Two soldiers based at Fort Riley were killed in Afghanistan Friday, the third and fourth fatalities from the Big Red One in just a week.

According to an announcement from the Defense Department, Sergeant Channing Hicks and Specialist Joseph Richardson were killed in Paktika province when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.

 

Hicks was 24 years old, and hailed from Greer, South Carolina. Richardson was from Booneville, Arkansas. He was 23. Both were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Riley.

On November 9, enemy small arms fire killed Captain James Nehl of Gardiner, Oregon. Three days later, insurgents killed Sergeant Matthew Stiltz, of Spokane, Washington. Both were attached to the First Infantry Division and based at Fort Riley.