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bobdina
08-18-2009, 06:01 PM
STUTTGART, Germany -- On two separate days in April, members of Company B, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), were engaged in hostile enemy action, resulting in nine of its members receiving awards for valor.

Staff Sergeants Steven Hurt and Jason Lebeau each were pinned the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device and Staff Sergeants Daniel Devlin, Juanmanuel Mata, John Lewis and Christopher Smith were decorated with Army Commendation Medals with "V" device during a ceremony held July 29, at Panzer Barracks. Devlin also received a Purple Heart.

Three other team members not present at the ceremony who also earned the Bronze Star for Valor were Sgt. 1st Class Jason Dryden, Staff Sgt. Kenneth Powell and Staff Sgt. Keith Waller. Waller also received a Purple Heart.

Day one - April 3, 2009

The team was partnered with a Romanian Special Forces detachment and was called to assist two platoons from the 10th Mountain Division to capture a senior-level insurgent hiding in a compound.

By the time they arrived, the enemy had fortified its position within the compound, emplacing crew-served weapons and strategically positioning fighters to defend against the assault.

"Within five minutes we were taking pretty effective fire from the insurgents. Waller and four of the Romanian soldiers were immediately hit," said the detachment's team sergeant. "Incredibly, Waller kept up the fight until the medics pulled him away."

At that point, Hurt, one of the team's communications sergeants, realized that he needed to reposition to make contact with the air medevac. After just completing an assault against the enemy position, he again exposed himself to enemy machine gun fire while moving to establishing communications.

"Staff Sergeant Hurt is one of my most aggressive Soldiers - a shooter first," the team sergeant said. "He was one of the first guys up on that roof, and he knew when it was time to pull out of the fight to get satellite communications and relay information on the ground situation."

As the enemy continued its attack on their position, Smith, Dryden and Powell continued to treat the injured soldiers, also putting themselves at serious personal risk.

Day two - April 17, 2009

The team, partnered with an Afghanistan National Army platoon, a squad of Soldiers from 3-71st Cavalry Regiment and a Romanian Special Forces team, were preparing to conduct a deliberate detention operation of an insurgent commander and improvised explosive device facilitator.

The team sergeant described the situation as the "worst timing" for the men, as they were already physically and emotionally spent after clearing five insurgent compounds during the previous 24 hours.

The enemy had an elevated position and watched as the men entered a narrow alleyway before opening fire and inflicting life-threatening wounds on two of the 3-71 Soldiers. The enemy also launched a rocket-propelled grenade in the alleyway, with fragments of the grenade penetrating the edge of Devlin's helmet and lacerating his head.

"I knew I was dinked, but it was nothing serious," Devlin said.

While receiving direct small arms fire, the Special Forces Soldiers began giving immediate first aid care to the wounded Soldiers and placed seven tourniquets on one of them, eventually saving both his life and limb.

Both Mata and Lebeau would take turns providing suppressive fire against the enemy, while also taking turns giving critical care by applying direct pressure to stop the bleeding.

The team sergeant, who was separated from his men, attributed the many hours of first aid cross-training his Soldiers conducted before their deployment for saving the lives of the two wounded Soldiers. He added that every man is confident enough to do some part of every other man's job on the team.

Summing up the actions of all the men on those two nights, Devlin said, "If any one member of our team had not been there, it could have been so much worse. Everyone played a vital role and everyone made a difference."

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/08/17/26085-two-days-of-hell-nine-men-of-valor/?ref=home-headline-title2

bobdina
08-18-2009, 09:36 PM
Special Forces GIs honored for valor in Afghanistan
By Warren Peace, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, August 1, 2009
Warren Peace / S&S
Six soldiers, left, with Operational Detachment A 0122, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) received medals of valor for their actions in Afghanistan during a ceremony Wednesday at Panzer Kaserne in Stuttgart, Germany. Purchase reprint

STUTTGART, Germany — Leaders of 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) said their soldiers disrupted roadside bomb networks and killed two Taliban leaders in Logar province, Afghanistan, during a recent deployment.

For their combat actions there, Staff Sgts. Steven Hurt and Jason LeBeau received Bronze Star Medals with “V” devices, and Staff Sgts. Daniel Devlin, John Lewis, Juan Mata and Christofer Smith received Army Commendation Medals with “V” devices. Devlin also received a Purple Heart. All are members of Company B.

The soldiers earned their medals during two firefights highlighted in speeches at an awards ceremony Wednesday.

In one of the fights, the company served alongside a Romanian special forces detachment. The units responded to a call April 3 for support from another coalition element, and attacked the enemy’s stronghold with direct fire and grenades. During the battle, Hurt left his covered position, exposing himself to an enemy heavy machine gun to establish satellite communications and maintain a link with their support elements.

Four enemies were confirmed dead. Three of them were believed to be high-value targets, including the Taliban provincial shadow governor.

The Romanian unit’s captain was killed in the fight. There were no U.S. casualties.

In the second firefight, the detachment joined forces April 17 with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, a Romanian special forces detachment and an Afghanistan National Army platoon for Operation KATAN II. The operation targeted an insurgent commander and the leader of a roadside bomb network in the Mohammad Agha District of Logar province.

During an ensuing firefight, LeBeau, Smith, Lewis, Mata and Devlin exposed themselves to enemy fire to provide covering fire and to help care for wounded U.S. and Romanian troops. Devlin was moderately injured when a grenade fragment penetrated his Kevlar helmet, but he continued to provide direct fire on the enemy position.

Post-operation reports confirmed the death of the targeted insurgent commander.

After Wednesday’s ceremony, the Special Forces soldiers mentioned their new friends in the Romanian special forces detachment, with whom they spent seven months training and fighting.

“Afterward, I was heartbroken,” Hurt said about the fight in which the Romanian captain was mortally wounded. “We had been working with him for six months. We became friends. Yeah, we knew we removed the Taliban leader. On the other hand, we lost an ally, a brother.