LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (April 24, 2014) -- Spartan Soldiers were busy going through what seemed like another routine as they were repositioning sandbags at one of the fighting positions at a guard tower when popping sounds began in the distance.
Having fought off insurgent attacks on their position before in Logar Province, Afghanistan, the Soldiers got down, waited a few minutes and then returned to their work, said Staff Sgt. Robert Blackburn, an infantry team leader with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI).
Then, the sounds of automatic weapon fire filled the air, and the Soldiers sprang into action. With movements practiced over many months of training, everyone was quickly in their positions and ready to respond.
"Everybody manned the walls and returned fire, going through all of the proper steps," Blackburn said. "Everyone was also manning the towers and doing their job."
Upon hearing all of the turmoil, Sgt. Aaron Baksh, a mortar squad leader with 2-87 Infantry, ran out his tent and gathered his equipment.
After quickly analyzing the situation, communicating with his leadership and integrating data from his fire direction observer, Baksh determined the distance and direction he needed to get his crew into the fight.
"I talked to the platoon sergeant, who told me they were firing from the tree line," Baksh recalled. "We shot four rounds for immediate suppression of the target."
After several more calls from the observer and several more clusters of rounds were fired, additional help arrived in the form of attack helicopters.
Shortly after, the fight was over.
The Spartans were assembled to ensure everyone was safe. With a few Soldiers still manning the towers, the rest of the Soldiers gathered in a group and discussed the incident.
"Everyone did their job in manning all the towers," Blackburn said.
During the after action review, leaders and their Soldiers broke the battle down into a sequence of events to better understand what went well and what they could learn for future encounters.
Spartan leaders consider both training and real-world events to be excellent learning experiences in which all brigade assets achieve success as a team.
For the Spartans of B Company, 2-87 Infantry, the dangerous encounter demonstrated how years of teamwork not only kept them alive but also helped them prevail in another fight.
"My Soldiers performed great," Blackburn said. "My squad leader was calling out targets using direct alignment for my gunner, and my assistant gunner was running back and forth making sure ammo was resupplied to keep us getting the rounds down range to engage the enemy."
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