Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times

Actions in repelling raid earn soldier DSC

A mortar platoon sergeant for the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team has been awarded the Army’s second highest valor decoration for his actions while battling Taliban forces in northeast Afghanistan one year ago.

Staff Sgt. Erich R. Phillips of Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Airborne) was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Gen. Carter F. Ham, U.S. Army Europe Commander, in a ceremony Sept. 15 at Vicenza, Italy, the brigade’s home station.

Phillips received the award for combat action at the “Ranch House,” a remote NATO base in Nuristan Province that was attacked in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 22, 2007 by 60 to 80 Taliban insurgents.

When Taliban attacked the Ranch House with rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire, 22 soldiers of the 173rd ABCT were living at the base, working with members of the Afghan National Army.

Phillips, a native of Eastpoint, Fla., is credited with organizing defenses around the base’s tactical operations center, leading a counterattack with grenades and small arms and assisting in the evacuation of wounded comrades.

The base was not overrun during the 2½-hour firefight, although 50 percent of the U.S. soldiers who fended off the attack were wounded, and two Afghan allies killed.

“I just tried to maintain the front line,” said Phillips of his role in the fight.

“The other soldiers deserve just as much recognition as me.”

During his brigade’s 15-month deployment to Afghanistan, Phillips also participated in the Battle of Wanat, which resulted in the combat deaths of 14 Chosen Company soldiers.

Phillips received a Purple Heart for Wanat, and has been recommended for another valor award, according to information provided by Installation Management Command-Europe.

Phillips is scheduled to leave Chosen Company and become an instructor with the 6th Ranger Training Battalion.