3rd Special Forces Group soldiers' heroics are lauded
By Kevin Maurer and Henry Cuningham
Staff writers
Staff Sgt. David Colucci and Sgt. 1st Class Bradly Felix were awarded Silver Stars on Thursday for heroism in Afghanistan, as members of their unit are deploying to that country for the fourth time since 2003.
The 3rd Special Forces Group awarded three Silver Stars in a ceremony at Fort Bragg on Thursday. Sgt. 1st Class Roger Watts received the medal for saving the lives of two wounded tank crewmen in Karbala, Iraq, in 2004.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, members of the 3rd Group have seen action in Afghanistan and Iraq. The group, which has about 1,300 soldiers, is deploying to Afghanistan this summer for at least six months. The unit will work in small firebases throughout Afghanistan. Its previous Afghanistan rotations included two six-month stints 2004 and one in 2003.
Watts, Colucci and Felix took part in those deployments. They downplayed their work and said they were shocked when they were awarded Silver Stars.
"I didn't think my actions deserved it," Felix said. "I never thought I was going to get a medal."
Felix, an assistant operations and intelligence sergeant, was recognized for his role in a September 2004 rocket attack. His unit was patrolling the Mangretay Valley in the Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his truck. Felix was wounded but was able to move the truck to shield other wounded soldiers. He organized a counterattack that broke up the ambush.
"I didn't think," he said. "The training just takes over."
A tribute
After the battle, Felix refused to get on a medical evacuation helicopter and led the patrol back to base. Two of his teammates were killed in the ambush.
He said the medal is a tribute to them.
"It keeps the memory of my fallen friends alive," he said.
On June 25, 2004, Colucci and his teammates were investigating reports of a roadside bomb near their camp in northeastern Afghanistan when they were ambushed. Colucci was hit in the abdomen but continued to maneuver his truck out of the kill zone. He helped hold off the insurgents so other members of his team could escape. He also helped secure a landing zone for the medevac helicopter. Colucci declined to speak to reporters after the ceremony.
About six weeks earlier, on the morning of May 12, 2004, Watts led a four-man team in the city of Karbala, Iraq, to help a platoon of soldiers from the 1st Armored Division that had been pinned down by insurgents.
Watts and his men were taking cover in a doorway when Watts saw a tank commander and another crew member cut down by rocket-propelled grenade and machine-gun fire. A rocket-propelled grenade sheared off the tank commander's arm.
Watts said he ran to help. "You don't want to see another American out there," he said.
Watts stabilized the wounded soldiers under heavy fire and took command of the tank, directing it to attack. Watts continued to command the tank and care for the wounded during several more enemy assaults.
"He had quite a day over there," said Watts' father, Gary, after the ceremony. "We are very proud. We couldn't be more proud."
Sgt. 1st Class Watts said he was just doing his job. The medal means more to his teammates than to him, he said. "They look at it as something we accomplished," he said.
Watts and Felix are assigned to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School on Fort Bragg and will not be part of the current 3rd Group deployment.
Many of the 3rd Group soldiers have deployed several times already. They know the terrain of Afghanistan and key people there. But during a change of command ceremony last month, Col. Patrick Higgins, 3rd Group's commander, warned his men not to be too confident.
"We cannot give in to combat arrogance," he said. "It's a different scenario, a different political environment."
Their first deployments focused on hunting down Taliban fighters and training the Afghan national army. Last year, members of the group helped secure Afghanistan's first national election, and this fall they will help secure its first parliamentary election.
"The sound of victory over there that we want to hear is not going to be explosive ordnance going off," Higgins said. "It's going to be the sound of ballots dropping in a ballot box."
Staff writer Kevin Maurer can be reached at maurerk@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3587.
Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3585.
Medal citations
Three soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces group received Silver Stars for bravery in combat Thursday. Following are excerpts from the medal citations:
Sgt. 1st Class Bradly M. Felix
Felix was an assistant operations and intelligence sergeant on patrol in the Paktika Province in eastern Afghanistan when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle, disabling it and wounding the entire crew. Despite being wounded, Felix positioned his truck to shield the other wounded soldiers. He then organized a counterattack. After the battle, Fleix refused to get on the medical evacuation helicopter and led the patrol back to base. He was eventually evacuated to the United States for treatment.
Sgt. 1st Class Roger G. Watts
Watts, a medical sergeant, saved the lives of two critically injured tank crewman in Iraq. On the morning of May 12, 2004, Special Forces soldiers were sent to help a platoon from the 1st Armored Division that had been pinned down by Iraqi insurgents occupying a shrine. Watts led his four-man team to the shrine, where there was an intense gun battle. The Special Forces soldiers were able to secure the area, but the insurgents counterattacked several times. Watts saw a tank commander and another crew member get cut down by rocket-propelled grenade and machine gun fire. Watts rushed to the tank under intense fire, stabilized the wounded and took command of the tank, directing it to fire on the insurgents. Watts continued to command the tank and care for the wound during several more enemy assaults.
Staff Sgt. David G. Colucci
On June 25, 2004, Colucci, an engineering sergeant, and his team were notified that insurgents had planted a roadside bomb several miles east of the team’s camp near the town of Manogay in northeastern Afghanistan. He and his team members went to get rid of the bomb and were ambushed with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, and small arms fire. Colucci was hit in the stomach, but managed to maneuver his vehicle out of the "kill zone" and help secure a landing zone for the medical evacuation helicopter.
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