The Department of Defense announced Tuesday the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy A. Bolyard, 42, from Thornton, West Virginia, died September 3, 2018, of wounds sustained from small-arms fire in Logar Province, Afghanistan. The incident is under investigation.
Bolyard was assigned to 3rd Squadron, 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, Fort Benning, Georgia. The mission of the 1st SFAB is to train, advise, and assist security forces in partner nations and is comprised of seasoned officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs).
The attack was reportedly another insider attack, known in the military as a “green-on-blue” attack. These types of attacks typically consist of an Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier turning his weapon on US or NATO troops – the very troops that are there to train the ANA to defeat the Taliban and secure their country.
Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that the senior NCO was killed by a member of the Afghan national police force, the Associated Press reported.
Another soldier was wounded in the attack and is in stable condition. Sergeant Major Bolyard is the second 1st SFAB soldier to be killed in action on the unit’s maiden deployment. Cpl. Joseph Maciel, a 3rd Infantry Division soldier assigned to the 1st SFAB’s force protection element was killed in July in another apparent insider attack.
Bolyard enlisted in the Army in June 1994 as a cavalry scout. Cavalry scouts, or “19 Delta’s,” are reconnaissance specialists who serve as the eyes and ears on the ground for the battlefield commander and gather critical information on the enemy and terrain.
According to the Army, Bolyard served as the squadron command sergeant major for Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, of Fort Benning, Georgia, and was on his thirteenth deployment. He previously served in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Albania.
His awards and decorations include six Bronze Star Medals, two of them with Valor, four Meritorious Service Medals, six Army Commendation Medals, nine Army Achievement Medals, the Iraq Campaign Medal with four Campaign Stars, the Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star and the Combat Action Badge.
“Command Sgt. Maj. Bolyard was an outstanding and beloved leader whose service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” 1st SFAB Commander Brig. Gen. Scott Jackson said. “We are heartbroken for his Family and will do everything in our power to help them through this tragedy. He will live on in our memories and in the hundreds of Soldiers he led and cared for throughout his exceptional career.”
Seventeen years into the war in Afghanistan and there appears to be no end in sight. After an “end” to combat operations in 2014 and a reduction of U.S. troop levels to 9,000 under President Barack Obama, the trend is again shifting to a renewed U.S. combat role and additional troops on the ground.
Another U.S. casualty, suffered in a non-combat incident, was also reported on Tuesday. The incident is under investigation. September is now the fourth month in a row in which a U.S. servicemember has been killed in Afghanistan.
