Citation:
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to Jason Dean Cunningham, Senior Airman, U.S. Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force while serving as a Pararescueman of the 38th Rescue Squadron, in action near the village of Marzak in the Paktia Province of Afghanistan on 4 March 2002.

On that proud day, Airman Cunningham was the primary Air Force Combat Search and Rescue medic assigned to a Quick Reaction Force tasked to recover two American servicemen evading capture in austere terrain occupied by massed Al Qaida and Taliban forces. Shortly before landing, his MH-47E helicopter received accurate rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire, severely disabling the aircraft and causing it to crash land. The assault force formed a hasty defense and immediately suffered three fatalities and five critical casualties.

Despite effective enemy fire, and at great risk to his own life, Airman Cunningham remained in the burning fuselage of the aircraft in order to treat the wounded. As he moved his patients to a more secure location, mortar rounds began to impact within fifty feet of his position. Disregarding this extreme danger, he continued the movement and exposed himself to enemy fire on seven separate occasions.

When the second casualty collection point was also compromised, in a display of uncommon valor and gallantry, Airman Cunningham braved an intense small arms and rocket-propelled grenade attack while repositioning the critically wounded to a third collection point. Even after he was mortally wounded and quickly deteriorating, he continued to direct patient movement and transferred care to another medic. In the end, his distinct efforts led to the successful delivery of ten gravely wounded Americans to life-saving medical treatment.

Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, aggressiveness in the face of the enemy, and in the dedication of his service to his country, Senior Airman Cunningham reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Born: March 2, 1975 at Carlsbad, New Mexico
Home Town: Camarillo, California
Personal Awards: Air Force Cross (War on Terrorism), Purple Heart

Home of Heroes
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It is my duty as a pararescueman to save life and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before my personal desires and comforts. These things I do, “That Others May Live.” – Lt. Col. Richard T. Kight, father of the “U.S. Air Rescue Service.”

This is the creed of the United States Air Force Pararescueman or “PJs” whose mission is to save the lives of military and civilians utilizing conventional and unconventional methods. Their training and qualifications include a variety of combat, search and rescue, and medical support expertise. Within the Department of Defense, pararescueman are the only group that conducts this mission.

On March 4, Travis Air Force Base, in-concert with Balfour Beatty Communities, will dedicate a street in the base’s enlisted housing area in honor of fallen pararescueman Senior Airman Jason Dean Cunningham. The dedication will be made exactly eight years after Airman Cunningham perished on Takur Ghar Mountain in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda after saving the lives of 10 injured comrades.

Cunningham was born March 27, 1975, and grew up in Carlsbad, N.M. He attended Carlsbad High School for a time, but eventually graduated from Farmington High School in May 1994. Growing up, he was full of life, living each moment to the fullest and always looking for new adventures, according to his mother, Jackie Cunningham. He also was athletic, playing football, running track and swimming. This would serve him well as he enlisted in the U.S. Navy’s delayed entry program.

In June 1994 he entered the Navy and was trained as an aviation boatswain’s mate. His first assignment led him to Naval Support Activities Naples in Italy. It was while stationed in Naples that on Sept. 25 of that same year, he met his future wife, Theresa de Castro, also an enlisted sailor in the Navy. They married in March 1996 and would go on to have two daughters, Kyla and Hannah.

While still in the Navy, he considered joining the Navy Sea, Air, Land Special tactics team (SEALS), after he passed their fitness test, but ultimately decided he wanted a different career path. In a conversation with his father, he stated “I want to save people.” When his four-year enlistment in the Navy was finished in June 1998, he sought to enlist in the Air Force as a pararescueman.

Ten months later in April 1999, Cunningham entered the U.S. Air Force. By June of that year, Airman Cunningham started his training as a pararescuman. He completed the PJs 21-month training in June 2001. From there, Airman Cunningham was sent to the 38th Rescue Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Ga.

Eight months later after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and Shankstown, Pa., Airman Cunningham was deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. It was at Bagram that Cunningham’s training was put into practice.

While the PJs were located inside an air operations building, which also housed a forward surgical team, Airman Cunningham took advantage of the training opportunities of which availed him. “Every time we had a casualty event, Cunningham was always the first one there offering to help,” said Dr. (Maj.) Brian Burlingame, the surgical unit’s commander.

In honing his medical skills, Airman Cunningham was involved with allowing PJs the ability to carry whole blood into combat as a part of their medical life-saving equipment, which had not been allowed previously by the Food and Drug Administration. Once trained and certified, Airman Cunningham personally ensured all of the rest of the pararescueman at Bagram met the same requirements.

It was on March 4, 2002, Airman Cunningham was the primary Air Force combat search and rescue medic assigned for a quick extraction. The mission entailed recovering Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman, a combat controller assigned to a SEAL team, and Petty Officer First Class Neil C. Roberts, a SEAL, who were downed at Takur Ghar, a mountain range in the Hindu Kush.

