Thursday, June 02, 2011

Wounded Soldier to Receive Medal of Honor


Army News Service
WASHINGTON, June 1, 2011 - An Army Ranger who lost his right hand and suffered shrapnel wounds after throwing an armed grenade away from his fellow soldiers will be the second living Medal of Honor recipient from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Army Staff Sgt. Leroy A. Petry, now serving as part of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Fort Benning, Ga., will receive the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on July 12, 2011. U.S. Army photo 
On July 12, President Barack Obama will present the nation's highest award for battlefield gallantry to Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry for his actions during May 26, 2008, combat operations against an armed enemy in Afghanistan's Paktia province.
Petry now serves as part of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Fort Benning, Ga.
"It's very humbling to know that the guys thought that much of me and my actions that day to nominate me for that," said Petry, on learning he had been nominated for the medal.
At the time of his actions in Afghanistan, Petry was assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. His actions came as part of a rare daylight raid to capture a high-value target.
Petry was to locate himself with the platoon headquarters in the targeted building once it was secured. Once there, he was to serve as the senior noncommissioned officer at the site for the remainder of the operation.
Recognizing one of the assault squads needed help clearing their assigned building, Petry relayed to the platoon leader that he was moving to that squad to provide additional supervision and guidance. Once the residential portion of the building had been cleared, Petry took a fellow member of the assault squad, Pfc. Lucas Robinson, to clear the outer courtyard. Petry knew that area had not been cleared during the initial clearance.
Petry and Robinson, both Rangers, moved into an area of the compound that contained at least three enemy fighters who were prepared to engage friendly forces from opposite ends of the outer courtyard.
As the two soldiers entered the courtyard, to their front was an opening, followed by a chicken coop. As they crossed the open area, an enemy insurgent fired on them. Petry was wounded by one round, which went through both of his legs. Robinson was also hit in his side plate by a separate round.
While wounded and under enemy fire, Petry led Robinson to the cover of the chicken coop as the enemy fighters continued to fire at them.
As the senior soldier, Petry assessed the situation. He reported that contact was made and that two wounded Rangers were in the courtyard of the primary target building. Upon hearing the report, Sgt. Daniel Higgins, a team leader, moved to the outer courtyard.
As Higgins was moving to Petry and Robinson's position, Petry threw a thermobaric grenade near the enemy position. Shortly after that grenade exploded and created a lull in the enemy fire, Higgins arrived at the chicken coop and was assessing his comrades' wounds when an insurgent threw a grenade over the chicken coop at the three Rangers. The grenade landed about 10 yards from the soldiers, knocking them to the ground and wounding Higgins and Robinson.
Shortly after the grenade exploded, Staff Sgt. James Roberts and Spc. Christopher Gathercole entered the courtyard and moved toward the chicken coop.
With three soldiers taking cover in the chicken coop, an enemy fighter threw another grenade at them. This time, the grenade landed just a few feet from Higgins and Robinson. Recognizing the threat that the enemy grenade posed to his fellow Rangers, Petry -- despite his own wounds and with complete disregard for his personal safety -- consciously and deliberately risked his life to move to and secure the live enemy grenade and throw it away from his fellow Rangers, according to battlefield reports.
As Petry released the grenade in the direction of the enemy, preventing the serious injury or death of Higgins and Robinson, it detonated and amputated his right hand.
Petry assessed his wound and placed a tourniquet on his right arm. He then reported that he was still in contact with the enemy and that he had been wounded again.
After the blast that amputated Petry's hand, Roberts began to engage the enemy behind the chicken coop with small-arms fire and a grenade. His actions suppressed the insurgents behind the chicken coop. Shortly after, another enemy fighter on the east end of the courtyard began firing, fatally wounding Gathercole.
Higgins and Robinson returned fire and killed the enemy.
Moments later, Sgt. 1st Class Jerod Staidle, the platoon sergeant, and Spc. Gary Depriest, the platoon medic, arrived in the outer courtyard. After directing Depriest to treat Gathercole, Staidle moved to Petry's position. Staidle and Higgins then assisted Petry as he moved to the casualty collection point.
Higgins later wrote in a statement, "If not for Staff Sergeant Petry's actions, we would have been seriously wounded or killed."
Petry is the ninth servicemember to have been named a recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. All but Petry and Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta were awarded the honor posthumously.
Army Spc. Ross A. McGinnis, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor and Marine Corps Cpl. Jason L. Dunham all received the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq. Giunta, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Miller, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti and Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.
Petry currently serves as a liaison officer for the U.S. Special Operations Command Care Coalition Northwest Region, and provides oversight to wounded warriors, ill and injured servicemembers and their families.
He enlisted in the Army from his hometown of Santa Fe, N.M., in September 1999. After completion of One Station Unit Training, the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program -- all at Fort Benning -- he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
Petry has served as a grenadier, squad automatic rifleman, fire team leader, squad leader, operations sergeant and weapons squad leader. He has deployed eight times, with two tours to Iraq and six tours to Afghanistan.
Petry and his wife, Ashley, have four children: Brittany, Austin, Reagan and Landon

