time when the sun is setting behind them (you know, so when you turn towards the ambush it’s nothing but blinding sun and 7.62 coming at you), that’s their gameplan: quick ambush, move and attempt a quick flank/envelop, and then get the hell out of Dodge as soon as American air power gets on station. Don’t miss the video – as always more after the jump!
Helmet Cam Combat Video: Taliban Ambush Recon Marines
If you’ve never been to Helmand Province – especially around the Helmand River – then you’ve never experienced the joy of jumping constant irrigation canals (with only God-knows-what floating in it), or the intense concentration as you try to stay in the same footprints of your buddy in front of you to avoid IEDs. Heck, and who can forget about the biggest freaking wolf-dogs that you will ever see outside of a horror movie? Yes, they are ginormous, and they will come at you – thankfully the Afghan soldiers never held back while I was on patrol with them. (Before I get slammed with PETA-hate email, please note that I am a dog lover, as in friendly dogs, not Afghan Wolf Dogs – my fellow Marines can back me up on this.)
While this pretty sweet helmet cam video from my Recon brothers doesn’t show any of the aforementioned behemoth, Taliban dogs, it does provide the civilian world with an excellent perspective into what foot patrols in the Helmand River valley were like. More helmet cam videos from Afghanistan are en route as we speak – if you want more military videos just right-face your eyeballs and check out our tag cloud, as we are always adding more.