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Master Sergeant Thomas D. Maholic died June 24, 2006 in the Kandahar Province, near Ghecko, Afghanistan, when he was fatally struck by enemy small arms fire during a cordon and search mission. Thom was serving as a Special Forces team sergeant assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina and deployed in support of Operating Enduring Freedom. Thom enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1986 as an infantryman and attended Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. His first assignment was with the Pennsylvania National Guard where he was an infantryman for five years. In July of 1991, he transitioned to active duty and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Battalion at Fort Kobbe, Panama where he served for two years. In 1993, he volunteered to become a Special Forces Soldier. Thom graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1995 and was assigned 1st Bn., 7th SFG, as a Special Forces medical sergeant. In 2003, after service more than seven years in 7th SFG, he was assigned to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, where he served as an Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course instructor. In April 2005, Thom was assigned to 2nd Bn., 7th SFG and served there as an Operational Detachment - Alpha team sergeant until his death. His military education also includes the Basic and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Courses, Combat Diver Qualification and Course, Combat Diver Supervisor Course, Advanced Special Operations Techniques Course, Basic Instructor Training Course, Air Assault Course, Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course, Basic and Advanced Airborne Courses, Spanish Language Course, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Course and both the winter and summer mountain warfare schools. Thom's awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Expert Field Medical Badge, Special Operations Dive Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, and Special Forces Tab. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge. He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and son Andrew, of Ft. Bragg. He is also survived by his mother Dorothy Maholic of Bradford; sister Ann Davis of Bradford; and brothers David of Cleveland, Ohio, John and Michael of Bradford, and Robert of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Posted 07.02.2006 • View Obituary |
