Captain Atwell was deployed to Afghanistan in command of 7 Platoon, ‘C’ Company of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, 1st Battle Group. On March 27, 2006, Captain Atwell’s platoon received multiple and significant casualties when Forward Operating Base Robinson came under sustained attack from a numerically superior enemy force. Despite the traumatic losses, Captain Atwell led his platoon throughout the intense and sustained attack and directly contributed to the coalition victory. A month later, on April 28, his platoon engaged and defeated an approaching enemy force, and prevented the ambush of a combat logistics patrol.