Sept 15 2012

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2012/09/21/f4703c76-042d-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html

 

Today I want to honor two Marines stationed in Yuma who lost their lives protecting us and their fellow Marines. Otis and Brad this is for you. Thank you for paying that ultimate sacrifice.

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May I also add that Yuma native and Marine Maj Robb McDonald earned a Silver Star for his actions that day. Maj McDonald assumed command after Raible was killed. He borrowed a rifle and engaged the enemy and made it to the command HQ where he called in airstrikes that killed the enemy.

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I'd like to read the article but Wash Post said I've read enough. Please copy and paste.

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Slain Marine commander’s actions in Afghanistan called heroic

A Marine carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Sept. 19, 2012. According to the Department of Defense, Raible, of North Huntington, Pa., died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. (Ann Heisenfelt/AP)

By Ernesto Londoño September 22, 2012

Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible was heading home to video-chat with his wife after dinner when the first blasts rang out. The pops in the distance on Sept. 14 at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan were harbingers of the most audacious Taliban attack on a major NATO base in the decade-long war.

Like most folks in the sprawling remote desert camp, Raible, 40, a Marine fighter pilot, faced two choices: seek cover or run toward the sound of gunfire.

“The difference between me and some people is that when they hear gunfire, they run. When I hear gunfire, I run to it,” the squadron commander had often told his Marines, half in jest, recalled Maj. Greer Chambless, who was with Raible on the night of the attack.

That evening, Raible did just that. Armed only with a handgun, he embarked on a course that cost him his life and probably averted even more devastating losses, witnesses and comrades said.

At least 15 heavily armed insurgents dressed in U.S. Army uniforms snuck inside the British-run airfield and incinerated six U.S. fighter jets, each worth about $25 million. The attack offered a sobering glimpse of the capabilities of the Taliban in Helmand province, one of the key targets of the American troop surge that ended this past week. It resulted in a staggering loss of military materiel and served as a reminder of the challenges of winding down the war by the end of 2014.

Life and war in Afghanistan: September 2012

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Photos of everyday life in Afghanistan as coalition forces attempt to transfer responsibilities to Afghan troops.

By daybreak the next morning, as smoke stopped billowing from the airfield and weary commanders gave the all-clear to U.S. Marines and British Special Forces troops who spent the night defending the camp, it wasn’t the threats raised by the infiltration on the minds of many people on the base. Rather, they were primarily struck by the actions of a tough and widely admired commander who returned home in a coffin.

This account of the attack on Camp Bastion and the response is drawn from interviews with four witnesses and a summary of the preliminary investigation by the Marine Corps.

The assailants, assembled into three teams of five fighters, cut a hole in the fence on the eastern end of the airfield at approximately 10:15 p.m. Wearing suicide vests and armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, they moved toward hangars where AV-8B Harrier jets were parked and began to open fire.

“We saw a rocket shoot into the sky,” said Lance Cpl. Danielle Ritter, 21, a combat logistics Marine who was unloading cargo from a truck when the assault began. “At first I thought it was a flare. Then we heard small-arms fire.”

In the distance, she saw the silhouettes of the gunmen.

“I didn’t realize who they were until another rocket lit up the sky,” she said, speaking on the phone from Afghanistan. “We just saw the sky light up and rockets go across the sky.”

The insurgents destroyed six Harriers, the type of aircraft Raible flew to provide backup for Marines on the ground, and significantly damaged two others. Three fueling stations were also lit up.

About a mile away, Raible had just finished dinner with Chambless, one of his deputies. It had been a long but unremarkable day for the squadron commander. Hours earlier, Raible had flown with one of his officers, Capt. Kevin Smalley, 29. After landing, he went into the office to discuss the mission and take care of paperwork. Shortly after 10 p.m., as he did most nights, Raible headed to his living quarters to call his wife and three children in Yuma, Ariz.

“He spent a lot of time on the phone, as much as he could spare calling his wife and kids,” Smalley said. “One of his favorite parts of the day was being able to talk to them and see their faces.”

When it became clear Bastion was under attack, Raible threw on body armor and jumped in a vehicle with Chambless. Because his rifle was not nearby, the commander charged into the combat zone armed only with a handgun. The two men exchanged nary a word during the short drive as they scanned the landscape for insurgents. When they got to the flight line, Raible dashed into a maintenance room and began barking out orders to the Marines who would soon push the assailants back.

Backed by a handful of men, he ran toward another building to check whether the troops there were safe. Along the way, Raible and his men were attacked. He and Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell, 27, of Kokomo, Ind., died of wounds from an explosion, said Lt. Col. Stewart Upton, a military spokesman. Chambless was devastated but not particularly surprised.

“It was very fitting that he was killed leading his men from the front,” the major said.

The men Raible led out of the maintenance building fought back, pushing one team of five assailants into a remote area of the airfield, where they were killed in an airstrike.

A Taliban statement said the intended purpose of the raid was to catch the foreign troops by surprise and attack them in bed.

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Upton said Raible and his men helped prevent what could have been catastrophic losses. Nine of the remaining assailants were killed in the following hours, and one was wounded.

