American Heroes in Special Operations

by Oliver North

  Drone images show the layout of the farming compound where wanted terrorist Abu Obaeideah was hiding.

  In all, the Americans killed eleven enemy fighters, six of them attributed to Halbisengibbs. A kidnap victim was found bound and gagged in one of the buildings and returned to his family—a great public relations coup for the fledgling Iraqi security forces. Of greater benefit, the green Iraqi Special Operators received a powerful lesson in the courage and tenacity from their American mentors—one that would be profoundly important in the months ahead as they assumed increasing responsibility for their nation’s future.

  At the end of December 2007, as we were completing our ninth FOX News embed covering U.S. troops in Iraq, the story of what Staff Sgt. Jarion Halbisengibbs, Sgt 1st Class Michael Lindsay, and Capt Matthew Chaney did in September was hardly known to the American people. We were preparing to return home for the holidays. They were recuperating from the terrible wounds they received during Operation Chromium.

  Our FOX News crew traversed the length and breadth of Iraq, interviewing hundreds of Americans and Iraqis, both civilian and military. In our travels, we documented stunning progress in bringing security and civil law and order to the country. While we were there, Basra province reverted to full Iraqi control, as British troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq’s southernmost prefecture.

  In Baghdad, we accompanied another U.S. trained and supported Iraqi Special Operations unit on a nighttime raid to apprehend a member of the Mahdi Army—a feat that would have been impossible one year earlier. In Fallujah, the former al-Qaeda stronghold, Iraqi police in blue uniforms watched as we stood on a residential street, rebuilt from the rubble of urban combat in November 2004. In Ramadi, where we previously dodged gunfire on multiple occasions, we dined with Sheikh Mohammad al Heiss, the new leader of the Sunni reconciliation movement and then went to the “souk” to buy Christmas presents for my grandchildren. On a street where terrorists tried to kill us twelve months previously, we walked without flak jackets or helmets—something that would have been unthinkable even a few months before we arrived.

  It was nearly Christmas. We were going home, but very few of the young Americans we met on this deployment would enjoy the holidays with their families. For many, it was their third Nativity season away from home since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003.

  As I thought about it, I realized the best Christmas gift I could give my grandchildren was to tell them the stories of these American heroes. Their example of heroism and devotion to duty is the kind of thing all people, young and old, need to be reminded of—the uplifting example of these warriors deployed in harm’s way and protecting the rest of us from those who are dying to kill us all.

  Sgt 1st Class Jarion Halbisengibbs, recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, Capt Matthew Chaney and Sgt 1st Class Michael Lindsay, recipients of the Silver Star, received their awards during a ceremony at the Special Events Center, Fort Carson, Colorado.

  DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS:

  STAFF SERGEANT JARION HALBISENGIBBS

  The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Staff Sergeant Jarion Halbisengibbs, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action on 10 September 2007 in combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As the detachment weapon sergeant, Operational Detachment Alpha 083 (ODA 083), 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Staff Sergeant Halbisengibbs displayed extraordinary courage under fire while combat-advising a combined assault element of the Iraqi National Police during Operation Chromium, a raid to capture al Qaeda in Iraq’s Minister of Defense for Ad Din Province in Samarra. Through his fearless actions, Staff Sergeant Halbisengibbs directly saved the lives of two of his fellow soldiers, personally killed six of the eleven enemies killed in action, enabled the rescue of one hostage, and ensured the elimination of a terrorist responsible for kidnappings and murders throughout the Samarra region. His unparalleled courage under fire, decisive leadership, and personal sacrifice were directly responsible for the operations success and ensured the province of Ad Din did not fall into insurgent hands. Staff Sergeant Jarion Halbisengibbs’s outstanding performance of duty is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and the United States Army.

  Sgt 1st Class Jarion Halbisengibbs, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) receives the Distinguished Service Cross from Adm. Eric T. Olson, United States Special Operations Command commander.

  The wind tunnel at HALO school, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

  HALO SCHOOL

  Military Free Fall Parachute School is one of the most dangerous, most coveted military Special Ops schools. In it, students are taught the art of High-altitude, Low Opening (HALO) and High-altitude, High Opening (HAHO) parachuting.

  This month-long course may be one of the most demanding the military has to offer, but it isn’t the drop-and-give-me-fifty kind. In fact, since most of those attending are already seasoned Special Operators who have proven their motivation and skill, instructors at HALO school can focus on giving students the best education possible without having to be all that in-your-face.

  Nevertheless, students at this school will be challenged and stretched in ways they never thought possible. After all, exiting an aircraft in the dead of night at twenty thousand feet while wearing one hundred twenty pounds of combat equipment leaves absolutely no room for error. But those who have done it successfully say the difference between flying in a plane at those altitudes and freefalling is like the difference between riding in a ship and swimming, only about one hundred twenty miles-per-hour faster.

