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By Staff Sgt. David Hopkins
3-1 Public Affairs Office
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — As the sun descended in the western sky, crouching down on the jagged mountain ridges of the Nuristan province, on August 2, 2008, Soldiers of 2nd Team Blackfoot, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Hood, Texas, guarded the walls of their combat outpost, scanning the rocky slopes for anti-Afghan forces. They are trained to spot danger and act against it to protect their location and their fellow Soldiers.
On the slopes above the COP, a figure appeared, lurking among the boulders. Moments later another appeared. Before long there was a full attack on the COP and coalition forces, comprised of U.S. service members and Afghan national security forces, were fighting for their lives.
By the time the battle was over and all the guns were silenced there was only one Afghan national army soldier with minor wounds and more than 20 insurgents were dead while countless others scrambled up the mountain nursing possibly fatal wounds.
Army Sgt. Ian Boone, from Mobile, Ala., and Pfc. Marco Maldonado-Gacia, from San Jose, Calif., were guarding the COP walls and were first to spot the enemy forces.
"I could not identify them as hostile until they bent down and picked up the weapons," Boone said, recalling the first moments of the battle.
Maldonado-Garcia observed them soon after and took the first shot, breaking the silence with the defining roar of his M-14 sniper rifle, killing an insurgent at 700 meters up the slope above the COP.
"This was decisive because from that moment on the enemy was on the defensive and no longer on the offensive," said Capt. Robert Yllescas, Team Blackfoot's commander, and Osceola, Neb., native.
At that point, Boone acted and began to fire on the approaching enemy.
"I saw their muzzle flashes and I began to suppress with well-placed shots," Boone said.
Maldonado-Garcia credits his Army training for his actions against the insurgent attack.
"It was a little bit surreal at first," he said. "To be honest, all the training the Army has provided me, immediately kicked in. [My] lieutenant asked me to scan the area and find the enemy. I was lucky enough to find the enemy before they actually engaged us."
The anti-Afghan forces attacked the COP with small-arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and machine guns, landing many direct hits inside the camp, but none hitting coalition forces.
When the attack started, many of the Soldiers were faced with the realities of war for the first time. Some reacted differently than others, but they all adjusted to the pressures of the battle and performed their duty, fending off the enemy attack.
"You could see the shock in some of the Soldiers' eyes, as if they were asking the question: 'Is this another test fire or is this for real,'" said 1st Sgt. Howard Johnson. "You could see fear in others' eyes as they pondered the question of whether or not they would live to see another day."
Johnson, who hails from Mullens, W. Va., said it then seemed like a switch was turned on and his Soldiers just went into reaction mode.
"Everyone was flawlessly executing the training they had received prior to deploying," he said. "Soldiers performed the COP defense drills to perfection. It was amazing; it was textbook execution."
The initial attack lasted more than an hour and consisted of an attack on the COP.
Additionally, an ANA patrol on the high ground above was under attack. However, Staff Sgt. Juan Santos, an Abilene, Texas, native, fired a missile and ended the attack on the ANA patrol.
After the initial attack, 6-4 was able to track the enemy through the mountains for another three hours with the use of long range advanced scout surveillance and close combat attack helicopters.
The enemy used their experience of fighting in the rugged terrain against the coalition forces. Still, through preparation, training and practice, the soldiers were able to fend them off.
When the dust cleared and all the coalition forces were accounted for, they had a chance to reflect on what they had been through.
"After fending off the attack it was a feeling of great accomplishment on my part, knowing that I helped eliminate the enemy that were trying to take my fellow troopers as well as myself out of the fight," said Pfc. Ernest Ochoa, who hails from Victoria, Texas.
| Date Taken: | 08.10.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2008 13:27 |
| Story ID: | 22401 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 111 |
This work, 6-4 Cavalry fends off attack, by SSG David Hopkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
