View Full Version : 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) conducts Distinguished Service Cross and Silver
Team Sergeant
05-05-2009, 14:38
Well done Gent's! Well done!
10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) conducts Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star awards ceremony
MEDIA ADVISORY: 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) conducts Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star awards ceremony
FORT CARSON, Colo. (USASOC News Service, May 5, 2009) – One Soldier will receive the Distinguished Service Cross and two Soldiers will receive the Silver Star May 14 at 2 p.m. at the Special Events Center on Fort Carson.
Staff Sgt. Jarion Halbisengibbs, a native of Fremont, OH, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), will be receiving the DSC for extraordinary heroism in action on Sept. 10, 2007 while serving as the Detachment Weapons Sergeant, Operational Detachment Alpha 083, Samara, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The DSC, established by President Woodrow Wilson on January 2, 1918, is awarded to a person who, while serving in any capacity with the Army, distinguishes himself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a Medal of Honor; while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing/foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing Armed Force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The act or acts of heroism must have been so notable and have involved risk of life so extraordinary as to set the individual apart from his comrades.
Capt. Matthew A. Chaney, a native of Peoria, IL, assigned to 3rd BN, 10th SFG(A), will be receiving the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Sept. 10, 2007 while serving as the Detachment Commander, ODA 083, Samarra, Iraq, in support of OIF.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Lindsay, a native of Cora Peak, NC, assigned to 3rd BN, 10th SFG(A),will be receiving the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Sept. 10, 2007 while serving as Detachment Communications Sergeant, ODA 083, Samarra, Iraq, during OIF.
The Silver Star is awarded to a person who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S. Army, is cited for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The required gallantry, while of a lesser degree than that required for the Distinguished Service Cross, must nevertheless have been performed with marked distinction.
Media interested in attending this event or interested in conducting pre-ceremony interviews should contact the 10th SFG(A) Public Affairs Office at 719-524-1220.
For attendance to the event, please contact the PAO office by 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 13.
To schedule interviews, please contact the PAO office by 12 p.m. Friday, May 8. Interviews with the award recipients will be conducted May 11-13 only; no interviews will be granted the day of the ceremony to facilitate the distinctive occasion for the award recipients and their families.
Gate call will be at 12:30 p.m. at Fort Carson Gate #1 Visitors Center parking lot, off Highway 115.
http://news.soc.mil/releases/News%20Archive/2009/May/090505-02.html
ZonieDiver
05-05-2009, 14:41
Congratulations!
greenberetTFS
05-05-2009, 15:05
FORT CARSON, Colo. (USASOC News Service, May 5, 2009) – One Soldier will receive the Distinguished Service Cross and two Soldiers will receive the Silver Star May 14 at 2 p.m. at the Special Events Center on Fort Carson.
Hero's,All three of them. :lifter I've said this before and I'm saying it again, these Warriors make me proud to be a Green Beret............:D:D:D
GB TFS
Well done Gent's! Well done!
Staff Sgt. Jarion Halbisengibbs, a native of Fremont, OH, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), will be receiving the DSC for extraordinary heroism in action on Sept. 10, 2007 while serving as the Detachment Weapons Sergeant, Operational Detachment Alpha 083, Samara, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Lindsay, a native of Cora Peak, NC, assigned to 3rd BN, 10th SFG(A),will be receiving the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Sept. 10, 2007 while serving as Detachment Communications Sergeant, ODA 083, Samarra, Iraq, during OIF.
Congradulations, Staff Sgt. Jarion Halbisengibbs, Capt. Matthew A. Chaney, and Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Lindsay!!!:)
10th Group has such a remarkable history, it is great to know that the traditions are carrying on!:lifter
Well Done Men, and Thank You for Your Service!
Holly
Congratulations! Apparently, Staff. Sgt. Halbisengibbs was also promoted to SFC in May, so additional congradulations are in order.
excellent work!
Who in the area will be attending, any QP's from this group going to the ceremony on the 14th?
x SF med
05-05-2009, 18:44
Well done, Gentlemen. You are a credit to the US Army Special Forces.
De Oppresso Liber. "The Best"
Team Sergeant
05-05-2009, 20:16
Well done, Gentlemen. You are a credit to the US Army Special Forces.
De Oppresso Liber. "The Best"
You're just saying that cause they're 10th Gp guys! ;)
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/05/ap_army_carson_valor_051309/
3 Carson soldiers to receive high honors
By Dan Elliott - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 13, 2009 17:39:41 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Staff Sgt. Jarion Halbisen-Gibbs felt something like “a white-hot shot of lightning” pierce his gut when an Iraqi insurgent’s bullet tore through his small intestine and lodged in his buttock.