Post-conflict Era to Challenge Military Trainers


By Donna Miles 
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 31, 2011 - With just two months remaining on his brigade's deployment to Afghanistan as part of the 30,000-troop surge there, Army Col. Sean Jenkins has seen the operational benefit of the nose-to-the-grindstone training regimen and nearly back-to-back deployments on his soldiers.
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A U.S. soldier with 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Red Currahee, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Task Force Currahee, rests after climbing to a mountain top near the area where his platoon secured key terrain in Afghanistan's Paktika province. The soldier's mortar platoon provided indirect-fire support during Operation Red Storm, which cleared the Gwashta Pass, May 23 to May 28, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Graham 
"They're remarkable," Jenkins told American Forces Press Service of his 101st Airborne Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team soldiers operating along Afghanistan's long border with Pakistan in remote Paktika province.
The colonel marveled at his soldiers' ability to make decisions with strategic consequences in the blink of an eye and to accomplish the near-impossible. Borrowing a quote from Army Maj. Gen. Robert Brown, commander of the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Jenkins said, "I think if we told them to go to Mars in two weeks, they would figure out a way to get there."
But as the United States removes all of its forces from Iraq by the year's end and evaluates the situation in Afghanistan this summer with an eye toward an eventual drawdown there as well, Jenkins finds himself among those questioning how to maintain this force after the deployments end.
How, after the longest military conflict in U.S. history, will the all-volunteer force downshift from the full-steam-ahead momentum it's maintained for a decade and adapt to post-combat training?
"They have seen so much, they have experienced so much, they have been so busy. How do you maintain that?" Jenkins asked. "I don't think [the Joint Readiness Training Center] or [National Training Center] is going to keep them all excited."
Jenkins acknowledged that the Army has developed some bona fide "adrenaline junkies."
It's not that they want to go to war and get shot at, he emphasized. It's not that they want to leave their families for 12 months at a time. "Nobody wants that," he said.
After the current military operations end, Jenkins said, America's combat-tested troops will want to participate in challenging training that'll maintain the capabilities they've worked so hard to build over the past decade.
"They thrive on it," the colonel said.
"A poor analogy would be that I practice football all season long, but never get to play in a game," Jenkins added. "You are truly there for the love of the game."
And for today's troops, "you are truly there for the love of your country," the colonel said. "That's why you are in the military, and that's why you are in the Army. But you don't want to just sit. You have to practice your trade."
That doesn't necessarily mean having to deploy to another country, Jenkins said, but will put some heavy demands on leaders to keep soldiers engaged when they return to a post-conflict garrison environment.
"It means that we as leaders have to provide them incredibly well-thought-out, challenging, rewarding training, to keep that edge," Jenkins said. "We are a learning organization, and we will have to keep figuring it out."
(Editors Note: This the first article in a series about how the Defense Department and military services plan to maintain combat effectiveness and readiness as the current operational tempo begins to decline.)
Related Sites:
4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division 

Click photo for screen-resolution image"Reapers" mortar platoon soldiers from 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Red Currahee, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Task Force Currahee, clear a cave and secure the area where they will provide indirect-fire support during Operation Red Storm. The operation cleared the Gwashta Pass in Afghanistan's Paktika province, May 23 to May 28, 2011, enabling the first convoy from Forward Operating Base Waza Khwah to Forward Operating Base Sharana in more than two years. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Graham
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Click photo for screen-resolution imageArmy Sgt. Randy Hiser, a military police team leader from Task Force Apache, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, teaches Afghan police officers the correct way to take down a combative suspect during advanced training at Forward Operating Base Rushmore in Afghanistan's Paktika province, Jan. 20, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zachary Burke 
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Click photo for screen-resolution imageMilitary police soldiers with Task Force Apache, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, move behind a truck during a simulated patrol at Forward Operating Base Rushmore in Afghanistan's Paktika province, Jan. 20, 2011. The simulated patrol showed Afghan police officers the proper way to use cover while on patrol. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zachary Burke
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Click photo for screen-resolution imageTask Force White Currahee soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, fire mortars at Combat Outpost Margah in Afghanistan's Paktika province, Jan. 24, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zachary Burke 
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