Two special operations airman died early Wednesday in Afghanistan after being wounded when two men wearing Afghan security forces uniforms opened fire on them Tuesday, according to the 24th Special Operations Wing.
Capt. Matthew D. Roland, 27, and Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley, 31, were wounded while at a vehicle checkpoint at Camp Antonik, a forward operating base in Helmand Province, according to a 24th SOW news release.
"The losses of Matt and Forrest are a terrible blow to everyone who knew them," Col. Wolfe Davidson, 24th SOW commander, said in a news release. "These two combat controllers were incredible warriors who not only volunteered to join our nation's Special Operations Forces, but earned their way to the tip of the spear in defense of our nation."
Roland, a 2010 Air Force Academy graduate, was a special tactics officer at the 23rd Tactics Squadron, according to Thursday's news release. He became a team leader who supervised the training of 34 airmen and had deployed three times in five years.
Sibley, a combat controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, received the Bronze Star four times, one with "V" device for valor. He deployed four times during his seven-year Air Force career.
"The risks that these men and their teammates endured in combat and in training are all too well known to the Special Tactics community, but it does not make this great loss any easier to bear," Davidson said in the news release. "We will honor Matt and Forrest for the legacy they left behind, embrace their families as our own and thank them eternally for their ultimate sacrifice for American freedom."
