Afghan airfield named for fallen commander - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Afghan airfield named for fallen commander

The Jalalabad Airfield in Afghanistan was renamed Saturday to honor Lt. Col. Joseph J. Fenty, who was killed in a helicopter crash with some of his troops one year ago.

The fatal flight originated at the base, a major regional airfield in eastern Afghanistan that is now known as Forward Operating Base Fenty.

Fenty, 41, was commander of 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and went on the flight that day to personally oversee the extraction of his troops from the Chowkay Valley in northeastern Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, according to an Army press release.

Key American, Afghan and coalition leaders and 3rd BCT soldiers were at the ceremony, including Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, who was 10th Mountain Division commander when Fenty assumed his command; Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of Combined Joint Task Force-82; and Brig. Gen. Bernard Champoux of the International Security Assistance Force.

“It was out of this gate and onto that airfield that Joe walked a year ago today, to board that Chinook to extract his soldiers from a dangerous spot in the Chowkay Valley,” said Task Force Spartan commander Col. John Nicholson, according to the press release. “It’s back to this place that our fallen comrades are brought for their trip home. So this is an important place, a place of honor and respect, a place worthy of being named after Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J. Fenty.”

Also killed in the May 5, 2006, crash were several crew members from 3rd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Eric W. Totten, 34; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher B. Donaldson, 28; Sgt. John C. Griffith, 33; and Sgt. Jeffery S. Wiekamp, 23.

Those killed from the 3-71 Cavalry were Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Howick, 34; Sgt. Bryan A. Brewster, 24; Spc. Justin L. O’Donohoe, 27; Spc. David N. Timmons, Jr., 23; and Pfc. Brian M. Moquin Jr., 19.

Squadron Command Sgt. Maj. Delbert Byers spoke of Fenty’s joy at the birth of his first child, a daughter born shortly before the helicopter crash.

Squadron leaders developed a plan to connect the commander telephonically with his wife during the birth, the release said.

“I had never seen him so excited and anxious waiting for that phone call,” Byers recalled in the release. “I am truly thankful that the plan worked and he had the opportunity to talk with [his wife] Kristin as his daughter was being born. He also had the opportunity to view the pictures of his daughter that Kristin had sent him and, like all of us proud fathers, he shared them with everyone.”