Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Frazier | Army Cpl. Mark Colborn draws his weapon during a patrol with Alpha Company, 3rd...... read more read more
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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – "Incoming," hollered Soldiers of Alpha Company, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Task Force Spartan. The rapid pops in the air followed by a high-pitch whistling sound meant one thing; a firefight was at hand on March 9.
Moments prior, engineers dismounted their patrol vehicles to inspect an area they believed an improvised explosive device had been placed. Just as they formed a line to begin their walkthrough, they became the targets of an ambush.
"The first thing you do when this happens is get cover," said Army Staff Sgt. John Rankin, squad leader, 3rd BSTB, 10th Mountain Division, TF Spartan. "Then you gain situational awareness and return fire."
Rankin looked over his shoulder and shouted for the rest of his team to circle around and regroup.
"He's amazing when we get on the ground," said Army Cpl. Mark Colborn, team leader for 2nd squad, 3rd BSTB, TF Spartan, when asked about Rankin. "He's professional. He knows what's going on, and how to lead his men."
"You're not frightened when you get shot at," said Army Pfc. Matthew Swanson, squad automatic weapon gunner, 3rd BSTB, TF Spartan. "Your training takes over and you do what you're taught to do."
As gunners in the turrets fired their .50 caliber machine guns, Rankin and his troops prepared to flank around the side of the wall in order to advance and move to a building across the road.
"When someone is shooting at me I know we have to put them down or they will hurt one of us or someone else," added Colborn.
With the idea of crossing the road, where the team initially thought an IED had been placed, Rankin and his team hustled quickly across the danger area and took cover.
"We couldn't push forward so we pushed through," said Rankin.
The team quickly made its way inside the building, as the firing stopped, and began clearing the large open space.
"Chasing down the bad guys is the most fun," said Swanson. "I guess it's just knowing that we are doing our job."
Once the team had cleared the building, they exited and began moving through a nearby field to meet up with the rest of their platoon, who had driven down the side to provide cover fire.
About 50 meters from the building shots rang out again.
"You still get that rush," said Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Claus, a squad leader. "Your adrenaline spikes and you go into that mode."
"The insurgents were scared," said Colborn. "They saw us maneuvering in on them. I knew we were moving in the right direction, and we were going to take them out!"
The team began bounding in three-to-five second intervals until they were able to safely make it across the field. As the Soldiers got closer, the insurgents stopped firing.
Although the team did not find any of the insurgents, later reports indicated the team had, in fact, eliminated several of them.
"We're trained to maneuver on the enemy," added Claus. "That's what we did and everyone performed to a 'T'."
| Date Taken: | 03.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2009 10:53 |
| Story ID: | 31115 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 679 |
| Downloads: | 616 |
This work, Spartan Non-Commissioned Officers react under fire, by SFC Robert Frazier, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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