When the MH-47E Chinook arrived in the area, it was quickly overcome by rocket- propelled grenades and small-arms fire. Upon a hard landing, Airman Cunningham moved swiftly to treat the casualties. Disregarding extreme risk to his own life, Airman Cunningham continually exposed himself to enemy fire to move the casualties to safer ground.

During one of his rescues, he was fatally wounded by small-arms fire. Aware of the severity of his injuries, he continued to treat his patients and pass along vital information about their medical status to other medical personnel on the scene until he lost consciousness.

On Sept. 13, 2002, Airman Cunningham was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. During the ceremony Gen. John P. Jumper, former Air Force Chief of Staff, conveyed to the audience that, “I stand before you today in the humble attempt to assemble the words to honor a hero, know in advance that my attempt will fall short of the tribute that is his due.”

It is for the sacrifices that Airman Cunningham made “that others may live” and we at Travis will honor him with his parents present in a ceremony fit for a true hero.

Air Force
by Mr. John M. Lacomia
60th Air Mobility Wing History Office

Arlington National Cemetery website for Cunningham

Camp Cunningham dedicated in Afghanistan

On March 4, 2002, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman voluntarily joined a rescue team going into an al-Qaeda terrorist stronghold on Takur Ghar Mountain. Upon landing, the rescue team soon ran into enemy personnel, and Chapman killed two of them. While advancing on a machine gun nest, the team came under fire from three sides. At close range and with little cover, he exchanged fire with the enemy until dying from multiple wounds. Afterward, the rescue team leader unequivocally credited Chapman with having saved the lives of the entire rescue team.

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to John Chapman, Technical Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operation against an armed enemy of the United States as a 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Combat Controller in the vicinity of Gardez, in the eastern highlands of Afghanistan, on 4 March 2002.

On this date, during his helicopter insertion for a reconnaissance and time sensitive targeting close air support mission, Sergeant Chapman’s aircraft came under heavy machine gun fire and received a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade which caused a United States Navy sea-air-land team member to fall from the aircraft. Though heavily damaged, the aircraft egressed the area and made an emergency landing seven kilometers away.

Once on the ground Sergeant Chapman established communication with an AC-130 gunship to insure the area was secure while providing close air support coverage for the entire team. He then directed the gunship to begin the search for the missing team member. He requested, coordinated, and controlled the helicopter that extracted the stranded team and aircrew members. These actions limited the exposure of the aircrew and team to hostile fire.

Without regard for his own life Sergeant Chapman volunteered to rescue his missing team member from an enemy strong hold. Shortly after insertion, the team made contact with the enemy. Sergeant Chapman engaged and killed two enemy personnel. He continued to advance reaching the enemy position then engaged a second enemy position, a dug-in machine gun nest.

At this time the rescue team came under effective enemy fire from three directions. From close range he exchanged fire with the enemy from minimum personal cover until he succumbed to multiple wounds. His engagement and destruction of the first enemy position and advancement on the second position enabled his team to move to cover and break enemy contact.

In his own words, his Navy sea-air-land team leader credits Sergeant Chapman unequivocally with saving the lives of the entire rescue team. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, aggressiveness in the face of the enemy, and the dedication to the service of his country, Sergeant Chapman reflects the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Born: July 14, 1965 at Springfield, Massachusetts
Home Town: Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Personal Awards: Air Force Cross (War on Terrorism), Purple Heart

Home of Heroes
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Senior Air Force leaders awarded the Air Force Cross to Tech. Sgt. John Chapman here Jan. 10, 2003.

Chapman, a combat controller killed in Afghanistan while saving the lives of his entire team, was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, which is second only to the Medal of Honor as an award for valor.

Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche said Chapman was “an American’s American” and a hero.

“We gather today to pay tribute to the heroic efforts of Technical Sergeant John Chapman,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper. “Today we know that John is here with us.”

Jumper presented the Air Force Cross to Chapman’s widow, Valerie. Chapman’s parents, Terry Giaccone and Gene Chapman, each received one of the medals from the chief of staff.

The Air Force Cross has been awarded to 23 enlisted airmen, only three of those since the Vietnam conflict.

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray said, “Such is the high degree of heroism for the merit of this medal’s award.”

Chapman and his team were inserted by helicopter into an area of Afghanistan on March 4 for a mission. During insertion, the helicopter came under heavy machine-gun fire and was directly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The grenade caused a Navy SEAL team member to fall from the aircraft.

The helicopter was severely damaged and made an emergency landing seven kilometers away from where the SEAL fell.

After landing, Chapman called in an AC-130 gunship to provide close-air support and cover the stranded team before directing the gunship to search for the missing team member.

Chapman called for, coordinated and controlled an evacuation helicopter for the team, limiting their exposure to enemy fire.

