Helmand, Afghanistan: At about 10:15pm on Friday 14 September 2012 fifteen Taliban suicide attackers dressed in US army uniforms breached NATO's Camp Bastion's airfield defences undetected. Within a couple of hours they'd killed two US Marines, decimated an entire squadron of Harrier Jump Jets and caused damage totaling $400-million. I heard the first shots that night from a mile and a half away, far enough so it sounded like popcorn popping. But even at that distance the first explosion still towered high in the sky, a rolling mushroom cloud of fire. I didn't get any closer until the next day when we were detailed with checking the airfield for battle debris. We didn't find any debris but it was a walk of shame for me. My last airfield guard duty had been one week before and I'd seen how vulnerable were and how utterly clueless our commanders were. I'd watched our defences being surveyed all day and saw a figure in a roadside ditch about 9:00pm but was twice refused permission to fire a flare. That figure in the ditch appeared at the same time / location as the the attackers' drop off point a week later.
