RELEASE NUMBER: 071113-04
DATE POSTED: NOVEMBER 13, 2007

PRESS RELEASE: Special Forces Soldier killed in Afghanistan

U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Nov. 13, 2007) — An Army Special Forces Soldier died Nov. 10 as a result of injuries sustained during enemy small arms attack while conducting a combat operation in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Patrick F. Kutschbach, 25, was fatally wounded when his vehicle received direct rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire.  He was a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha team weapons sergeant assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Boeblingen, Germany.

Kutschbach, a native of Pennsylvania, volunteered for military service and enlisted into the Army in Oct. 2003 as a Special Forces candidate.  He attended Infantry Basic Training at Fort Benning, Ga., and the Special Forces Qualification Course at Fort Bragg, N.C.  Kutschbach was assigned to Co. B, 1st Bn., 10th SFG(A) Panzer Kaserne (Panzer Barracks) in Boeblingen, Germany in December 2006.

Kutschbach is survived by his wife, Ginger; son, Bastian; of Atoka, Tenn.; father, David, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; mother, Debbie Huffner; and brothers David and Andrew, of McKees Rocks, Pa.

For Kutschbach's bio click here.....    

--usasoc--

Staff Sgt. Patrick F. Kutschbach, 25, died Nov. 10 when his vehicle received direct rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan. .  He was a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha team weapons sergeant assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Boeblingen, Germany. (Army Photo)