This "operation" is going to be the future model. Small units, working with Afghan Army, who do the bulk of the front work, at Forward Operating Bases in remote areas outside the safety of citified, pacified Kabul.
There wasn't any "mismanagement." They were AMBUSHED. This shit is brand spanking new. There's no paradigm that suffered a deviation. Now, if you want to talk about the Big Picture, that's a horse of a different color, but this guy was part of a brand new strategy that Obama wants to implement. It's a hearts-and-minds evolution, from the ground up, and focuses on rural areas with an eye towards essential security (policing, basically) by the Afghans, tamping down insurgency, digging wells and building roads, hospitals, schools, etc.
Further, it's springtime, and in spring, the taleb come out.
A member of Australia's first army training team assigned to live and train with Afghan troops, Corporal Hopkins more than halfway through his eight-month tour in Oruzgan at the time of his death.
The army has a 70-strong Operational Mentor and Liaison team which has been deployed in forward operating bases in Oruzgan province and engaging in regular patrols with Afghan army soldiers.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25205574-601,00.htmlThis guy was the first casualty of the "spring offensive" as it were. Expect the casualty count to go up over the coming months--the taleban like to fight in the good weather, and hole up during the winter months. Forces assigned to the regions where they're active are going to have to learn their ways and compensate. It's a situation where drone technology could come in handy.
Cpl Hopkins was on foot patrol with fellow Diggers and Afghan soldiers when the Taliban sprang the first ambush of the 2009 fighting season, in lush meadows near the village of Kakarak.
They opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades about 9.30am on Monday.
Cpl Hopkins , who suffered gunshot wounds, was put in a Black Hawk Medevac helicopter, but was dead on arrival at the Tarin Kowt field hospital.
The patrol radioed for urgent reinforcements, and help arrived in the form of two Dutch Apache helicopters whose 30mm chain guns and rockets routed the enemy.
Cpl Hokins was with the new Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.
The group was formed last year to train the Afghan military, with members participating in operations alongside their trainees, the first time Australian troops have done this since the Vietnam War.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25205432-5005961,00.htmlIt's a heartbreaking situation for his family, certainly. That "mid tour leave" is an interesting feature of the Australian military, as a side note. It would be interesting to do a study and see how that feature correlates to PTSD statistics, or casualty rates, for that matter.