Three Bragg Soldiers Killed in Pakistan
February 07, 2010Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
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Three Soldiers killed Wednesday in Pakistan were from U.S. Army Special Operations Command units at Fort Bragg, the Pentagon said.
The Soldiers were part of a low-profile mission and were the first U.S. Soldiers to die in Pakistan, officials said.
The Soldiers killed were Sgt. 1st Class Matthew S. Sluss-Tiller, 35, of Callettsburg, Ky., 96th Civil Affairs Battalion of the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade; Sgt. 1st Class David J. Hartman, 27, of Okinawa, Japan, who was in the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion; and Staff Sgt. Mark A. Stets Jr., 39, of El Cajon, Calif., assigned to the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion of the 4th Psychological Operations Group.
The Soldiers died of wounds from the explosion of a homemade bomb in the Lower Dir District of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. They were in the area to attend the inauguration ceremony of a girls' school recently renovated with U.S. humanitarian assistance.
The blast also killed three children and a Pakistan paramilitary Soldier. Two other U.S. Soldiers and about 100 people were wounded.
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The Fort Bragg Soldiers were among about 200 U.S. military personnel working for the Office of the Defense Representative Pakistan, said Maj. John H. Redfield, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command at Tampa, Fla. They were among the U.S. military personnel in Pakistan to conduct training at the invitation of the Pakistan Frontier Corps, according to the U.S. Central Command.
Sluss-Tiller had previously deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. He is survived by his wife, Melissa, and daughter, Hannah, of Sanford; his father, Edward Tiller, of Sevierville, Tenn.; and mother and stepfather, Jane and Forest Blankenship, of Sanford.
He would have turned 36 on Valentine's Day, said his wife of 16 years. In his letters, he requested crayons and Play-Doh to give to children, she said.
"Matthew was my hero," his wife said. "He was a good man, loved the Army, loved everything about serving his country."
The couple had known each other since eighth grade.
"He loved people," she said. "He had a heart of gold and would readily do anything for anybody. He was a great father. Matthew did a little bit of everything. He was active in our community; he was active on post. He loved life."
Sluss-Tiller had three years left until he was eligible to retire from the Army with benefits, she said.
"My heart breaks," she said. "The military was a part of him. He didn't question serving his country."
He enlisted in the Army Reserve as a heavy construction mechanic in 1991. Two years later, he went on active duty as a signal specialist and served at Fort Bragg, Germany, and Kuwait. He was assigned to the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion in April and has served as a civil affairs noncommissioned officer in Civil Military Operations Cell and most recently as team sergeant of Civil Affairs Team 622.
Sluss-Tiller's awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He was also awarded the Senior Parachutist's Badge, Gold Recruiter's Badge and German Jump wings.
Hartman previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is survived by his pregnant wife, Cherise Sabio of Rosamond, Calif., and their son, Michael. He also is survived by his parents, Greg and Mikail Hartman of Merced. Hartman was a sergeant in the Civil Military Operations Cell and a former civil affairs team sergeant.
Hartman graduated from Kadena High School, Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa in 2000, and enlisted into the U.S. Army. He was assigned as a civil affairs noncommissioned officer for Team 622 in Company B of the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion.
He served at Fort Bragg in the 50th Signal Battalion as an electronic maintenance shop foreman, forced entry switch section team chief and sergeant, senior electronic maintenance technician and senior switch technician.
Hartman's awards include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary and Service medals, NCO Professional Development Ribbon and Overseas Service Medal.
Stets previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife, Nina, and daughters, Jessica, December and Rachael, of Fayetteville. He was a native of California. Stets was a senior psychological operations sergeant.
He joined the Navy in 1989, enlisted in the Army in 1995 as an artilleryman and then reclassified to become a psy ops specialist in 2004.
His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Navy Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medals, Korean Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, South West Asia Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait Liberation Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy Unit Citation
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
marine corps scout sniper training
Sep 3 2003
The Scout Sniper Basic Course recently moved from its previous location at 3rd Marine Regiment to MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay's Regimental Schools, in order to more efficiently train devil dogs of the 3rd Marine Division.
The school will now receive its funding from the base, and is also allowing other branches of the Armed Forces to attend the 10-week-long course.
"The Marine Corps has the best sniper program in the world," said Gunnery Sgt. Richard Tisdale, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the Scout Sniper School. "A sniper needs to be trained as best as possible because they must be combat ready at all times," he explained.
"Due to the nature of the sniper's mission, they must be trained mentally and physically to operate independently forward of friendly positions on the battlefield."
