Photo By Tech. Sgt. James Bolinger | Soldiers assigned to Forward Operating Base Kutschbach stand in formation during a...... read more read more
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By Senior Airman James Bolinger
Combined Joint Task Force-82 Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Kutschbach was killed Nov. 10, 2007, during a small-arms engagement in Tag Ab Valley, Kapisa province. He was the first service member assigned to Forward Operating Base Pathfinder to be killed and the base was renamed FOB Kutschbach in his honor, Jan. 28.
FOB Kutschbach is in the heart of Taliban territory and service members there engage the enemy nearly everyday.
"All fire bases and forward operating bases are named after fallen comrades, since Staff Sgt. Kutschbach was the first KIA based out of the new fire base, we chose him," said Army Lt. Col. James P. Leary, commander, 82nd Airborne Division, Division Special Troops Battalion.
Kutschbach was a special operations junior weapons sergeant whose favorite color was Pittsburgh Steelers yellow.
"I remember I got up one night to check my e-mail and there was Pat with his Steelers towel watching the game," said one of Kutschbach's team members.
Kutschbach was killed near sundown during the second engagement of the day for his team. He was the turret gunner for the trail vehicle in his convoy when he was shot.
"He was hit by one of the first rounds of the engagement," said another of Kutschbach's teammates. "It was a lucky shot since the sun was nearly down."
During the ceremony to rename FOB Kutschbach, several of his team members related memories of their friend.
"There is no way that anybody didn't get along with Pat," said one of his teammates. "He was a straight-up kind of guy – he didn't sugar-coat anything. If you were gonna get into it with somebody, you wanted him there."
According to his friends, Kutschbach's laugh was one of a kind, he had a knack for cracking jokes, and the only thing he loved more than soldiering was his wife, Ginger, and son, Bastian.
"Pat was one of those special people who could take control of just about any situation with a few words and his signature laugh," said one of his friends.
This was Kutschbach's first long deployment and according to his friends it was evident he missed his family.
"Playing catch one day in Afghanistan I was asking Pat about his plans after the Army and after Afghanistan," said one of his teammates. "I asked him if he was ready to live back in the states again. He said, 'Bo, I am so ready to live back in the states. All I want to do is drive my son to baseball practice and maybe stick around and coach him too.'"
"The one thing that helps bring solace to (our team) is that he passed away doing what he truly loved and believed in," said the sergeant's team leader.
Kutschbach didn't give his life in vain.
"We are making slow progress here in Tag Ab," said one of his friends. "Things are going well it's just going to take awhile."
The name of FOB Pathfinder may have changed, but its mission is still counterinsurgency and training Afghan national security forces. Kutschbach was on a counterinsurgency mission when he was killed.
"Counterinsurgency is the main mission of all of us here," said Leary. "We find and defeat the insurgency while helping the Afghan people and supporting Afghanistan's democratic government."
When Kutschbach was killed in November, 2007, FOB Pathfinder was a bare-bones installation without electricity or even a kitchen. FOB Kutschbach is slowly growing and now has both electricity and a place for Soldiers to get a hot meal.
"I am sure that each and every one of (Pat's) family will smile knowing that Pat will continue to live in the hearts and minds of family and friends," said one of his teammates.
"I am going to miss Pat's wild grin and the one of a kind laugh," said one of his friends, holding back tears. "I will never forget you brother."
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2008 14:24 |
| Story ID: | 15921 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 552 |
| Downloads: | 120 |
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