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Fort Carson, Colorado - Green Berets assigned to 2nd Battalion,10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), participated in a post-deployment valor awards ceremony at McMahon Theater, Fort Carson, Colorado, on May 2, 2018.
The Special Forces Battalion earned more than 60 valor awards during their six-month deployment in Afghanistan, in support of Operation Resolute Support, including 41 Army Commendation Medals with Valor, 20 Bronze Star Medals for Valor, and four Silver Star Medals.
The valor award ceremony reflected the warrior spirit present in every operator in the battalion, one of whom was Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Cribben, who was killed in action during the deployment. Cribben and was posthumously awarded a Silver Star Medal. His wife and sons accepted the award on his behalf.
“We find ourselves in the company of great warriors,” said Army Maj. Gen. Francis M. Beaudette, the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) commanding general. “We are surrounded by those who excel at, and live for, getting the job done. Men and women who want only the most difficult challenges on behalf of our nation, and who get them.”
During this deployment the battalion’s operators were spread across Afghanistan in small teams known as Special Forces Operational Detachment – Alpha teams. They were tasked with training, advising, and assisting Afghan commandos, known as Special Operations Kandaks, in refining their warfighting skills and enabling them to take the fight to the Taliban.
The Green Berets and their Afghan partners met with success against a determined enemy. Together, they disrupted Taliban revenue streams by seizing and destroying thousands of pounds of drugs and drug making supplies. Thousands of pounds of homemade explosives, used to make IED’s, were also destroyed or neutralized, along with hundreds of weapons caches and defensive fighting positions, effectively degrading Taliban arms stockpiles.
Additionally, 2nd BN operators and their partners located and eliminated numerous high-level insurgents, from multiple terrorist networks, including members of the Taliban’s infamous “Red Units”, who are their more elite fighters. These partnered missions helped to establish and maintain security and stability in their operational areas, preventing insurgents from carrying out any successful large-scale attacks.
“These men willingly devote themselves to a profession that we all know can one day lead us to where we make the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” said Army Lt. Col. Kevin Trujillo, the 2nd Battalion Commander. “We ask so much of these men, they love what they do, they love their country and they love each other.”
The hard work of the men of 10th Group contributed to numerous successful operations on the field of battle, placing them directly in harms way while assisting local partner forces accomplish their goals of becoming more self-sufficient.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2018 13:00 |
| Story ID: | 276164 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 332 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Green Berets Earn Over 60 Valor Awards in Just Six Months, by SSG Justin Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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