---
title: "Army Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Insider Attack Was On His 13th Deployment"
date: "2018-09-04"
modified: "2018-09-04"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/afghanistan-insider-attack-13th-deployment/"
categories:
  - "Army"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "central command"
---

# Army Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Insider Attack Was On His 13th Deployment

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/18990176-1.jpg>)

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy A. Bolyard was on his thirteenth overseas deployment when he was killed during an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan on September 3, Newsweek [reports](<https://www.newsweek.com/afghanistan-soldier-killed-attack-us-1104697>).

- Bolyard, 42, was the highest enlisted soldier in the 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, which deployed to Afghanistan with the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) in March.
- Bolyard's decorations included six Bronze Stars — two with valor devices — earned on six different occasions during his eight combat deployments, [per](<https://www.newsweek.com/afghanistan-soldier-killed-attack-us-1104697>) Newsweek.
- [According](<https://www.newsweek.com/afghanistan-soldier-killed-attack-us-1104697>) to Newsweek, the insider attack "was carried out by a member of the Afghan National Police ... who was visiting American forces on an undisclosed base" in the eastern part of the country.
- Afghan military commander Gen. Abdul Raziq [told](<https://www.stripes.com/news/army/soldier-killed-in-suspected-insider-attack-in-afghanistan-identified-1.545891>) Stars & Stripes that the attack began after gunfire "erupted from a police Humvee, hitting American servicemembers in the back."
- The insider attack was the second in as many months following the shooting death of Army Cpl. Joseph Maciel, also deployed to Afghanistan in support of the 1st SFAB, in the southern part of the country in early July.

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-1578.png>)

**WATCH NEXT:**

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredbkeller/>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jaredbkelller/>)