Silver Star

Simmons, who just left the Army this week to attend college in Florida, was honored for his actions during a June 8 attack near the end of the battalion’s rotation. Enemy forces attacked while a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was in the process of lifting a vehicle off the compound.

The noncommissioned officer in charge at the compound for Company C, Simmons helped direct the helicopter out of the combat zone, then assessed the situation, according to a narrative submitted for the award.

Seeing that soldiers in the 120 mm mortar pit were pinned down and unable to fire, he ran to the 81 mm mortar and started returning fire. He was credited with firing 35 rounds by himself, despite being wounded by shrapnel. He then ran between U.S. positions to gather status reports from his men and informed the commander of the situation. He spent the next few hours of the seven-hour battle resupplying U.S. positions with ammunition under a consistent barrage of enemy fire. He later helped guide U.S. air assets to attack enemy positions.

Sadly, this is all the coverage of the award I can find on Google. He was given a big welcome home in florida which had local coverage.
Stars and Stripes

Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart

Gen. Cart Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe, awards Staff Sgt. Erich R. Phillips, mortar platoon sergeant for Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), the Distinguished Service Cross, Sept. 15, 2008, in Vicenza, Italy, for actions performed in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan Aug. 22, 2007. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird

Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips, mortar platoon sergeant for Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, also known as “The Rock,” was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross Sept. 15, 2008, in Vicenza, Italy for his actions Aug. 22, 2007, at Ranch House in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan.

The DSC is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the Army, and only the fifth awarded to a servicemember during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Before dawn on Aug. 22, 2007, 60 to 80 Taliban extremists moved into position to launch a three-pronged attack against Ranch House. Video footage posted on an extremist website showed Taliban rehearsing over a detailed map of Ranch House’s fighting positions.

“Their plan was to overrun our forward operating base,” said Phillips, who is from Eastpoint, Fla.

When the Taliban attacked Ranch House, 22 American Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were living at the base. They worked side-by-side with the Afghan National Army in one of the most rugged and remote NATO bases in Afghanistan.

RUDE AWAKENING
Every defended position was bombarded with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades simultaneously, said Phillips.

“I woke up to RPG’s slamming into my building,” recalled Phillips.

The Taliban, whom breached the Afghan perimeter, quickly over took an ANA and Afghan Security Guards (private security firm) weapons and ammo cache, which they unleashed on the U.S. Soldiers.

“At this point all communication was lost with Post 3 and Post 4,” said Phillips. Phillips didn’t know it yet, but Post 3 was destroyed and Pfc. Jeddah Deloria was trapped underneath the collapsed fighting position. The other wounded Soldiers from Post 3 had retreated to Post 2.

PHILLIPS REACTS
Phillips organized defenses around the tactical operations center, which was being hit by RPG’s, machine guns and small-arms fire. The 22 Soldiers were outnumbered three to one.

Phillips seeing that the TOC risked being overrun began positioning Soldiers in a defensive perimeter and relayed information to 1st Lt. Matthew Ferrara, platoon leader, who was on the radio calling for artillery and close air support.

The effective enemy fire destroyed the TOC’s radio antennas mounted on the roof, which left the platoon with no communication for five minutes.

Ferrara moved the TOC outside and with a dismounted radio, re-established communications.

RELIEF EFFORT TO POST TWO
After learning Post 2 had numerous causalities, Phillips grabbed Sgt. Kyle Dirkintis, the platoon medic, and attempted to assault up the mountain toward Post 2. Phillip’s Soldiers used hand grenades and small-arms fire to help cover his and Dirkintis’ movement.

While bounding toward Post 2, Phillips and Dirkintis were pinned down by enemy fire at a set of wooden structures, which were Post 2′s living quarters.

“At this point, Soldiers at Post 2 yelled down to me that two enemy fighters were on the other end of the building I was taking cover on,” said Phillips.

Phillips, only three meters away from the enemy, rolled two hand grenades over the top of the living quarters.

MEDIC BADLY INJURED
“Once the explosion went off doc (Dirkintis) realized how bad we were taking fire and he came from behind cover to fire and was shot in the chest,” explained Phillips.

Dirkintis coughing up blood and suffering from a collapsed lung was unable to stand up. Phillips coordinated with Post 2 to provide cover fire while he dragged Dirkintis down the hill. Upon reaching the mortar pit, Phillips started to perform first aid and was assisted by another Soldier.

