eBook - PDF
Beyond the Outpost
An Army Cavalry Officer’s War Diary on the Frontlines of Afghanistan, 2003 – 2007
- 225 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Beyond the Outpost
An Army Cavalry Officer’s War Diary on the Frontlines of Afghanistan, 2003 – 2007
About this book
"With compelling and candid prose, Berkoff takes us to the front lines as life-or-death decisions are made involving living and breathing characters. You must read this to understand what the war was like for the war fighters." — Jake Tapper, award-winning journalist and author of The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor
In 2003, Army Cavalry Officer Second Lieutenant Ross Berkoff led his Scout Platoon from the legendary 10th Mountain Division on reconnaissance missions spanning over 10,000 miles across the perilous southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand—the birthplace of the Taliban—during a nine-month deployment. After transitioning to Military Intelligence, Captain Berkoff returned to Afghanistan in 2006, again assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s Light Cavalry. By then, the Taliban insurgency had grown in sophistication and deadly effectiveness. Beyond the Outpost: An Army Cavalry Officer’s War Diary on the Frontlines of Afghanistan, 2003–2007 is the first and only unfiltered daily chronicle from a junior officer’s perspective, documenting this volatile and formative early period of the U.S. Army’s 20-year campaign against the Taliban.
In the two years following September 11, 2001, Taliban and Al Qaeda strongholds in Afghanistan were largely abandoned. Months of intense U.S. Special Forces raids and bombing campaigns successfully dislodged and disrupted large groups of enemy combatants. However, when the first U.S. Army Brigade Combat Teams deployed to Afghanistan, enemy tactics and momentum began to shift and intensify.
Berkoff ’s 2003 deployment marked Operation Enduring Freedom’s first use of Light Cavalry forces on the modern battlefield. His second deployment in 2006 supported U.S. intelligence agencies’ pursuit of Osama bin Laden in the mountainous border region near Pakistan. Berkoff’s diary—raw and unfiltered—takes readers on a turbulent journey through the Army’s counterinsurgency mission to dismantle extremist pockets and separate them from the beleaguered Afghan population. A significant portion of Jake Tapper’s national bestseller The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor is dedicated to this 2006–2007 deployment.
Beyond the Outpost chronicles the early years of America’s Afghanistan War. Berkoff’s day-to-day account of the 10th Mountain Division’s campaigns and combat across Kandahar’s sand dunes and the rugged Hindu Kush mountains provides unique clarity and insight into the common soldier’s perspective, the evolving tactics of the Taliban insurgency, and the U.S. Army Cavalry’s efforts to defeat it.
In the wake of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, many combat veterans grapple with profound questions about the meaning and legacy of their service. Berkoff’s stories of courage, sacrifice, adaptability, resilience, and leadership—enriched with original maps, and previously unpublished photographs—help bear the weight of the collective experiences of Afghanistan veterans.
In 2003, Army Cavalry Officer Second Lieutenant Ross Berkoff led his Scout Platoon from the legendary 10th Mountain Division on reconnaissance missions spanning over 10,000 miles across the perilous southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand—the birthplace of the Taliban—during a nine-month deployment. After transitioning to Military Intelligence, Captain Berkoff returned to Afghanistan in 2006, again assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s Light Cavalry. By then, the Taliban insurgency had grown in sophistication and deadly effectiveness. Beyond the Outpost: An Army Cavalry Officer’s War Diary on the Frontlines of Afghanistan, 2003–2007 is the first and only unfiltered daily chronicle from a junior officer’s perspective, documenting this volatile and formative early period of the U.S. Army’s 20-year campaign against the Taliban.
In the two years following September 11, 2001, Taliban and Al Qaeda strongholds in Afghanistan were largely abandoned. Months of intense U.S. Special Forces raids and bombing campaigns successfully dislodged and disrupted large groups of enemy combatants. However, when the first U.S. Army Brigade Combat Teams deployed to Afghanistan, enemy tactics and momentum began to shift and intensify.
Berkoff ’s 2003 deployment marked Operation Enduring Freedom’s first use of Light Cavalry forces on the modern battlefield. His second deployment in 2006 supported U.S. intelligence agencies’ pursuit of Osama bin Laden in the mountainous border region near Pakistan. Berkoff’s diary—raw and unfiltered—takes readers on a turbulent journey through the Army’s counterinsurgency mission to dismantle extremist pockets and separate them from the beleaguered Afghan population. A significant portion of Jake Tapper’s national bestseller The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor is dedicated to this 2006–2007 deployment.
Beyond the Outpost chronicles the early years of America’s Afghanistan War. Berkoff’s day-to-day account of the 10th Mountain Division’s campaigns and combat across Kandahar’s sand dunes and the rugged Hindu Kush mountains provides unique clarity and insight into the common soldier’s perspective, the evolving tactics of the Taliban insurgency, and the U.S. Army Cavalry’s efforts to defeat it.
In the wake of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, many combat veterans grapple with profound questions about the meaning and legacy of their service. Berkoff’s stories of courage, sacrifice, adaptability, resilience, and leadership—enriched with original maps, and previously unpublished photographs—help bear the weight of the collective experiences of Afghanistan veterans.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Beyond the Outpost by Ross A. Berkoff in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Central Asian History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- GLOSSARY
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- FOREWORD
- PROLOGUE
- TOUR ONE: RIDING INTO THE UNKNOWN
- CHAPTER 1 - HERE IN RESPONSE
- CHAPTER 2 - BECOMING SABER 1
- CHAPTER 3 - SEARCHING FOR POO
- CHAPTER 4 - BABYSITTING A BUNKER
- CHAPTER 5 - THE ROUTE RECON . . . FROM HELL
- CHAPTER 6 - APACHE WHITE, ONCE AGAIN
- CHAPTER 7 - DETOUR TO HELMAND
- CHAPTER 8 - FINAL MISSIONS AND HOMEBOUND
- TOUR TWO: COURAGE, RESILIENCE, AND HEARTBREAK
- CHAPTER 9 - FORMING THE TITANS
- CHAPTER 10 - THE CALL TO ARMS, AGAIN
- CHAPTER 11 - BETWEEN THE OUTPOSTS
- CHAPTER 12 - THE REAL ENEMY WILL BE THE TERRAIN
- CHAPTER 13 - NOT A PASSING MOMENT OF COURAGE
- CHAPTER 14 - SURVEILLING KAMDESH
- CHAPTER 15 - SURVIVING KAMDESH
- CHAPTER 16 - AN AWFUL TRAGEDY
- CHAPTER 17 - HOME STRETCH
- CHAPTER 18 - EXTRA INNINGS
- CHAPTER 19 - ANOTHER SPRING OFFENSIVE
- CHAPTER 20 - FOB FENTY
- CHAPTER 21 - WHISKEY FOR MY MEN, BEER FOR MY HORSES
- EPILOGUE
- INDEX
- About the Author