Kabul

After a day of reporting in northern Afghanistan, I returned Thursday to Kabul to learn of more bad news from southern Afghanistan. Another Fort Lewis-based soldier with the 1st Battalion has been killed in Kandahar Province. His name is Spc. Kyle Coumas, 22 of Lockeford, Califorina, and he died of wounds suffered from an Oct. 21 bomb attack on his vehicle.

As I have written in earlier posts, the 1st Battalion, with some 700 soldiers, has one of the toughest assignments in Afghanistan. This unit is part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and patrols in the Arghandab Valley, an area that has been an important travel corridor for the Taliban near Kandahar City.

The soldiers arrived in mid-summer to face a resurgent Taliban bolstered by gains that the insurgence had made earlier in the year.

The soldiers conduct their mission in eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles and on foot. By far the biggest threat has been improvised explosive devices, the bombs that have been buried in roads or on foot trails. They have caused numerous injuries, as well as most of the more than 11 deaths sustained by the 1st Battalion.

Coumas began active service on Feb. 8, 2007, and headed off to Fort Lewis, where he joined the 5th Brigade as it was assembed as a new Stryker brigade.

His awards and decorations include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Spc. Kyle Coumas