  The first week of HALO school takes place at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The students receive classroom instruction, which helps explain the differences between static line parachuting (in which all must already be qualified) and free-fall parachuting. The students also experience the wind tunnel for the first time. This facility has a giant fan blowing air vertically in a tunnel, and with the help of instructors, students spend the first of many hours in the tunnel perfecting their flying skills.

  The next three weeks’ training is done at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, where the climate is almost perfect for year-round skydiving. There the students learn by doing—jumping up to several times a day, five days per week. They learn various exit techniques and how to stay together in the air as a group. They then move up to night operations with combat equipment and high-altitude jumps requiring the use of oxygen. They may also get a couple of high-altitude, high-opening jumps, where they deploy their chutes shortly after exiting the plane and can fly for more than thirty miles, perfect for covert insertion into hostile areas, and in training, it’s some of the best fun you can have in the military. Only about five hundred men receive this training each year.

  Above: Pararescuemen from the 38th Rescue Squadron and the 58th Rescue Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, jump from a HC-130P/N for a High Altitude Low Opening free fall drop from 12,999 feet in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. PJs use a variety of jumps depending on the mission.

  THE BATTLE FOR BARI KOWT

  KONAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

  There are few places in Afghanistan that wouldn't qualify as "remote." Flying over the country gives one an education in the meaning of the word. But the village of Bari Kowt is remote even for Afghanistan. Thirty-five miles northeast of Asadabad, in Konar Province, this arid mountain tribal settlement in the Gowardesh Valley is bisected by a narrow, fast-running, tributary of the Mastuj River that flows out of Pakistan, only a half mile away. The steep hillsides above the watercourse are lined with small, rock-walled terraces and garden plots, hand-farmed as they have been for hundreds of years. The strategic value of Bari Kowt to the Taliban lies in its isolation and proximity to the border, making it an ideal layover site on the insur
gent "rat line" for moving men and material to and from safe-havens in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan.

  By the winter of 2007–2008, 3rd Special Forces Group, teamed with Afghan Army and Border Police units, had established a string of small outposts along the border in a classic Special Forces mission: Foreign Internal Defense. The Americans built trust and confidence by training, living with, and fighting beside their host nation counterparts along the rugged Af-Pak frontier.

  Before dawn on 25 January 2008, Special Forces ODA 3312, teamed with a unit of Afghan National Army troops launched a vehicle-mounted patrol into the Gowardesh Valley to locate and clear Taliban strongholds, havens, and weapons caches along the border. It was well below freezing when the combined American-Afghan task force departed Forward Operating Base Naray.

  The ODA's Weapons Sergeant, Staff Sgt Robert J. Miller, was on his second combat deployment to Afghanistan and the only American in the unit fluent in Pashtu—the local Afghan dialect. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Miller was a champion gymnast and spent a year in college before he enlisted in the Army in 2003 because, as he put it, "I want to serve my country."

  Staff Sgt Robert J. Miller

  Rob Miller excelled right from the start. Though 70 percent of those who apply for Special Forces wash out before completing training, he passed the rigorous Special Forces Assessment and Selection course right out of basic training and Airborne school. He went on to more than two years of intense specialized training in weapons, tactics, languages, and other essential skills, mastering them all before pinning on the coveted Special Forces tab. It was a proud day in 2005 when he reported for duty as a newly minted sergeant in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group.

  A year later he deployed for the first time to Afghanistan. In that seven-month tour, Sergeant Miller distinguished himself in combat and was awarded two Army Commendation Medals for courage under fire.

  During the following seven months back at Fort Bragg, the detachment applied "lessons learned," honed their proficiency, and prepared for a return to the fight. Before they deployed back to Afghanistan, Rob was promoted to Staff Sergeant—and made a Team Leader in the ODA.

  ODA 3312 at their FOB before the fatal mission to Bari Kowt. Staff Sgt Robert Miller is center front.

  In Afghanistan there are no "routine" missions. The objective for the operation that began before first light on 25 January 2008, was inherently dangerous. The objective area was known to be an insurgent stronghold, so the ODA and their Afghan National Army and Border Police counterparts mounted their convoy at FOB Naray heavily armed and ready for anything.

  The first sign of trouble came in the form of large boulders blocking the narrow, snow-covered approach to the objective—a sure sign of insurgent activity. Twice the ODA commander ordered up their demolitions men—Special Forces engineers—to set charges and clear the obstacles. The small task force continued their trek into the mountains, doubly wary having announced their presence.

  As the patrol neared the village of Bari Kowt, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) identified what appeared to be fifteen to twenty enemy fighters in prepared positions overlooking the snow-covered track. In the lead vehicle Staff Sgt Miller immediately engaged the insurgents with a turret-mounted Mark 19 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher. While peppering the dug-in enemy with high-explosive rounds, Miller radioed the coordinates of friendly and enemy positions to the ODA's Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC), USAF Staff Sergeant Robert Gutierrez.

