Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney, will receive the Silver Star at a
May 6, 2012 ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord Tacoma, Washington. He serves with the 116th
Air Support Observation Squadron and is the third state Guard member to
receive the Silver Star in the post-9/11 era. "TSgt Delaney is deserving of this high honor," said Maj. Gen. Timothy
Lowenberg, the adjutant general and commander of the Washington National
Guard.
AP photo
Currently holding a Bronze Star Delaney doesn't
believe himself to be a hero, underplaying his role in the four
tours he has completed, three in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. While some may wonder, misguidedly so, at his many tours,
he holds true to four rules: patriotism, honor, courage and sacrifice.
The
local Afghan National Police Commander feared he might be overrun by
fighters, intelligence reports supported his claim yet reconnaissance
flights proved to be inconclusive. On May 25, 2011 Delaney and his
partner Senior Airman Mike McCaffrey joined a scout platoon from the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment and 20 Afghan soldiers for a three day reconnaissance. Few thought they would be facing an ambush.
As
luck would have it, after landing in a hail of bullets the team found
themselves pinned down, fire coming at them from three sides, the Afghan
soldiers inadvertently became the forward team. Motivating the Afghan
soldiers to mobilize or even fight back was a near to impossible feat.
As the forward team, it was imperative that they join in the battle.
Delaney drew upon his previous experience as an ETT (Embedded Tactical
Trainer) spending 13 months training Afghan troops to help him inspire
them to action. Some may say his tactics were a little unethical, but
when the Afghan troops saw him hollering and shooting they began to
follow suit.
Motivating
troops was not his main objective. Outnumbered and exposed, hiding in
windowless rock sided animal pens, and with the enemy holding the high
ground, it was DeLaney’s job to call in precision air strikes, utilizing
force from AH-64 Apaches, OH-58 Kiowas, F/A-18’s and F-15Es.
As part of a highly trained elite team from Washington’s Air National Guard 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, known as JTAC (joint terminal attack controller) Delaney is responsible for calling in air support within a specific area
and range. "I had four years of training for this job. And I continue to
training so that I am ready at a moments' notice." With his partner
McCaffrey, the team calculated airstrike coordinates and dodged enemy
fire for 7 hours.
Requesting
a show of force, the now nicknamed “Death Star Run” occurred. Pilot
Sorenson banked his Strike Eagle into the valley “tipping back and forth
through the narrow canyon, speeding, and roaring” not unlike Luke
Skywalker. Delaney realized the air power, including the F-15s dropping
all 12 bombs they carried, though making a difference, was not enough.
Delaney sought the ground commander’s permission to drop two “danger
close” bombs at 200 yards away and continued to call in more ground
support as well as more loaded F-15s and an AC-130 that “pounded the
northern ridgeline with 105mm cannons.” Each hit seemed to be like
“hitting a hornet’s nest” as the insurgents continued to pour out of the
mountain.
13
hours after the initial ambush and 7 hours after Delaney and McCaffrey
landed with 40 US troops and 20 Afghan soldiers, the battle was over.
When
asked what compelled him to continue under such heavy fire, Delaney
responded, “There was no other answer, if I didn’t do my job that day we
would have been in big, big, big trouble.” Though he wasted not once
second to praise the pilots, “Those pilots were unbelievable, the air
power won the day.”
His last thought at the completion of the interview was simple and well said, “God had my back that day.”
The antenna and equipment make the JTAC a prime enemy target.
The mountainous terrain of the Hindu Kush.