The Scout Sniper School has now integrated Marines from the entire 3rd Marine Division as well as soldiers from the Army's 25th Infantry Division aboard Schofield Barracks, and Navy Seals from Navy Seal Delivery Team 1 located at Ford Island.
Previously, the school only trained Marines with the regiment.
"We are learning how to properly employ snipers, how to use the weapons, use camouflage and stalking techniques," said Army Spc. Joshua Garrison, a sniper with Headquarters Co., 1st Bn., 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. "Soldiers can learn as much as they want from their unit, but to become sniper qualified, they have to attend this school.
"This school goes further in depth than what units teach about basic marksmanship, weapons, camouflage and reconnaissance techniques," said Garrison.
The course is broken down into three phases. The first involves land navigation and marksmanship. During this phase, trainees fire sniper ammunition on long distance and unknown distance qualification courses.
The second phase covers stalking techniques, field skills and call for fire rehearsals. The last encompasses everything from communication to surveillance performance.
"When many people think of a sniper, they think of a person who randomly shoots people," said Tisdale. "A sniper selects his target and fires upon it. Marksmanship makes up only 10 percent of being a sniper.
"We train our snipers to be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to fire upon the target when it will best support the mission," Tisdale continued. "They could lay in a dormant position for days at a time before actually pulling the trigger and engaging on the target."
Soldiers and other service members are paired up with Marines, so they can cross train one another, and at the same time, keep the Marines on their toes with the competition of training with another branch of the Armed Forces.
The Marine sniper course is taught twice a year, and the range can be used for sustained training by any requesting sniper units throughout the rest of the year.
"I think it is a great experience," said Garrison. "You get to see how the other services operate, and they get to see how you operate as well.
The Scout Sniper Basic Course recently moved from its previous location at 3rd Marine Regiment to MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay's Regimental Schools, in order to more efficiently train devil dogs of the 3rd Marine Division.
The school will now receive its funding from the base, and is also allowing other branches of the Armed Forces to attend the 10-week-long course.
"The Marine Corps has the best sniper program in the world," said Gunnery Sgt. Richard Tisdale, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the Scout Sniper School. "A sniper needs to be trained as best as possible because they must be combat ready at all times," he explained.
"Due to the nature of the sniper's mission, they must be trained mentally and physically to operate independently forward of friendly positions on the battlefield."
The Scout Sniper School has now integrated Marines from the entire 3rd Marine Division as well as soldiers from the Army's 25th Infantry Division aboard Schofield Barracks, and Navy Seals from Navy Seal Delivery Team 1 located at Ford Island.
Previously, the school only trained Marines with the regiment.
"We are learning how to properly employ snipers, how to use the weapons, use camouflage and stalking techniques," said Army Spc. Joshua Garrison, a sniper with Headquarters Co., 1st Bn., 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. "Soldiers can learn as much as they want from their unit, but to become sniper qualified, they have to attend this school.
"This school goes further in depth than what units teach about basic marksmanship, weapons, camouflage and reconnaissance techniques," said Garrison.
The course is broken down into three phases. The first involves land navigation and marksmanship. During this phase, trainees fire sniper ammunition on long distance and unknown distance qualification courses.
The second phase covers stalking techniques, field skills and call for fire rehearsals. The last encompasses everything from communication to surveillance performance.
"When many people think of a sniper, they think of a person who randomly shoots people," said Tisdale. "A sniper selects his target and fires upon it. Marksmanship makes up only 10 percent of being a sniper.
"We train our snipers to be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to fire upon the target when it will best support the mission," Tisdale continued. "They could lay in a dormant position for days at a time before actually pulling the trigger and engaging on the target."
Soldiers and other service members are paired up with Marines, so they can cross train one another, and at the same time, keep the Marines on their toes with the competition of training with another branch of the Armed Forces.
The Marine sniper course is taught twice a year, and the range can be used for sustained training by any requesting sniper units throughout the rest of the year.
"I think it is a great experience," said Garrison. "You get to see how the other services operate, and they get to see how you operate as well.
new iraq comand
New Iraq Command Stands Up, Marking Milestone U.S. Forces Iraq stood up to replace Multinational Forces Iraq, which furled its colors in a New Year's Day ceremony in Baghdad that marked an important milestone in the drawdown of U.S. forces in the country
us milatary news
The Obama Administration originally asked for a 2.9 percent increase in basic pay. This is the minimum raise required by law. However, every year for the past several years, Congress has approved a military pay raise slightly larger than that requested by the President, and 2010 was no exception.
Both the House and the Senate agreed to include a 3.4 percent across-the-board military base pay raise in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act
Both the House and the Senate agreed to include a 3.4 percent across-the-board military base pay raise in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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