Green Beret Posthumously Promoted to Sergeant First Class

NCO Journal

January 28, 2016

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Acting Secretary of the Army Patrick J. Murphy renders honors as a U.S. Army carry team moves the transfer case of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock during a dignified transfer Jan. 8 at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. McClintock, 30, of Albuquerque, N.M., was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, in Buckley, Wash. Murphy announced Wednesday that McClintock was posthumously promoted. (Department of Defense photo by John G. Martinez)

Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock, who was killed earlier this month in Afghanistan, was posthumously promoted to sergeant first class, acting Secretary of the Army Patrick J. Murphy announced Wednesday.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Q. McClintock, 30, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, died Jan. 5, 2016, in Marja, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when the enemy attacked his unit with small arms fire. (US Army photo)

The 30-year-old Special Forces engineer sergeant was from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was a member of the Washington National Guard. He is survived by his wife, Alexandra, and their 3-month-old son, Declan.

In his statement, Murphy said that he had met with Alexandra and Declan McClintock. He said he “let them both know that their Army family will always be there for them — and that Declan would know that his Daddy is one of our Nation’s heroes.”

McClintock was killed by small-arms fire Jan. 5 in the Marjah district of Helmand province, according to the Department of Defense. Two other American troops and four Afghan soldiers were injured during the hours-long battle between coalition and Taliban forces.

Alexandra McClintock told the Army Times that her husband’s teammates told her that he abandoned his cover to find a landing zone so a helicopter could land and evacuate a wounded teammate.

“He ran out without even thinking about himself,” she told the newspaper. “When he got to really do his job and do the job he loved, he came home a happy man.”

McClintock and his fellow Green Berets, from 1st Battalion’s A Company, deployed to Afghanistan in July, according to information from the Washington Army National Guard.

McClintock joined the Army in 2006. After completing his training, McClintock was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, deploying to Iraq in 2007. He was chosen for selection in the U.S. Army Special Forces School in May 2009, according to information from the Guard.

He was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, in November 2010. He deployed to Afghanistan from August 2012 to May 2013. McClintock left active-duty in December 2014 and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, which is part of the Washington Guard.

His wife told the Army Times that McClintock had begun the process to return to active duty.

“Staff Sergeant McClintock was one of the best of the best,” Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, commander of the Washington Guard, said in a statement shortly after McClintock’s death. “He was a Green Beret who sacrificed time away from his loved ones to train for and carry out these dangerous missions. This is a tough loss for our organization.”