WEST FORT HOOD – Maj. Josef S.
Hatch was promoted nine days before he and two other
soldiers were injured in a 107 mm rocket attack in
early October 2007.
"I think the insurgents wanted to throw me a
promotion party," he joked on Wednesday.
Hatch was one of 19 soldiers and five civilians
honored by the Operational Test Command following
their return in early April from a six-month
deployment. Team members were spread out over Iraq,
Kuwait and Afghanistan.
The command's higher headquarters, the U.S. Army
Test and Evaluation Command, deploys groups of
soldiers called forward operational assessment teams
to collect data on equipment and systems being
tested in theater. Those teams then report their
findings to Army officials so they can make
decisions on whether the equipment is suitable,
effective and how it enhances the soldiers'
capabilities. One of the projects the soldiers
worked on was an updated Army Combat Uniform top,
said Maj. Gen. Roger A. Nadeau, Army Test and
Evaluation commander.
The teams do not deploy to fight, but that doesn't
mean they won't encounter threats. This was the
first time that Army Test and Evaluation soldiers
were injured and awarded the Purple Heart Medal,
said Col. Michael W. Bowers, team commander.
Hatch, Capt. Theresa L. Ellison and Sgt. 1st Class
Nathan B. Gray were in a Humvee on their forward
operating base when rockets hit the vehicle. Hatch
was in the driver's seat. He hit the steering wheel
and windshield, losing consciousness. Gray was in
the passenger seat and was hit with shrapnel.
Ellison was sitting in the back seat and hit the
roof of the vehicle, she said.
After the attack, Ellison called Bowers, who had
heard the explosion. He dropped the phone and ran,
he said.
Ellison admitted he had a false sense of security
deploying with soldiers whose mission was to collect
data. But, there is no front line, he said; Iraq is
a non-linear battlefield, and "everywhere is a
battlefield."
"There is no safe place," Bowers said.
.jpg)