Two JBLM soldiers killed Saturday in separate IED attacks, DOD announces - TheNewsTribune.com (blog)

Senior Airman Devon Garner-Klingbeil stands near transfer cases containing the remains of Army Spc. Brittany B. Gordon, left case, and Army Sgt. Robert J. Billings, right case, early Monday at Dover Air Force Base. Billings and Gordon were killed in Afghanistan serving with Joint Base Lewis-McChord Stryker brigades. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Two Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers were killed in Afghanistan Saturday in separate enemy attacks with handmade explosives, the Defense Department announced today.

Spc. Brittany Gordon, 24, of JBLM's 572nd Military Intelligence Company was killed in Kandahar Province.

Sgt. Robert Billings, 30, of JBLM's 5^th Battalion, 20^th Infantry Regiment died from wounds he suffered in the Spin Boldak District in Kandahar Province near the Pakistan border.

Family members had announced Spc. Brittany Gordon's death this weekend to local media in her hometown, St. Petersburg, Fla. She is the daughter of St. Petersburg Assistant Police Chief Cedric Gordon and his former wife, Brenda Gordon.

"I know that Chief Gordon was extremely proud of Brittany and all that she accomplished in her life," St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon said in a statement Monday released to Florida media. "Her life of service and especially service to her country stand as a testament to the type of person she was."

Spc. Gordon joined the Army in January 2010 and was assigned to Lewis-McChord later that year. She was serving on her first deployment.

Billings was serving on his second combat deployment with a JBLM Stryker brigade. He joined the Army in 2006 and served in Iraq from September 2009 to August 2010 with JBLM's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He joined the 5-20 in January 2011, and deployed to Afghanistan in December. He was from Clarksville, Va.

Both soldiers were killed while serving with JBLM Stryker brigades. Gordon's intelligence company was part of the 2^nd Brigade, 2^nd Infantry Division. The brigade has some 4,000 soldiers in Southern Afghanistan, and it has lost nine soldiers on this deployment.

Billings' battalion belongs to the 3^rd Brigade, 2^nd Infantry Division. The brigade has about 3,500 soldiers in Southern Afghanistan, and it has lost 15 soldiers this year.