Thread by @jaketapper

Visited the set of The Outpost film — the troops who served at the real COP in Afghanistan who are working on the film say it’s eerie how close it is to the original.

Here’s @danielRod_83, who served at COP Keating during the horrific 2009 attack and who plays himself in the film, showing me around the film’s version of the mortar pit.

Here director @RodLurie is filming a scene re-creating when SGT Josh Hardt runs to SSG Clint Romesha to tell him he wants to try to rescue five of his fellow troops trapped in a Humvee, pinned down by relentless enemy fire.

@RodLurie (Rod was nice enough to let me yell "Action" for one take.)

https://twitter.com/RodLurie/status/1048944730975793153

Hank Hughes, who served at COP Keating with 1-91 CAV from 2007-2008, is a producer and also portrays SGT Brad Larson. Hank pursued film after he got out and was nominated for an Academy Award for best short film in 2017.

Caleb Landry Jones — who you may know from X-Men: First Class, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Get Out — is shown here with SGT Ty Carter, whom he portrays. Carter is one of the heroes of COP Keating and was awarded the Medal of Honor. He’s a consultant on the film.

And @ScottEastwood portrays SSG Clint Romesha, who was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage during the 2009 battle. It was the first time since Vietnam that two living servicemembers were awarded the MOH for the same battle.

The set designer did a really nice job getting details right. And to all the troops who have told me this: don’t worry, I’ve told everyone to make sure the uniforms don’t look clean and new.

Meanwhile, as @RodLurie and his amazing team commemorate the battle and attempt to honor the troops who served at COP Keating, the 17th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban was marked by at least 50 people killed.

nytimes.com/2018/10/07/wor…

@RodLurie While I was visiting the set, the UN was noting a 21% increase in the use of IEDs in Afghanistan from last year, documenting 1,065 civilian deaths and 2,569 civilians injured from Jan until Sept.

stripes.com/news/un-ied-ca…

@RodLurie Then-President Karzai asked GEN McChrystal to delay closing COP Keating at least until the 2009 elections were over, so as to project stability and democracy amidst the insurgency. The Taliban today warned they would try to disrupt this month's elections.

washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…

And while I was visiting the set i learned the US lost another solder in Afghanistan, SGT James Slape, 23, of Morehead City, NC.

So while I'm really glad this movie is being made, and I think it's going to be powerful and hopefully important, it's even more poignant given that America's longest war is still going on with no end in sight.

-fin-