  Gutierrez, a bright, tough, and well-liked Californian trained for two years to become a Special Operations Combat Air Controller. He wasted no time summoning close air support from a pair of USAF F-15E "Strike Eagles" and a flight of A-10 "Warthogs" loitering overhead.

  While Gutierrez ran the airstrikes, Miller dismounted his vehicle, grabbed his personal weapon while positioning the Afghan soldiers and directing their fire—all in their native tongue. It worked. The combined effect of the air-dropped ordnance, strafing runs, and accurate fire from the patrol silenced the enemy so the ODA commander ordered Staff Sgt Miller to take two Special Forces teams and fifteen ANA soldiers to conduct a quick post-strike assessment. Miller quickly briefed the Afghan platoon commander in Pashtu and the small American-Afghan unit headed out on foot.

  He led the little patrol across a damaged bridge over the Gowardesh gorge and up into the narrow valley from where the enemy fire originated. But when they moved into the target area and encountered a choke point where the terrain forced them into a small, tactical wedge, Staff Sergeant Miller took "point"—the lead man in the formation.

  Staff Sgt Robert Gutierrez

  Staff Sgt Robert Gutierrez with his ground-air radio

  That's when a single insurgent jumped from behind a boulder fifteen feet in front of them, firing his AK-47 and shouting "Allah akbar!" Miller killed him with a single burst of fire from his M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

  Suddenly the slopes above them erupted with fire from more than one hundred insurgents, blasting away at the American and Afghan soldiers from prepared fighting positions with automatic weapons, machine guns, and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). The withering fire tore into the ANA troops, forcing them to cover wherever they could find it. On his radio Miller called out for help—and the ODA commander rushed to support his lead element now completely vulnerable and pinned down in the kill zone of a near ambush.

  Realizing his small force was in immediate danger of being overwhelmed before they could be reinforced or retreat, Staff Sergeant Miller decided there was only one course of action that could save the vastly outnumbered Americans and their Afghan allies: a one man counterattack.

  Gripping the SAW by the pistol grip, the stock tucked beneath his arm, Miller jumped up and charged up the slope through the snow at the stunned enemy fighters. His accurate fire cut a swath through the assailants and for several minutes it appeared as though his fierce assault into the insurgent positions might well break the right flank of the ambush. Stopping only long enough to reload, the barrel of his SAW glowing red, Miller killed at least a half-dozen of the Taliban and flushed scores of others, allowing his comrades to find cover and organize a quick reaction force.

  He commenced his final charge up the hill by tossing two hand grenades into an enemy fighting hole and with short, well-aimed bursts of fire, killed four more of their foes.

  Then, running low on ammo and crouched in the midst of his shocked assailants, he used his radio to direct the fire of his comrades as they prepared to envelop the enemy on the high ground. As Miller made his way back toward the patrol, an insurgent leapt from concealment and shot him. The bullet struck him in the chest, just above the plate in his body armor. Though severely wounded, the Staff Sergeant spun and felled his attacker with a three round burst from the SAW.

  Staff Sgt Robert Miller with an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

  Staff Sgt Robert Miller with an M-110 sniper rifle.

  While Rob Miller was making his final foray against the Taliban fighters, his ODA commander was also wounded by enemy fire. Realizing his commander was in an exposed position, the former gymnast made yet another heroic decision. Unable to run uphill any longer because of loss of blood, he found a narrow crevice in the earth and set out to kill as many of the insurgents as possible and draw fire from his beleaguered friends below.

  For the next twenty-five minutes Staff Sergeant Rob Miller singlehandedly held off Taliban fighters who fired at him with heavy machineguns, automatic weapons, and RPGs while he directed fire at them from his comrades over the radio. Finally, after he expended the last of his SAW ammunition and threw his remaining hand grenades, his radio went silent as two of his team mates rushed forward to help him.

  They tried to pull him back to the main body of the patrol but the insurgent fire was too intense. It took two more hours—and multiple airstrikes directed by Staff Sergeant Gutierrez—before they could punch enoug
h troops far enough into the valley to recover Rob Miller's body. There was no doubt they would do so. "Leave no man behind" isn't just a slogan. It's a commitment.

  For his fearless actions that day, to include calling in more than twenty air strikes and helping to evacuate the wounded—there were seventeen of them, total—Air Force Staff Sergeant Robert Gutierrez was awarded the Bronze Star with "V" device for valor.

  On 6 October 2010, while our Fox News War Stories team was back in Afghanistan, the president presented Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller's parents with his posthumous Medal of Honor. He is credited with saving the lives of seven of his team mates and fifteen Afghan Army soldiers while killing at least sixteen Taliban insurgents and wounding more than thirty.

  As ODA 3312 and their Afghan National Army allies pulled out of the Gowardesh valley that terrible winter day, intercepts of Taliban "radio chatter" revealed they lost over half of their fighters killed or wounded. Their commanders in Pakistan admonished the survivors not to interfere with the withdrawal. One of them went so far as to order: "Don't attack them! If you do, you will die!" It was a fitting tribute to American valor above and beyond the call of duty.