|
Photo and information courtesy of US Army / DoD |
|
Capt. Stephen P. Ward, Sgt.
1st Class Drew C. Kimmey,
and Staff Sgt. Carlo A.
Alcazar, members of
Civil Affairs Team 745,
were recently recognized
for their performance
during an Afghanistan
mission last November.
The three soldiers were
recognized for their
efforts in rescuing a
Special Forces team
leader, who was also the
ground forces commander
that day.
CA Team 745 was
stationed at Firebase
Cobra in Oruzgan,
Afghanistan, with
special operations
detachments from the 3rd
Special Forces Group,
members of the Afghan
National Army and the
Afghan National Police.
On Nov. 2, 2007, the
teams and their Afghan
counterparts left the
firebase to visit the
village of Sarsina to
conduct medical
capabilities mission as
well as a humanitarian
aid drop. Once they
arrived at the village,
they discovered it had
been evacuated and that
Taliban fighters were
entrenched into several
fighting positions in an
attempt to ambush forces
in the area.
Alcazar reported only
three families came in
for medical treatment.
The families told the
soldiers the Taliban
made the other people
leave the village, but
that having nowhere to
go. they stayed. “What
was alarming,” Ward said
later, “was the
buildings had locks and
barricaded doors, which
was a clear indication
that the village wasn't
abandoned, but had been
turned into a defendable
position.”
All three quickly
figured it was only a
matter of time before
the firefight would
begin. |
|
The teams were quickly
engaged by 300 Taliban
fighters. According to
Army documents, after an
hour of fighting, two
vehicles were pulled to
the rear of the fight
after being disabled.
This left the ground
forces commander to the
front of the coalition
lines and in jeopardy of
being overrun. At this
point, Ward, the team
leader for 745, radioed
to the ground forces
commander, who was
pinned down in a
vulnerable building,
that his was on its way.
Ward later said he and
Alcazar went because
they were the closest
truck and the others
were busy providing
cover. Unfortunately,
the team's vehicle
crashed into an enemy
fighting position and
became immobile,
knocking Ward and
Alcazar momentarily
unconscious.
After
they regained
consciousness, Alcazar
took to reloading
ammunition belts,
enabling Kimmey, the
gunner, to continue to
engage enemy forces.
Ward exited the vehicle
and directed his team to
dismount and move to
cover. Kimmey remained
in the turret, providing
cover for the team and
allowing them to reach
the ground forces
commander. He stayed
even though he knew the
enemy was setting up
mortar positions to
destroy the truck he was
firing from.
Kimmey
was able to keep the
Taliban from overrunning
the soldiers with the
.50-caliber gun. In the
process, he was drawing
a majority of the enemy
fire. Ward reported the
enemy was about 50 to
100 meters away at this
point.
Team 745 moved to the
ground commander's
position and helped in
the recovery of the
commander and the
casualties. All of this
was done, while under
“continual, accurate and
effective” enemy fire.
Since
the team's 745's vehicle
was immobile, it was
stripped of all
sensitive equipment, and
its gun was dismantled
to prevent the enemy
from gaining off of the
team's loss. Once team
745 sterilized their
truck, they had no
choice but to run beside
the Special Forces
vehicle, using it as
cover, until they
reached safety, because
there was no room for
them on the truck. All
three of them ran
alongside the truck
until they reached a
checkpoint and mounted
up into another vehicle
for the ride back to
firebase Cobra.
During the civil affairs
award ceremony honoring
all three for their
heroic acts, Maj. Gen.
John F. Mulholland,
said, “The words can't
do justice, nor can the
medal on your chest
convey what they went up
against.” |