He and other Green Berets kept fighting, and when the September 2007 raid was over, 12 suspected Iraqi insurgents were dead — including the target of the raid, a man described by the Army as a high-value terrorist who was masterminding extortion and kidnappings.
On Thursday, the Army will give the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest medal for valor a soldier can get, to Halbisen-Gibbs. Two of his fellow soldiers from the 10th Special Forces Group, Capt. Matthew A. Chaney and Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Lindsay, will get the Silver Star, which ranks just below the Distinguished Service Cross.
In a dimly lighted, wood-trimmed regimental mess hall at Fort Carson this week, they recounted the events of Sept. 10, 2007, when they were among about 20 U.S. and Iraqi troops on a 2 a.m. raid on a rural compound in Samarra, Iraq.
With Halbisen-Gibbs in the lead, the three men stormed one of the buildings, detonating a grenade and firing their weapons. Inside, Chaney was shot in the pelvis and Lindsay in the throat, and the force of an enemy grenade sent those two flying back out through the doorway. The blast of that grenade threw Halbisen-Gibbs into a corner inside the building.
“I felt an amazing blow to my midsection that took me off my feet,” Lindsay said. He was vomiting and hyperventilating, too weak to get up or even hold his rifle, so he rolled over, pulled out his handgun and began firing toward the insurgents.
“When I was a kid, and I played war, I was always that kid that cheated and never died when somebody else shot me,” he said with a laugh. “Dying is something I’ve accepted a long time ago, but dying helpless on the ground is something I’m not willing to accept.”
Chaney temporarily lost feeling in his legs but took cover behind an insurgent’s body. He kept firing while trying to reach other team members on his radio, which he later learned had been shot and wasn’t working.
“So only the yelling was getting disseminated,” he said. “We were yelling to each other and trying to find out what’s going on.”
Shrapnel from the insurgents’ grenade had mangled the thumb on Halbisen-Gibbs’ firing hand. Dazed and unable to see through the smoke and dust, he went outside to look for Chaney and Lindsay. He began running to Lindsay when he was shot in the abdomen.
“I was so jacked up on adrenaline, I didn’t really feel it that much,” Halbisen-Gibbs said. “Honestly, my thumb hurt worse than anything else at the time.”
He shot and killed the insurgent who injured him, then rallied the Iraqi government troops to press on with the attack.
“It wasn’t until about 15 minutes later when shock really set in that I really, really started hurting,” he said.
With other soldiers wrapping up the attack and attending to Chaney and Lindsay, Halbisen-Gibbs told them, “ ‘Hey, I got shot, and I’m going to go take a knee now.’ At that point I was pretty much done.”
None of the U.S. or Iraqi government troops were killed.
Only 18 other Army personnel have won the Distinguished Service Cross in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 547 have won the Silver Star, according to Doug Sterner, a military historian in Pueblo, Colo. The Army doesn’t track the numbers.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest award for military valor. The Army’s Distinguished Service Cross, and the equivalent service awards in the Navy and Air Force, are the second-highest valor award.
In a written account of the action, the Army said Chaney, Lindsay and Halbisen-Gibbs “acted with the utmost of bravery and valor to remove a heavily armed and entrenched enemy stronghold.”
Chaney said their training allowed them to stay focused and think clearly despite the chaos and danger.
“The training allows you to think, even when your heart’s racing, and that threat is there. You actually can make sound decisions, and the ones that are required to be reflexive, your training does kick in,” he said.
Lindsay said the training helps them manage stress and fear.
“You’re never going to get rid of the fear. It’s always there,” he said. “I don’t want to go out on a mission with a guy that’s not scared, because that dude’s a maniac.”
Lindsay, 30, of Gates County, N.C., and Halbisen-Gibbs, 27, of Peterboro, N.H., each had at least two operations and both had sections of their intestines removed. Chaney, 31, of Washington, Ill., had at least three operations.
All are still on active duty, and Halbisen-Gibbs has been promoted to sergeant first class. Chaney and Lindsay have served another tour in Iraq. Halbisen-Gibbs is in training and ready for another deployment.
All three are married. Halbisen-Gibbs and Chaney each has a son. Lindsay’s wife is expecting twins in June.
