
Combat Outpost (COP) Keating was a small American military outpost in Kamdesh, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan which was active from 2006 to 2009. Founded as PRT Kamdesh, it was renamed in honor of Captain Benjamin D. Keating, who died in a traffic accident in 2006. The base was poorly located, as it was located at the bottom of a valley, where attackers from the high ground would have an easy time opening small arms and mortar fire on the defenders (who nicknamed the outpost "Camp Custer" in reference to the disastrous Battle of the Little Bighorn). Plans to relocate the base were dashed due to opposition from President Hamid Karzai, who considered the base to be located near a village which he regarded as strategically important. The base would be assaulted by the Taliban in the 3 October 2009 Battle of Kamdesh, after which the US Army decided to demolish the damaged base.