According to the award citation, Chapman volunteered to rescue the missing team member without regard for his own life. He engaged and killed two enemy personnel then continued advancing until engaging a dug-in machine gun nest.

“At this time, the rescue team came under effective enemy fire from three directions,” read the citation. Chapman exchanged fire at close range with the enemy until succumbing to multiple wounds. “His engagement and destruction of the first enemy position and advancement on the second enemy position enabled his team to move to cover and break enemy contact.”

The team leader credited Chapman’s aggressive and selfless actions with saving the lives of the entire team.

After the award ceremony, Gene Chapman spoke of how his son always called him “ole man,” rather than old man. He then told of his last conversation with his son.

“It was March 1, four days before he died. He called, and I heard that, ‘Hey ole man,’” Gene Chapman said as his eyes began filling with tears. “I told him ‘what are you calling me for? I told you to talk to Val and the kids if you could call.’ He said, ‘I took care of that. I only have a minute and a half, and I just wanted to hear your voice.’ That was the last time I talked with him.”

Air Force
by Airman 1st Class Jason A. Neal
43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Staff Sgt. Zachary Rhyner deployed to Afghanistan in 2008. Sergeant Rhyner, a combat controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, will be awarded the Air Force Cross Mar. 10, 2009 for his actions in Shok Valley, Afghanistan April 6, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley presents Staff Sgt. Zachary Rhyner the Air Force Cross March 10 at Pope Air Force Base, N.C. Sergeant Rhyner of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron received the medal for uncommon valor during Operation Enduring Freedom for his actions during an intense 6.5-hour battle in Shok Valley, Afghanistan, April 6, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Air Force Cross, Purple Heart

An Air Force Special Operations Command Air Commando saved lives in Afghanistan April 6 during a lengthy battle by calling in air strikes to protect his team.

Staff Sgt. Zachary J. Rhyner, a special tactics combat controller assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., was deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom as the primary joint terminal attack controller while attached to a special forces team.

Then a Senior Airman, Sergeant Rhyner was part of a 100+-man combined assault force whose mission was to enter Shok Valley and capture a high-value target who was funding the insurgency. Sergeant Rhyner is credited with saving the 100-man team from being overrun twice in a six-and-a-half-hour battle.

Air Force Capt. Stewart Parker, special forces commander at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, was the command-and-control link to the JTACs on the ground as they went into Shok Valley.

“This was the first time U.S. special operations forces entered the territory,” said Captain Parker. “These were extraordinary conditions and the situation was dynamic.”

Shok Valley is located below 60-foot cliffs. The mission objective was at the top of the mountains surrounding the valley.

“Initial infiltration began that day with snow on the ground, jagged rocks, a fast-moving river and a cliff,” said Sergeant Rhyner. “There was a 5-foot wall you had to pull yourself up. The ridgeline trail was out of control.”

The expectation was to encounter fire from about 70 insurgents. One Air Force JTAC-qualified combat controller was attached to each team to call in air strikes, if needed.

“We were caught off guard as 200 enemy fighters approached,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Rob Gutierrez, a combat controller with the second team in the fight. “Within 10 minutes, we were ambushed with heavy fire from 50 meters. The teams were split by a river 100 to 200 meters apart, north to south.”

Sergeant Rhyner was in charge of coordinating the air assets.

“I have never seen a situation this bad,” said Captain Parker, who was monitoring the situation back at the base. “The intel said the enemy was 40 feet away from Zach and his team at one point. It was dangerous.”

Within the first 15 minutes of fire, Sergeant Rhyner was wounded along with three team members.

“I was pulling security when I got shot in the leg,” he said. “The rounds hit my left thigh and went through my leg and hit another guy in the foot.”

He immediately felt pain and adrenalin.

“There was nowhere to go. I grabbed the wounded guys, but we were trapped by the enemy,” he said. “I was calling in air strikes and firing, while moving the wounded down [the cliff].”

Sergeant Gutierrez could see insurgent fire coming from the buildings on the hilltops above them and was trying to get across the river to meet up with Sergeant Rhyner.

“Zach and I were in constant radio contact,” he said. “I could hear the ammunition, sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades with multiple blasts. We tried to push to the north to collocate with Zach’s team, but every time we pushed up river, it put us in an open line of fire.”

“My team ran across the freezing river. The water came off the mountains and we were 100 to 200 feet beneath the enemy, like fish in a barrel,” said Sergeant Gutierrez.

As the enemy surrounded them, Sergeant Rhyner, who was being treated for his injuries by Capt. Kyle Walton, the special forces team leader, directed multiple rockets and gun runs from AH-64 helicopters against enemy positions.

“Zach was coordinating tremendous amounts of fire on both villages simultaneously,” said Sergeant Gutierrez. “Zach was in charge of the air strikes, since he was closest to the fight and could see even what the F-15 pilots could not.”

