Fort Carson soldier dies in mortar attack

A soldier with a Fort Carson air ambulance company died when his unit was mortared in Iraq, the Pentagon announced today.

Sgt. William E. Brown, 25, of Phil Campbell, Ala., was killed in the Sunday attack on Taji, Iraq, 20 miles north of Baghdad.

He was assigned to the post’s 571st Air Ambulance Medical Company, which deployed to Iraq last fall with the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division.

Brown’s family couldn’t be located for comment.

The sergeant worked for a unit that’s credited with saving thousands of lives in Iraq during three war tours. Equipped with UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, the 571st is charged with evacuating casualties from the battlefield to hospitals. During 2005 alone, the unit was credited with picking up more than 3,000 wounded soldiers and Marines.

But its successful record has come at a high price for the close-knit unit, which lost seven soldiers in helicopter crashes before Brown’s death. Enemy mortar attacks and ambushes have been two of the biggest dangers for Fort Carson soldiers in Iraq, killing 63, while 89 who have died in bombings.

Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 207 Fort Carson soldiers have died there.

The 571st is scheduled to permanently relocate to Texas after its Iraq deployment. The 95-soldier unit will be renamed and assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade.