Squadron Commander Died in Taliban Attack
By NATHAN HODGE
KABUL—The Defense Department on Monday identified one of the two Marines killed in the weekend Taliban attack on Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan as the commanding officer of a Harrier squadron.
The officer, Lt. Col. Chris Raible of Marine Attack Squadron 211, died in the assault in which the Harrier jet unit lost around half of its aircraft. He was one of the most senior Marines killed in the war.
Six of the jump-jets were destroyed, and two were seriously damaged in the attack, in which insurgents disguised in U.S. Army uniforms managed to breach the perimeter of the heavily fortified base.
A military news release in July said Col. Raible, a Pennsylvania native and graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, had led the fighter squadron as it relocated from a previous base at Kandahar Airfield to Camp Bastion.
Also killed in the attack was Sgt. Bradley Atwell of Kokomo, Ind.
Camp Bastion/Camp Leatherneck is a massive complex that serves as the main base for U.S. Marines and British forces.
