FOB Tacoma » 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

JBLM Silver Star recipient “saved his comrades who meant more to him than life”

Adam Ashton — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:56:43 +0000

Spc. Ricardo Cerros gave his life when he threw himself in the path of a grenade to protect two of his fellow soldiers a year and a half ago. They survived, and credit the fallen 24-year-old soldier for keeping them alive.

Sgt. Peter Cimpoes took a similar risk in October when he put himself in between enemy shooters and two wounded Rangers, enabling his team to retrieve the injured men during a 35-minute gunfight at close distances.

The Army on Wednesday thanked Cerros and Cimpoes, both members of Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s storied Ranger battalion, for putting themselves in grave danger …

Thurston firefighters assist JBLM paratroopers caught in trees

Adam Ashton — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 02:19:29 +0000

Thurston County firefighters Thursday afternoon rescued three Joint Base Lewis-McChord paratroopers who were caught in trees during an exercise.
The soldiers belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, one of few Lewis-McChord units that practices airborne missions.
No one was injured, said Lt. Col. Brian DeSantis, a spokesman for the Ranger regiment.
Members of the Thurston County Special Operations Rescue Team were the first to the scene, said Lacey Fire Chief Steve Brooks. They brought the Rangers down from the trees in a wooded area inside the Army base.
“We’re glad they got there as …

Veteran JBLM Army Ranger shot to death in Afghanistan firefight

Adam Ashton — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 16:50:12 +0000

A veteran Joint Base Lewis-McChord Army Ranger was shot to death in a “heavy firefight” in Afghanistan’s Ghazni Province Friday, the Defense Department announced today.

Sgt. Thomas MacPherson, 26, of Long Beach, Calif. was serving on his fifth deployment with Lewis-McChord’s 2^nd Battalion, 75^th Ranger Regiment.

MacPherson leaves behind his wife, Claudia, and son, Brayden, of Tacoma, as well as his parents, Troy and Diona MacPherson of Long Beach.

MacPherson’s battalion deployed in June for its 15^th combat assignment since 2002 to Iraq or Afghanistan. MacPherson served on one deployment to Iraq; this was his fourth in …

Special operators in JBLM helicopter teams close the book on “exciting” but classified tenure

Adam Ashton — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 22:18:46 +0000

It wouldn’t be Special Operations without a little bit of mystery.

Use your imagination to figure out what the elite helicopter teams in Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 4th Battalion, Special Operations Aviation Regiment mean when they say they deploy to “multiple theaters.”

They’re not only talking about the war in Afghanistan.

“There’s relatively no place on the planet they can’t employ these aircraft with precision,” the regiment’s senior officer, Col. John Thompson, said at a Lewis-McChord ceremony Friday on a tarmac decked out with the unit’s blackened Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters.

The “Night Stalkers” peeled back the classified curtain a little …

15th deployment on the horizon for Lewis-McChord Rangers under new commander

Adam Ashton — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:01:02 +0000

One of Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most-deployed units is about to head to Afghanistan for its 15^th combat mission since 2002. It’s taking a new commander for the first time in two years.

Lt. Col. Gregory Anderson took command of the 2^nd Battalion, 75^th Ranger Regiment in a rain-soaked ceremony at Lewis-McChord Thursday. He’s joining the battalion on the heels of a yearlong deployment leading a battalion from the 10^th Mountain Division in Kandahar Province.

Anderson’s new battalion is stocked with larger-than-life stories of soldiers who spend about as much time overseas as they do at home. It’s known for producing …

Army Rangers to be honored at public event Thursday

Christian Hill — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:58:00 +0000

The Army Ranger battalion based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord will take another rare turn in the public spotlight at the Tacoma Dome at 6 p.m. on Thursday evening, May 10.

Rangers with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment will be presented with military awards for combat actions.

The public is welcome to attend the event at the exhibition hall inside the dome.

In addition to the individual awards, the battalion will receive two unit awards for their role in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in the summer of 2005. One operation resulted in the capture of a terrorist leader …

Defense budget steers more money to Washington for military construction at JBLM, Kitsap

Adam Ashton — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:34:22 +0000

Spending on military construction in Washington State continues to rise in President Obama’s 2013 budget request despite talk of nationwide defense cuts.

The state would gain $581 million for work at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Naval Base Kitsap and Naval Station Whidbey Island, up from $519 million in Obama’s 2012 defense budget.

About half of the state’s military construction work in 2013 would take place at Lewis-McChord. The base south of Tacoma stands to receive $91 million for a long-awaited sewage plant upgrade, as well as $73 million for a new battalion complex.

The base’s growing Special Forces units …

Rangers recognize six-time combat vet whose widow confronted Rumsfeld over Army suicides

Adam Ashton — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:05:00 +0000

Army Rangers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord this week paid their respects to a fellow soldier who took his own life just before their battalion deployed to Afghanistan, recognizing a veteran Ranger whose death gained national attention.

Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann, 25, killed himself June 28 at Lewis-McChord, leaving behind his two children. His wife, Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, pushed for the Ranger regiment to give him a memorial service in the same manner that it honors soldiers who die in combat.

Her effort to draw attention to his suicide peaked in August, when she confronted former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld …

Special Forces soldier from JBLM had served more combat tours than any other fallen Ranger

Adam Ashton — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:50:27 +0000

The Army said today that one of two Joint Base Lewis-McChord special operators who were killed in Afghanistan last weekend had served on more combat deployments than any other fallen Army Ranger.

Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer Domeij was on his 14th deployment as a Ranger. He had served on 10 missions in Afghanistan and four in Iraq.

“To volunteer that many times to deploy speaks volumes to Kris’ character and dedication to his country,” Tracy Bailey, spokeswoman for the 75th Ranger Regiment, told The Associated Press. “He was larger than life. The man everybody wanted to be

…

Two JBLM soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Stacia Glenn — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:36:30 +0000

PFC Christopher Horns

Two soldiers with Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Army Ranger battalion were killed Saturday when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer B. Domeij, 29, of San Diego, Calif., and Pfc. Christopher A. Horns, 20, of Colorado Springs, Colo. were mortally wounded in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, according to the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Both were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.