Brig. Gen. Matthew Brancato officially became the Commander of the 127th Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base during a special change of command ceremony Saturday morning
By CHAD GARLAND | STARS AND STRIPES Published: May 3, 2021 A series of blasts in a cache of seized Taliban rocket-propelled grenades threw three Green Berets several feet, and then the gear they were wearing began to burn setting off ammunition in rifle magazines. Special Forces soldiers were sifting through a munitions cache seized in a school Taliban militants had used as a base, when suddenly a blast ripped through the stockpile and hurled the soldiers several feet. The flames then ignited some of the Green Berets’ gear and set off ammunition in their rifle magazines. “The first thing that comes to mind is fire,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Rogers, a pararescueman who treated seven people wounded in the 2019 blast, later found to be the result of a partner force member’s negligent weapon discharge. “There were so many things covered in fuel and burning. It looked apocalyptic.”
Air Force PJ Earns Heroism Award for Treating 7 Teammates After Explosion in Afghanistan
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Rogers, 57th Rescue Squadron pararescueman, poses for a photo while deployed to an undisclosed location in Afghanistan in the winter of 2019. (Courtesy Photo)
2 May 2021
Minutes before a massive explosion at a school the Taliban had been using for a headquarters and weapons cache in an Afghan village, Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Rogers and his teammate had been sitting inside, sifting through a pile of electronics, ammunition and artillery.
Fifty or so pounds of homemade explosives were scattered in piles throughout the room, Rogers recalled in a recent news release about a routine mission that quickly took an alarming turn.