President Barack Obama awards former Army Capt. William D. Swenson the Medal of Honor. Swenson received the Nation's highest honor for his courageous actions while serving as an embedded advisor to the Afghan National Border Police, Task Force Phoenix, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan in support of 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on September 8, 2009. He is the sixth living recipient and the first officer to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. OFFICIAL NARRATIVE: On Sept. 8, 2009, elements of the 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 201st Afghan National Army Corps; 3rd Kandak, 1st Zone Afghan National Border Police, known as the ABP; U.S. Marine Corps Embedded Training Team, or ETT, mentors; U.S. Army ABP advisors; and Task Force, or TF, Chosin, conducted Operation Buri Booza II (a.k.a. Dancing Goat II) in the valley of Ganjgal Gar, in Eastern Afghanistan, along the volatile Pakistan border. The operation, Buri Booza, was to engage the elders in the lower Ganjgal Valley, in both the villages of Dam Darah and Ganjgal, in order to separate the isolated mountain communities from insurgents, and, through engagement and development initiatives, connect them with the Afghan government. The Afghan National Security Force-led mission also provided an opportunity for the Afghan National Security Force, known as the ANSF, to demonstrate their capabilities. For Maj. Kevin Williams and Capt. William D. Swenson and the Marine ETTs, the mission was particularly significant because it represented the culmination of a series of operations, a necessary step for the eventual transition of lead security responsibilities in areas where insurgents still undermine the state. The rugged terrain in Ganjgal Gar is typical of the capillary valleys seen throughout Eastern Kunar Province, where a steep mountain range marks the invisible boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The valley begins just off of the Kunar River and east of Auxiliary Supply Route, or ASR, Beaverton. A narrow, ungraded trail created by small vehicle and taxi traffic leads into the valley, and rock walls lining the sides of the road limit traffic by larger coalition vehicles. Opportunities to turn around are limited, and it is not until the road cuts north and across a large “washout” that there is any real space to spread out and expand mounted formations. The road ends just beyond Ganjgal village. The grade on all sides rises considerably off of the valley floor, and terraced fields and boulders provide excellent observation of any approaching mounted and dismounted elements. The valley itself winds eastward nine kilometers, slowly rising in elevation, until it eventually peaks at the Pakistan border. Travel beyond Ganjgal and Dam Darah is rare because of the restrictive terrain, the lack of a viable road, and the sparse population that lives in this valley – although insurgents are known to traverse the seasonal passes with abandon. Elements of the ANSF and TF Chosin had recently been in Ganjgal and Dam Darah. Four days prior to Operation Buri Booza II, Sept. 3, 2009, the Afghan National Army, known as the ANA, the Afghan National Border Police, referred to as ABP, and TF Chosin conducted a cordon and search in Dam Darah, in an attempt to engage the elders and search for an enemy mortar position. The engagement with village elders was positive. The elders traveled to Forward Operating Base, or FOB, Joyce, Sept. 4, provided a public radio announcement to be played over the FOB’s radio-in-a box, or RIAB, that denounced the insurgents, and invited the ANSF and Coalition Forces back into the valley to assess needed improvements to the Ganjgal mosque. To follow this momentum, Operation Buri Booza II was planned for Sept. 8. Unknown to the ANSF and Coalition Forces, up to 60 insurgents had infiltrated Ganjgal Village from deeper within the valley, and from Pakistan. The insurgent presence was not reflected in corroborated advance intelligence. When combined forces entered the valley, they were ambushed by a host of well-armed, well-positioned insurgents, and the six-hour firefight that ensued produced 15 coalition and ANSF deaths – including four ETTs (three Marines and one Navy Corpsman) and one ETT interpreter – plus 17 more were wounded-in-action. On Sept. 8, ANSF entered the mouth of the valley. Though a large or heavily-armed foe was deemed unlikely, patrols that entered into the valley historically were engaged by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, known as RPGs, usually from small groups from the high ground. Before dawn as the combined force turned off ASR Beaverton east toward Ganjgal Gar, all were prepared for the potential of small arms contact and RPGs, despite the warm invitation by the elders to come into the village. Shortly after twilight lifted, at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time, the column departed the vehicle objective rally point, or ORP, at the bottom of the valley and began the movement up the long, gently sloping hill toward Ganjgal Village. Because of the rough road and intelligence suggesting improvised explosive devices along the route, they approached on foot. The column consisted of 106 personnel, which included 60 ANA soldiers, 14 ANA mentors, 30 ABP members, and U.S. Army Soldiers Capt. William Swenson and Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, both advisors to the ABP. After departing the ORP, Marines and ANSF broke off to the north and south to take up various support positions, while a smaller contingency – approx. 65 troops - continued up the center of the treacherous wash leading to the village. At the front of the column approaching the village were four ETTs – three Marines and a Navy Corpsman – and their ANA counterpart. Behind them was the command element, or Tactical Action Center (TAC), led by Maj. Kevin Williams and consisting of 1st Lt. Ademola D. Fabayo, a Marine ETT operations officer; First Sgt. Christopher Garza, ETT first sergeant; an ANA radio telephone operator, or RTO; and Jonathan Landay, an embedded reporter with the Marine...
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Oct 15 2013, 05:13 AM
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