Forty-five minutes to an hour had gone by since the fight began.

“We were pinned down and I could see the enemy all over the hills running around,” said Sergeant Gutierrez. There were no stable targets. I kept the Apaches and the Hellfire missiles pressed to the north.”

Accurate sniper, machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire poured down on the assault force in a complex ambush initiated simultaneously from all directions as the team ascented the near-vertical terrain. He called in more than 50 close air strikes and strafing runs.

Staff Sgt. Zachary Rhyner deployed to Afghanistan in 2008. Sergeant Rhyner, a combat controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, will be awarded the Air Force Cross Mar. 10, 2009 for his actions in Shok Valley, Afghanistan April 6, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Three hours into the fight, Sergeant Gutierrez reached Sergeant Rhyner’s position.

“Sergeant Gutierrez and I met on the cliff during the battle briefly. We shared a laugh, but it was a busy, bleak situation,” Sergeant Rhyner said.

Sergeant Rhyner had been calling in air strikes for three hours while he was injured, however he still felt responsible for the others who had been hurt. With disregard for his own life, he tried to get the injured to safety, still in the open line of fire.

“I left injured personnel in a house and I had to get over there,” he said. “I was frustrated being wounded. I tried to get the bombs there fast and talk to the pilots who didn’t see what I saw on the ground.”

Five or six hours into the fight, as it was getting dark, intelligence informed the JTACs that enemy reinforcements were 10 kilometers away carrying enemy rockets and missiles.

“We continued to fight our way up the hill and the [helicopters] came,” said Sergeant Gutierrez. “Zach was talking to the helos and gave the coordinates to lay the bombs on the village, while I kept the A-10s and the Apaches out of the way.”

Sergeant Rhyner called in a total of 4,570 rounds of cannon fire, nine Hellfire missiles, 162 rockets, 12 500-pound bombs and one 2,000-pound bomb, constantly engaging the enemy with his M-4 rifle to deter their advance.

“Zach acted fast and shut down the fighting,” said Sergeant Gutierrez. “The wounded were taken out on medevac.”

Back at command and control, Captain Parker heard that the helicopters were on the ground with the wounded but he could not move the helicopters due to terrain and weather conditions.

“Radio transmissions would block the signal due to terrain and vertical cliffs,” he said. “Helicopters were vulnerable and there was pressure to do everything we could to get the teams out quickly.”

Fog started rolling into the valley.

“The helicopter couldn’t fly [due to altitude] and the situation called for ‘aggressive patience,’” said Captain Parker. “More than 50 percent of the U.S. forces were wounded and it was pretty grave.”

Toward the end of the fighting 40 insurgents were killed and 100 wounded.

Sergeant Rhyner was directly credited with the entire team’s survival due to his skill and poise under intense fire.

“Sergeant Rhyner is out of training less than a year and is in one of the most difficult situations” said Captain Parker. “It is an absolute testament to his character and the training these guys take. It tells me we are doing something right.”

“If it wasn’t for Zach, I wouldn’t be here,” said Sergeant Gutierrez.

Sergeant Rhyner received the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs Grateful Nation Award and is awaiting presentation of the Purple Heart for the injuries he suffered during the battle.

Air Force
by Capt. Laura Ropelis
Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs

A combat controller is set to receive the Air Force Cross, the service’s second highest medal for valor, Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz announced Thursday at the Air Force Association’s winter conference.

Schwartz called Staff Sgt. Zachary Rhyner to stand at the beginning of his speech and detailed how the special operations airman called in air strike after air strike despite being wounded during a seven-hour battle in Afghanistan.

Air Force Times
By Bruce Rolfsen

Staff Sgt. Zachary J. Rhyner will receive the Air Force Cross for his actions on April 6 in the Shok Valley in Afghanistan. Although shot in the left leg, he called in airstrikes, fired his M-4 rifle at the enemy and helped move other wounded people down a cliff.

Rhyner is assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command’s 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope. At the time of the incident, Rhyner was a senior airman who had completed training less than a year earlier.

Combat controllers train for two years at Pope and elsewhere to do mostly covert missions in hostile territory. The “battlefield airmen” can parachute or infiltrate into enemy territory to set up drop zones, do air-traffic control or call in aircraft to shoot or drop bombs on the enemy. They often work on an Army Special Forces or Navy SEAL team and fight alongside soldiers and sailors while summoning Air Force firepower from overhead. The aircraft often are firing near “friendly” forces on the ground.

Rhyner is credited with saving his team from being overrun twice in a 6-hour battle in the Shok Valley. Members of A-Team 3336 from Fort Bragg’s 3rd Special Forces Group received 10 Silver Stars, the Army’s third highest award for combat valor, for their actions in that engagement.

Fayetteville Observer
By Henry Cuningham

More on the battle here