Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg - Red Bulls
The Red Bulls are the Minn. National Guard unit that so badly embarrassed John Kerry during the last election with this pic.
Silver Star
United States Congressman John Kline
One experience that truly stood out was meeting Staff Sergeant Chad Malmberg, who was awarded the Silver Star, given for gallantry in action. This soldier exemplified the notion of “service before self,” and it was a tremendous honor to shake his hand and welcome him home. SSG Malmberg was one of four recipients of the Silver Star from the Red Bulls with an additional 24 soldiers receiving the Bronze Star with Valor in Iraq.
Mankato Free Press
For an hour, Chad Malmberg led a fierce firefight against 30 insurgents. He defended a convoy against rocket fire and more than a thousand AK-47 rounds from an enemy who is bent, he is now sure, on capturing an American gun truck.
Malmberg was forced to leave his armored vehicle — a rare contingency thrust upon him by insurgents creeping closer to the convoy — and threw grenades and fired a shoulder-mounted rocket.
On that cool 60-degree January night in Iraq, the valuable materiel Malmberg’s convoy was charged with defending was, well, nothing. The flatbed semis he was leading south across the Iraqi desert were empty.
“Ain’t it a bitch,” the 27-year-old Mankato resident said with a laugh.
But a prestigious medal inscribed with “for gallantry in combat,” the Silver Star, makes everything worth it, and Malmberg said he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. He’ll receive the award during a ceremony Saturday in St. Paul.
He’ll be the first Minnesota National Guard soldier in the 34th Infantry Division, more commonly known as the Red Bulls, believed to receive the award since World War II.
The combat for which Malmberg earned the medal happened Jan. 27, 2007, 16 months into a 22-month deployment.
Chetek Alert
While on duty in Iraq, Malmberg served a 22-month tour in the southwest region of the country escorting convoys transporting fuel, food, or materials to other areas of Iraq. Malmberg was the commander of this particular group and had approximately 20 semi-trucks under his direction. During a convoy mission in January 2007, his group came under enemy attack, apparently one of the largest that occurred to anyone in his particular unit while in Iraq.
“The enemy force we fought was larger than the friendly element we had, which is unusual,” explained Malmberg. “Usually you deal with one or two insurgents, but this enemy group was a platoon size or larger, probably more than 30 people.”
Malmberg explained that the convoy was stuck in the area of attack for nearly an hour because of other vehicles and materials blocking the road. Being the commander on the ground, Malmberg was in charge of making the decisions to protect the soldiers and vehicles in the convoy. He explained that many of the trucks were unarmed and defenseless, and it was up to the soldiers to protect the drivers. Malmberg helped conduct the defense during the attack, and even exited the vehicle a couple of times while under fire. Nearly 20 rocket-propelled grenades and at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition were thrown at the convoy, said Malmberg. Fortunately, the convoy was able to make it out of the attack without having any casualties or injuries to friendly forces.
“I feel really lucky,” said Malmberg. “It is really hard to imagine what the experience of going over there will be like. The Amy’s training is so good and they prepare us so well, that it really wasn’t as much of a traumatic experience for me as it may have been for others. For me, it was more of a challenge. I felt good that we did everything right. We performed well. The odds were stacked against us, but it turned out okay. It is just amazing that nothing horribly bad happened. I think it is really a result of my soldiers doing their job so well and responding quickly to put the mission ahead of anything else that was happening.”
The incident prompted Malmberg’s company commanders to recommend him for the Silver Star.
“I really only began to understand what this meant once my commanders started talking about it with me,” said Malmberg. “Up until then, I didn’t understand what a big deal it was. The award is really above anything I expected to receive in the Army, so it was just an honor to be up for the award.”
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