Central Intelligence Agency CIA Khowst, Afghanistan Remembrance Challenge Coin

  • $1,750.00



CIA FOB 191

Firebase or Camp Chapman

(Research: Camp Chapman Attack)

Khost, Afghanistan 

 Remembrance of Those Lost

via

7 Black Stars

On the CIA Wall 

Challenge Coin 

Condition:  Used and in nice shape.  Please see picture.

Acquired from a member of The Company.  Camp Chapman.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on ALCU website documented below where the Inspector General (IG) investigated whether there was mistreatment of captured prisoners.  The report refers to FOB 191 or Firebase Chapman (read below report from website below):

(REF http://www.aclu.org/files/projects/foiasearch/pdf/DOD045299.pdf)

Forward Operating Base Chapman

The CIA's base in Khost was set up at the beginning of the U.S.-led offensive against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in 2001, and began as an improvised center for operations.[6] A military base at the beginning, it was later transformed into a CIA base, a U.S. official said.[7] According to a U.S. military source, Forward Operating Base Chapman was also used as a base for the Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team, a military-led development group.[8] According to a CNN report, this team left some time ago, however, the Wall Street Journal reports that the base still houses the team, as well as a small military contingent.[9][10] In recent years, the base, one of the most secretive and highly guarded locations in Afghanistan, evolved into a major counterterrorism hub of the CIA's paramilitary Special Activities Division, used for joint operation with CIA, military special operations forces and Afghan allies, and had a housing compound for U.S. intelligence officers.[2][6][11][12]

On Wednesday, December 30, 2009, the Camp Chapman attack was executed by a suicide bomber who was a Jordanian double agent loyal to al Qaeda-linked Islamist extremists. Seven people employed by or affiliated with the CIA, as well as a Jordanian intelligence officer, died in the attack; it remains the second deadliest ever incident for the CIA after the 1983 United States embassy bombing. Almost three years later, on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, a suicide bomber, possibly with ties to the Afghan Taliban (who claimed responsibility via a spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claiming those who served American forces at the base were the target) and/or the Haqqani network, killed three Afghans (their status was not specified) who were outside the perimeter of the base, which is near a military airport.[13]

(REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_Operating_Base_Chapman)

Camp Chapman attack

The Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack against Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan, on December 30, 2009. The base is located near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, in a stronghold of the Taliban movement. One of the main tasks of the CIA operatives stationed at the base was to provide information for drone attacks against targets in Pakistan. Seven CIA Officers, including the chief of the base, and an officer of Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate were killed, and six others were seriously wounded when the attacker detonated a bomb he was carrying. The bombing was the most lethal attack against the CIA in more than 25 years. Only the 1983 United States embassy bombing surpasses the Chapman attack in number of CIA officers killed.[1][2]

Forward Operating Base Chapman

Forward Operating Base Chapman is located at the site of a former Afghan army installation. It is situated in the vicinity of Camp Salerno, a large military base used by U.S. special operations forces.[4][94] The base is named for Sergeant First Class Nathan Chapman, the first U.S. soldier killed by enemy fire during the Afghanistan war, in 2002.[4][94][95][116] Chapman was killed while fighting alongside the CIA.[116]

The CIA's base in Khost was set up at the beginning of the U.S.-led offensive against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in 2001, and began as an improvised center for operations.[17] A military base at the beginning, it was later transformed into a CIA base, a U.S. official said.[88] According to a U.S. military source, Forward Operating Base Chapman was also used as a base for the Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team, a military-led development group.[119] According to a CNN report, this team left some time ago, however, the Wall Street Journal reports that the base still houses the team, as well as a small military contingent.[19][108] In recent years, the base, one of the most secretive and highly guarded locations in Afghanistan, evolved into a major counterterrorism hub of the CIA's paramilitary Special Activities Division, used for joint operation with CIA, military special operations forces and Afghan allies, and had a housing compound for U.S. intelligence officers.[4][17][111][120]

U.S. bases in Khost, in particular Camp Salerno, have frequently been targeted by insurgents. In most cases, however, suicide attackers do not succeed in getting past the main entrance of a base.[18] According to U.S. officials, Forward Operating Base Chapman appears to have implemented less stringent security measures that other U.S. military bases, aiming at establishing trust with informants.[89] Subjecting informants to mistrust and excessive suspicion would reduce the amount of information received from them.[64]

(REF: Wikipedia)