“The feeling is that because of the aggressive counter we were able to contain them,” Upton said.

The week since the attack has been rough for the squadron’s Marines at Bastion as they have come to terms with the loss of their leader and most of the aircraft in the fleet.

“It’s been a busy week picking up the pieces,” said Smalley, the captain. “We’re focusing back on the mission at hand, getting Marines refocused on the fight. We have already resumed combat operations. We’re going to show the Taliban their little attack is not going to stop us.”

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Marine awarded Silver Star for response to Camp Bastion assault

Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green congratulates Maj. Robb McDonald after a ceremony Dec. 9, 2013, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where McDonald received the Silver Star for his actions while deployed to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan in 2012.

U.S. Marines

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By Jennifer Hlad

Stars and Stripes

Published: December 11, 2013

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Maj. Robb McDonald stands with his wife, Jennifer, during a ceremony Dec. 9, 2013, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where the Marine Corps officer received the Silver Star for his efforts against an enemy attack aboard Camp Bastion, Afghanistan in 2012.

U.S. Marines

Related

• Two Marine generals fired in wake of brazen Taliban attack on Camp Bastion

SAN DIEGO — Maj. Robb McDonald was asleep more than a mile from the Camp Bastion airfield when 15 heavily armed Taliban fighters in U.S. Army uniforms cut through a fence and began attacking the squadron operations area. He was awoken by explosions and gunfire and ran to where the rest of the squadron was holed up.

But instead of staying in the relative safety of the living area, McDonald ran to the airfield to fight.

On Monday, McDonald was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery and leadership in the attack, which killed two Marines, wounded eight and destroyed six Harrier jets.

McDonald, now the air officer for 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, had taken over as the executive officer of Marine Attack Squadron 211 a few days before the Sept. 14, 2012, attack. He said that when he woke up and went to a balcony, he saw fires engulfing the east side of the airfield.

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Though McDonald is a Harrier pilot, he had ground combat experience in Afghanistan with a Marine Special Operations Command unit. He ran downstairs to the area where the rest of the squadron was staying, then he and two other Marines began their dangerous run to the Harrier line.

Armed only with pistols, the men had to be wary of possible friendly fire as they bound from squadron to squadron for more than a mile, running toward the explosions. McDonald said he could see that multiple jets were on fire.

The men arrived at the thin-skinned aluminum maintenance building, which was riddled with holes, and found that the commander of their squadron, Lt. Col. Christopher Raible, was dead and that several other Marines were wounded.

McDonald led the Marines six at a time over about 100 yards of open ground to their headquarters building, which was reinforced with concrete barriers. Then, he said, he borrowed a rifle and extra magazines and moved toward the flight line with three other men.

McDonald soon found himself looking at four Taliban fighters in a line, with the first looking directly at him, holding a machine gun. McDonald shot that man, then shot at the other three, knocking them down.

After a brief firefight in which McDonald took some shrapnel in the face, he and the other Marines went back to the headquarters building and called in an airstrike on the remaining fighters, he said. Later, when the quick reaction force arrived, McDonald killed another Taliban fighter who was attempting to use his grenade.

McDonald’s award citation notes that his “decisive leadership and tactical expertise inspired his Marines to vigorously repel the enemy, thereby preventing additional friendly casualties and further destruction of aircraft and facilities.”

McDonald said he is very honored to receive the Silver Star, but that it “was a collaborative effort that night.”

McDonald was close friends with Raible, and knew his wife and children. He said the commander’s death “hit pretty hard,” and that he would “definitely give this thing back” if it could help Raible.

Sgt. Bradley Atwell, an avionics technician with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13, was also killed in the attack.

At the awards ceremony, I Marine Expeditionary Force Commander Lt. Gen. John Toolan praised McDonald and the other Marines who helped defeat the enemy fighters that night.

“For those of you that aren’t aware of the fact that every Marine is a basic rifleman, those guys proved it in spades on that particular day,” Toolan said.

In September — a year after the attack — two major generals were fired for failing to protect their troops from the Taliban attackers. Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus was the commander of Regional Command-Southwest at the time of the attack, and Maj. Gen. Gregg Sturdevant was the Marine aviation commander in the area. The base was being guarded by Tongan troops.

“In the final analysis, every Marine is a rifleman, and every Marine commander must properly position his command and his Marines to both successfully accomplish the mission and defend itself in any clime and place,” Commandant Gen. James Amos wrote in a statement endorsing the investigation of the attack.

“We owe this duty to the courageous Marines like Lt. Col. Raible and Sgt. Atwell, who so faithfully served our Corps,” Amos said.

hlad.jennifer@stripes.com

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[mattys281]

RIP our fallen heroes.

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RIP our fallen heroes.

 

Great men, all.

[naturebob]

I missed the draft to Nam by 2 years and at 60 the older I get the more I feel I cheated My Country.Thank God for the guys that do . I feel bad anyone has to die for these Middle Eastern thugs . Thanks to all that served . A REAL BIG THANKS..............BOB!