[“The training allows you to think, even when your heart’s racing, and that threat is there. You actually can make sound decisions, and the ones that are required to be reflexive, your training does kick in,” he said.
Lindsay said the training helps them manage stress and fear.]
Somewhere there is an NCO and a group of NCOs that should take a bow for the training they imparted to these men.
You all have my respect and admiration for being American soldiers.
Eagle5US
05-13-2009, 18:39
Nicely done gentlemen...nicely done.
Eagle
The Reaper
05-13-2009, 19:52
Well done, brothers.
TR
Congratulations,, Job well done..
http://news.soc.mil/releases/News%20Archive/2010/October/101026-03.html
FRANKENMUTH, Mich. (USASOC News Service, Oct. 26, 2010) – Sgt. 1st Class Jarion Halbisengibbs, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross and an Ann Arbor, Mich., native, was inducted on Oct. 12, 2010 into the Michigan’s Own Military and Space Museum, located in Frankenmuth, Mich.
The induction ceremony was attended by his wife, Holly and his son, Caden, and included the unveiling of a case displaying Halbisengibbs’ equipment and mission documentation from the engagement during which he proved his heroism.
Halbisengibbs was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on May 14, 2009, for events that took place in Iraq on Sept. 10, 2007 as a weapons sergeant assigned to Operational Detachment Alpha – 083, 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
ODA-083 was tasked to advise and assist a combined assault element of Iraqi National Police in capturing a high-value target from the Islamic State of Iraq who was running a kidnapping and extortion ring. ODA-083 and their Iraqi National Police counterparts conducted an air assault on targeted buildings where the HVT was thought to be.
ODA-083 and their Iraqi counterparts came under fire as soon as they assaulted the compound. The combined American and Iraqi force cleared the first structure and took fire from a building 50 meters away.
ODA-083 Soldiers Capt. Matthew Chaney, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Lindsay and Halbisengibbs cleared the building, killing several insurgents while doing so. Upon entering the building, all were wounded by an enemy grenade, Chaney and Lindsay also suffered gunshot wounds.
Halbisengibbs found himself alone and wounded after the grenade attack. His night vision device and radio were damaged, so he was unable to contact the assault force. He cleared the room and continued to fight into a courtyard, where he encountered a position not cleared by the assault force. Halbisengibbs came under fire and was wounded in the abdomen; he kept fighting and killed the enemy within 12 feet of his position.
Halbisengibbs found cover and took command of the Iraqi National Police element, securing the objective. He sought medical attention for his wounds only after the objective was secured.
Halbisengibbs’ wife Holly said the events that day were a supreme test of their then new marriage.
“We had been married for only a year when I got the phone call from Jarion when he was flown to Germany for treatment,” she said. “It’s a horrible thing to hear your husband has been wounded in combat.”
Halbisengibbs said he is thankful for the support Holly received from family support immediately after his injuries.
“Family support in Special Forces works… period,” he said. “My wife was assisted by the 10th Special Forces Group family support and by the Special Operations Command Care Coalition every step of the way. They had her on a plane to Walter Reed as soon as I arrived at the hospital.”
Not long after being awarded the DSC, Halbisengibbs’ uncle, John Gibbs, contacted Stan Bozich, a friend and the director of the Michigan’s Own Military and Space Museum Director. The two men agreed that Halbisengibbs’ heroism deserved to be in the museum.
At the dedication of the display, Halbisengibbs said he considered it a huge honor to be inducted into the Museum.
“I am humbled to be included in this display of courage that shows so many different veterans from our nation’s wars,” he said.
Halbisengibbs spoke with pride in front of the display of Master Sgt. Tony Yost, his former instructor in the Special Forces Weapons course. “Special Forces is a small community and it was a personal loss for many of us when we heard he was killed in action. He was a great Special Forces NCO and is sorely missed.”
Halbisengibbs said he felt honored to be recognized for his courage in battle, but he was also quick to remind those present that his decoration didn’t make him better than any other Soldier serving overseas. “It’s an honor to serve your country in wartime, no matter what your role is.”
The combat narrative of this article was obtained with the permission of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Public Affairs Office.
--usasoc--
moutinman
10-30-2010, 12:51
Congrats to Jar and the boys. Well deserved.
greenberetTFS
11-14-2010, 07:34
Well done, Gentlemen. You are a credit to the US Army Special Forces.
De Oppresso Liber. "The Best"
10th Group, Congrats........ :D Well done Warriors.............;)
Big Teddy :munchin