Special tactics airmen march through Eunice

Eight hundred and twelve miles sounds like a long walk, but distance means nothing to 20 special tactics airmen who are honoring two of their recently fallen comrades.
First Lt. Katrina Cheesman with U.S. Air Force public affairs said, “There are three reasons why we do this. One, to honor fallen teammates. Two, to educate people about what special tactics airmen bring to the fight. And third, to challenge people to look at that 812 miles and see that what they think is the impossible is possible. We want to encourage people to join the special forces community.”
The marchers made their way through St. Landry Parish and Eunice Thursday evening as they hoof it from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, to Hurlburt Field in Mary Esther, Florida. The group began the trek at 2 a.m. Oct. 4, and the walkers are averaging 12.5 miles per leg. The 10 day march is held when a special tactics airman is killed in action, and this march is the fourth since 2009. Since 2001, 19 special tactics pararescuemen and combat controllers who have been killed in action.
The walk is in remembrance of Capt. Matthew Roland and Staff Sgt. Forrest Sibley, who were killed in action last month in an apparent insider attack in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.  
One of the marchers, who for security reasons cannot be identified, knew both men.
“Roland and I ran a team together,” he said. “He was team leader. He was a great guy, and a tactician. He was extremely brilliant at dissecting plans and setting up schemes and maneuvers. His knowledge of taking a fight to the enemy was unparalleled.
“He had a playful side too. He didn’t take himself too seriously. The thing he held closest to his heart was probably training the guys and seeing them in the battlefield.”
The marcher also recalled Sibley’s on the job skills.
“He was a master at his craft,” he said. “He directed precision air strikes and controlled landing zones. He was always willing to help somebody. He wasn’t the kind of guy to beat you up when you didn’t know something.
“Now, if he took the time to teach you and you still didn’t know it, then he’d beat you down,” he said.
Sibley was also the recipient of four Bronze Star medals, one with valor.
“To get that many in just seven years, showcases that he was a master at his craft and the contributions he made to the war on terror,” Cheesman said. “He was a great guy.”
According to Cheesman, the significance of the marching from Lackland Air Force Base to Hurlburt Field is that most special tactics airmen begin training at Lackland and many complete their training at Hurlburt.
Each two-man team on the march walks about 90 miles during the event while carrying a 50-pound ruck sack and a commemorative baton engraved with a fallen special tactics airman’s name. Previous marches have come through Eunice, and from here the marchers make their way on to Opelousas and Krotz Springs before going through Mississippi and Alabama.
“We thought it would take them 10 days but it looks like maybe make it in nine and a half,” Cheesman said. “These guys are crushing it. Someone always on road, even at night.”
Event organizer, retired Chief Master Sgt. Steven Haggett, said in a news release that the team hopes to rally supporters who want to march beside them for the cause.
“We do this arduous march to commemorate and honor fallen members of Air Force Special Tactics and their families. These warriors gave their lives in defense of freedom and our nation’s security, and so every step of every mile is in memory of that sacrifice,” Haggett said. “We want to educate our fellow Americans about these Special Tactics Airmen who made the ultimate sacrifice and pay tribute in a public way to the families and communities who support these special operators. We hope to show all Americans that while these heroes may be gone, they will never be forgotten.”