U.S. Forces In Syria Tackle A More Complex — And Possibly Dangerous — Mission
American soldiers are helping secure oil fields in northeast Syria — not only from ISIS extremists, but from Syria and Russia as well. It's a relatively new mission for these troops.
It's early morning in northeast Syria. It's sunny and chilly. Capt. Alex Quataert briefs his soldiers on the day's patrol.
"In the last 48 hours we've had two attacks on critical petroleum infrastructure," he says.
The convoy will visit one of those sites today.
A group of fresh-faced soldiers cluster around in a circle near their hulking armored vehicles, standing in the mud and gravel of this bare-bones combat outpost. It's a drab collection of tents and trailers and massive sand bag walls. He tells his soldiers U.S. forces were stationed at one of the attacked facilities.
"So we're going to have a show of presence there to deter any further attacks on these forces," Quataert says.
The mission for U.S. forces in Syria is now more complex
