Capt. Benjamin D. Tiffner

KIA 7 November 2007 when his vehicle encountered an IED in the course of conducting a ground convoy in Baghdad.

Awards and Decorations

Two Army Commendation Medals

Army Achievement Medal,

National Defense Service Medal,

Global War on Terrorism

Expeditionary Medal,

Iraq Campaign Medal,

Global War on Terrorism

Service Medal,

Army Service Ribbon,

Combat Infantryman Badge,

Expert Infantryman Badge,

Parachutist Badge,

Ranger Tab,

Special Forces Tab.

Military Education includes; Infantry Officers Basic Course; Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course; Basic Airborne Course, Ranger Course, and the Special Forces Qualification Course.

Capt. Benjamin Tiffner, 31, was fatally wounded when his vehicle encountered an IED in the course of conducting a ground convoy in Baghdad. He was a Special Forces Operational Detachment – Alpha team leader assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Tiffner, a native of Ohio, volunteered for military service and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2000. After Infantry Officer’s Basic Course, Airborne School and Ranger School, he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment., at Fort Lewis, Wash., and served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and company executive officer. He served in Iraq from November 2003 to March 2004.

Upon graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course in April 2006, he was assigned to 5th SFG(A). He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula. This was his second deployment to Iraq in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

In 1996, he was nominated by Sen. Robert Byrd to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Tiffner's mother, Judy, said at the time her son was home-schooled. "Benjamin received his education at home, which is a miracle regarding getting into West Point," she said. "He has wanted to be a military officer since he was a young man. He had this in the back of his mind even as he was in the process of switching from traditional school."

Tiffner's parents, Judy and Timothy, were missionaries, and the family once lived in the Philippines.

When they returned to the United States, Timothy Tiffner became the director of the Camp of the Hills, a 100-acre Christian-related family camp near the junction of Roane, Clay and Kanawha counties, near where he grew up.

He was one of five children. At age 19 he was to report to classes at West Point and pay the $2,000 fee, a lot of money for a family living on missionaries' pay.