- SURNAME
Calkins
- FORENAME
Corey M.
- UNIT
3 SF Group (Det A-3121,3 Bn)
- RANK
Staff Sergeant
- NUMBER
- AWARD
Distinguished Service Cross,Silver Star
- PLACE
Afghanistan 2010
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Sanford,Michigan
1 Bn in one source
CITATION:
Distinguished Service Cross : The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Staff Sergeant Corey M. Calkins, United States Army, for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant with Operational Detachment Alpha 3121 (ODA-3121), assigned to Special Operations Task Force SOUTH during combat operations against an armed enemy in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on 18 February 2010. As part of a dismounted reconnaissance patrol consisting of United States Army, United States Marine Corps and Afghan National Army elements, Staff Sergeant Calkins led an assault of a sixty-nine man Afghan National Army Company against a platoon sized group of insurgents in fortified positions at an intersection in the bazaar near Majeh, Afghanistan. In the face of intense small arms, rocket-propelled grenade and mortar fire, Staff Sergeant Calkins' undaunted charge inspired the Afghan National Army Company to overrun the enemy positions, pursue the insurgents and prevent them from reorganizing. After securing the intersection and surrounding area, Staff Sergeant Calkins voluntarily resumed his assault fifteen hundred meters north, driving the enemy fighters out of the range of small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, allowing the evacuation of three critically wounded Marines. Staff Sergeant Calkins aggressively pursued the enemy with the Afghan National Army soldiers, exposing himself numerous times to deadly enemy fire. His personal courage and commitment to mission accomplishment in a combat zone, under the most extreme of circumstances, greatly contributed to the liberation of the citizens of Marjeh from an oppressive regime. Staff Sergeant Calkins' actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan, United States Forces-Afghanistan and the United States Army.
WEB LINKS:
https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/34097
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