Phillips directed the Soldier to provide first aid while he continued to fire small arms and direct another Soldier’s grenades toward Taliban positions until an Air Force A-10 Warthog began strafing the base.

“The first gun run went southeast to west behind the aid station right into the back of the TOC, and the second came from the south to the north down the center of the FOB,” said Phillips.

POST THREE RELIEVED
The Warthog helped repel the advancing Taliban and enabled Phillips to lead a team of Soldiers to recover Deloria who had been alone at Post 3 for two and a half hours.

“Once I climbed the ladder to Post 3 I could see the post had taken severe damage and had fallen on top of Deloria,” said Phillips. “Deloria had attempted to blow all four claymore mines. He even applied first aid to himself and was holding his weapon when I found him. I tried to carry Deloria back down to the causality collection point, but he said ‘I want to walk sergeant’.”

Once back to the causality collection point, Phillips began preparing Soldiers for evacuation and helped evacuate all of the wounded. Once the quick reaction force arrived, Phillips led the Soldiers to retake the lost section of the base.

By fighting’s end, half of the U.S. Soldiers would be wounded and one ANA and ASG would be killed. No Soldiers were killed in the two and half hour firefight and the base was not overrun.

“I just tried to maintain the front line,” said Phillips. “The other Soldiers deserve just as much recognition as me.”

MORE BATTLES FOR HERO
Phillips would go on to fight in an ambush near Aranus and the battle of Wanat – the two largest battles the 173rd ABCT saw in Afghanistan during their deployment – which resulted in 14 Chosen Company Soldiers killed in action.

Phillips, who also was awarded the Purple Heart, is scheduled to leave Chosen Company and become a ranger instructor at 6th Ranger Training Battalion.

US Army
By Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird, 173rd ABCT Public Affairs

“I was asleep in my bunk,” said Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips, the company’s mortar section sergeant. “I woke up to [rocket-propelled grenades] slamming into the side of my building. Then two soldiers ran in and said: ‘Sergeant, we’re under attack.’ ”

Phillips, on his fourth deployment to Southwest Asia, had already figured that out.

It was about 5 a.m. and enemy forces were trying to overrun the platoon-size element stationed at the Ranch House, a rudimentary outpost built on a mountain side 7,000 feet above sea level in Nuristan province, Afghanistan.

“That was exactly their intention,” Phillips said Monday. “We didn’t allow them. We fought hard.”

Stars and Stripes
By Kent Harris

Silver Star

Afghanistan (July 12, 2008) — A 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Soldier earned a Silver Star for combat operations and was presented the medal in a ceremony here, today.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, Combined Joint Task Force 101 commander, presented Capt. William G. Cromie with a Silver Star, the third highest military decoration and praised him for his valor.

Cromie was recognized for his actions during an ambush on Nov. 16, 2007, while acting as platoon leader for 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company during a route-clearance operation along the Korengal Road in Konar province.

The Platoon was called out to perform route clearance on a portion of the Korengal Road after receiving a tip that an IED may have been placed there.

“While travelling down the road, our first vehicle struck an IED,” said Cromie. “Immediately, we were ambushed on three sides by heavily-armed militants.”

Two Soldiers managed to advance to an over-watch position to help cover the platoon, but were soon pinned down and running low on ammunition. Cromie personally moved more ammunition to the two Soldiers while running through the small-arms cross fire.

Finally, after receiving close-air support, the platoon was able to mount a counter-attack and pushed the militants back to a house. The platoon then cleared the house, killing the militants.

“I really would like to thank the squad leaders, they really acted professionally even under a stressful situation like that, and the guys in 3rd Platoon for their bravery,” said Cromie.

CJTF-101
Written by Pfc. Christina Sinders CJTF-101 Public Affairs

Afghanistan, July 12, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday took the opportunity to present 12 paratroopers with awards here for valorous and heroic achievements in combat.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen pinned five Army Commendation Medals with valor devices, five Purple Heart Medals, one Bronze Star with valor device, and one Silver Star on the troopers’ chests during a ceremony at their combat outpost here.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be here,” Mullen said to the awardees. “This ceremony is about individuals who represent the sacrifice of so many.”

The paratroopers are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, and have been operating in the valley for 14 months. Though their tour at the secluded combat outpost has been somewhat primitive, with few luxuries and the bare necessities, their mission of counterinsurgency has been quite complex.

