There is not a better man to lead the 75th Ranger Regiment

August 6, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military, Military News, Wall of Honor

When I first saw the article below in Army Times today, I thought to myself ‘where do I know that name from?’ I have spent a majority of my time in the military around Rangers and guys who have spent a lot of time in Regiment or in the Ranger Training Brigade. So initially I thought maybe I had served with him. But as I read the article below, I realized I had read about him several times. He is the guy that Michael Yon wrote about extensively from Michael’s time embedded with deuce-four.

You can read Michael’s awesome story of what COL Kurilla, CSM Prosser and their men went through right here, http://www.michaelyon-online.com/gates-of-fire.htm

In fact even Bruce Willis is looking to star in a movie about COL Kurilla and Deuce-Four.

Announced his intention to make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy. It will be based on the exploits of the heavily decorated members of "Deuce Four", the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, which has spent the past year battling insurgents in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul. Willis attended "Deuce Four"’s homecoming ball this month in Seattle, Washington, where the soldiers are on leave, along with Stephen J. Eads, the producer of Armageddon (1998/I) and The Sixth Sense (1999). The actor said that he was in talks about a film of "these guys who do what they are asked to for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom". Willis is likely to take on the role of the unit’s commander, Lieutenant- Colonel Erik Kurilla (November 2005).

This guy has not spent his career slipping and dipping into soft assignments, he has truly led from the front and served as an example of what it is like to be a warrior. Congrats Col Kurilla You have earned the command of this honorable and legendary Regiment. You will do great things while there I am sure, and you will serve as the man of which all others in the Regiment aspire to be.

Col. Michael E. Kurilla will assume command of the 75th Ranger Regiment during a ceremony 9 a.m. Thursday at the National Infantry Museum’s Soldiers Field at Fort Benning, Ga., according to a press release.

Kurilla, who commanded 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Fort Lewis, Wash., and recently graduated from the National War College, will assume command of the regiment from Col. Richard D. Clarke, who has been assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.

Thursday’s change of command ceremony culminates the Ranger Rendezvous, which kicked off Monday with a mass tactical airborne operation featuring more than 1,000 Rangers. The Rendezvous is a unit tradition featuring Ranger demonstrations and events and is often attended by families and veterans as well.

Before commanding 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Kurilla led 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, taking his soldiers into combat in Mosul, Iraq, in 2004 and 2005.

The unit’s deployment, which resulted in Kurilla’s soldiers earning five Silver Stars, 31 Bronze Stars with V device and 181 Purple Hearts, was chronicled in Army Times in March 2006. During the deployment, on Aug. 18, 2005, while conducting a combat patrol in western Mosul, Kurilla and his soldiers were involved in the high-speed pursuit of an Opel Vectra in which three insurgents were trying to evade U.S. forces. When the insurgents got out of the car and ran into a neighborhood, Kurilla and his men sealed off the area and began to search for the insurgents.

The soldiers quickly came under enemy fire, and as Kurilla moved towards his soldiers, he rounded a corner and an insurgent shot him three times in both legs and his arm, shattering his left femur. Kurilla continued to fight back, and his command sergeant major, Robert Prosser, later received a Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor, for his actions in taking down the insurgent. Kurilla quickly recovered from his wounds and went on to command 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

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