America's North Shore Journal

When the fighting was over, the team was able to confirm 65 enemy kills.

Siriwardene doesn’t believe he did anything to deserve recognition over his teammates.

“The way the guys in the detachment performed – it was amazing,” he said. “This is what we do.”

During today’s protest an insurgent sniper shot an Afghan official who was within FOB Delhi in Garmsir District. ISAF service members identified the insurgent sniper, shot and killed him. There were no other injuries or shots fired.

Then-SSgt. Mosser’s patrol came under heavy fire while conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol under the cover of darkness to apprehend a high value target and an enemy security element. The terrain was restrictive and mountainous with large boulders and rugged terrain along the route.

The team came upon a white sport utility vehicle off to the side of the road and a red pick up truck blocking the path. Mosser’s team dismounted from their ground mobility vehicles, and immediately came under heavy machine gun fire from elevated positions cutting off forward and rear movement.

When Norton realized that two Rangers had not gotten up and were still exposed to the heavy volume of enemy fire from the high ground to the east and west, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Norton turned around and with marked distinction, purposefully charged back into the interlocking fire of the enemy ambush kill zone in order to recover his downed Rangers.

Captain Strelkauskas then directed the MSOT 2 Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC), through Staff Sergeant Mosser, who is also a certified JTAC, to employ CAS assets to drop a series of 500lb and 2000lb bombs within danger close as a last ditch effort to suppress the insurgents so the remaining two casualties and the body of Staff Sergeant Heredia could be retrieved from the kill zone. This tactical decision was the turning point of the fire fight and allowed the team to execute this plan of action. With ordnance at danger close distances and still under heavy fire, Captain Strelkauskas and Staff Sergeant Mosser coordinated teams of personnel to extract the remaining two casualties to vehicles and then move them to safety. While directing the rescue of the last two casualties, Captain Strelkauskas remained in position with Staff Sergeant Heredia’s body, despite a constant hail of rounds impacting all around his position.

An Afghan-international security force killed a group of enemy militants and detained two suspected militants today in eastern Paktika province while pursuing a Haqqani commander with ties to the local Haqqani leadership and who was responsible for several attacks in the area.

Afghan-international security forces conducted clearing operations Nov. 1 through 6 in the Chahar Dara district of the northern region of Kunduz province, killing more than 130 insurgents including eight Taliban commanders.

The Afghan national army and Afghan national police, assisted by Coalition forces, conducted a cordon and search in the Arghandab District, Oct. 30, to search for a weapons cache and known insurgent leadership. The operation led to the detainment of four insurgents and several others being killed.

Combined Afghan and International Security Assistance Force units killed at least two dozen insurgents during fighting in southern and eastern Afghanistan and detained numerous others.