The troopers often found themselves patrolling the rugged Korengal Valley and surrounding areas for days at a time with little contact with the rest of the world. Only radio communication and a keen sense of their environment kept the rotation of patrolling squads and platoons connected with even their isolated outpost, soldiers explained.

Army Capt. Greg Ambrosia, executive officer of Company A and recipient of the Silver Star that Mullen awarded here, said he can attribute his leadership and confidence during such patrols to the lives he saved during one particular encounter with Taliban fighters on the night of Sept. 27.

Ambrosia and his men set up a makeshift outpost after a nighttime air assault into the valley. The troopers made contact with the enemy early the next morning, receiving a hail of rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. But they couldn’t spot where exactly the attack was coming from, he said.

His basic function and responsibility was to radio information from the company commander in a nearby mounted element on the side of the mountain back to the battalion headquarters, he continued.

“We spotted an enemy scout and eventually made contact, but he was able to [disengage and communicate] our location to other fighters in the valley,” Ambrosia said.

Ambrosia’s element had a translator monitoring the enemy communication with a basic one-way radio. After the initial contact, it was quiet for about 45 minutes. The interpreter continued to monitor the radio, and Ambrosia learned that the scout was coordinating with other enemy fighters in the area to launch an attack, he explained.

Soon there were at least three enemy elements with three to five fighters each closing in on the platoon. So close, in fact, they were in hand-grenade range of his troops, he said.

“They were able to get to really close using the terrain,” he continued. “At one point, I started calling the vehicles in the valley to start shooting on our position, because the enemy was too close to call in artillery or mortar fire.”

“So we ended up having our guys shooting on our own position,” he continued.

Even though Ambrosia and his men maintained some safety behind a mound of rocks, the smoke from the mounted vehicle engulfed their position. He began call for aerial support from AH-64 Apache helicopters, he said.

Enemy radio traffic intercepted by Ambrosia’s interpreter let the paratroopers know the insurgents planned to overrun their position and take them hostage, but they were able to repel the attack, he said.

However, Ambrosia’s radio requests for Apaches to provide aerial support wouldn’t arrive for another 45 minutes, he added.

“That’s when it began to get really hairy,” he said. “The enemy was getting really close and using hand grenades.”

Ambrosia’s actions and direction of his men repelled the enemy fighters long enough for the helicopters to arrive. The modest captain said he doesn’t know exactly how many enemies were killed, but knows that two of his men were wounded. None were killed.

“I’m very thankful for that,” Ambrosia said.

“It has been a very dangerous time here,” Mullen told the troopers. “You’re almost home; it’s not far off, so stay focused and get home safe. I can’t say enough about how impressed and proud I am of what you’ve accomplished.

The battalion has already begun redeploying troopers. The entire battalion should conclude its 15-month deployment and be back at home station in Vicenza, Italy, by the end of the month.

DoD
By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

Bronze Star with “V” device

A Bronze Star with “V” device for valor was awarded to Army Sgt. Ryan P. Inabnet, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 1-91 Cavalry Squadron, at Fire Base Naray, Kunar province, April 24.

Brig. Gen. Mark Milley, CJTF-101 deputy commanding general for operations, awarded the medal to Inabnet and presented him with a coin for excellence.

Inabnet was recognized for his actions in combat July 27, 2007, when he saved more than a dozen Soldier’s lives during a combat operation in Kunar province. The Quick Reaction Team he was on was called out to re-enforce International Security Assistance Forces engaged in combat with insurgents.

“We first set out after receiving word that four casualties on the ground were injured and two of them were serious,” said Inabnet, a wheeled vehicle mechanic. “Once we arrived we got the four injured in the vehicles and dropped them off at the medevac site.”

Shortly afterward, Inabnet provided first aid to a wounded Soldier from his QRT.

“Once we had all the equipment and personnel, we started to head back,” said Inabnet. “That’s when we started taking [rocket propelled grenades] and small-arms fire.”

As the group tried to break contact, several Soldiers were wounded and put into Inabnet’s vehicle.

“My main goal was to get these guys back to the helicopter landing zone so they could survive,” said Inabnet. “I ended up staying up for hours until we got all our guys back inside the [forward operating base].”

“That day will be with me for a long time,” he said. “I would like to thank the Lord above and all my brothers who were in that fight with me.”

CJTF-101
Written by Army Pfc. Christina Sinders RC-East PAO