Heroism Repeated: Airman Makes Air Force History with a Second Silver Star

HEROISM REPEATED

Airman makes Air Force history with a second Silver Star

BY RANDY ROUGHTON

22 December 2014

Maj. Gen. Harry Polumbo presents Master Sgt. Thomas Case with his second Silver Star medal during a ceremony at Pope Army Airfield, N.C. Polumbo is the Ninth Air Force commander, and Case is a tactical air control party Airman with the 18th Air Support Operations Group. Case received the medal for gallantry in action during a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Ryan Callaghan)

One thousand feet into a 5-kilometer hike toward a target deep in a dangerous part of Afghanistan’s Paktia Province, Master Sgt. Thomas Case realized something was wrong. “Sir, we’re not where we’re supposed to be,” the tactical air control party NCO told his special operations task force commander after he looked down at his wrist GPS.
It proved to be a fortunate wrong turn for Case and the assault force.
“It was kind of a godsend that we ended up taking the wrong path because we came to find out that all of the enemy combatants up there had heavy weaponry oriented toward the valley where we were going to be operating,” Case said. “It was kind of like we were supposed to walk up there and distract them from what was going on below, so to speak.”
Case, then assigned to the 17th Air Support Operations Squadron, now the 17th Special Tactics Squadron, at Fort Benning, Ga., was attached to an Army Ranger team on an overnight mission to capture a high-level target and destroy an insurgent training camp high in the mountains. Suddenly, shots began to rain down on them, and the platoon was soon pinned down by enemy fire from higher ground 15 meters from their position. Machine-gun fire impacted trees and ground within 2 feet of Case as he tried to determine the insurgents’ position to call in air support. However, the wires on his radio were severed in the attack, and Case couldn’t communicate with supporting aircraft that included an AC-130 gunship and F-15 Eagles.

Master Sgt. Thomas Case coordinates aerial command and control while deployed as part of a joint task force during Operation Enduring Freedom. Case, who received his second Silver Star medal Nov. 13, 2014, is a tactical air control party Airman with the 18th Air Support Operations Group at Pope Army Airfield, N.C. (U.S. Air Force photo)

For his actions on the June 16-17, 2009, mission, Case received the oak leaf cluster to the Silver Star in a ceremony at Pope Army Air Field, N.C., where he is now stationed as the operations superintendent for the 18th Air Support Operations Group.
In addition to becoming one of only three Airmen with two Silver Stars, Case also became the seventh military member since 9/11 to have that distinction, except for classified medals awarded to Navy SEALs. He is also the only TAC-P in the Air Force with a second Silver Star. Tech. Sgt. Ismael Villegas and Staff Sgt. Sean Harvell, the other two Airmen with two Silver Stars, were both combat controllers.
“As a young staff sergeant receiving (the Silver Star), I thought it was pretty cool, but you tend to think it’s about me,” Case said. “Then, as you get a little more mature and you realize you’ve been nominated for a second one that’s been approved by both the Air Force and the Army, you realize you really want this one to be more about the career field, and let the civilian population understand that it’s not just Marines and Soldiers. There are Airmen, too, who are fighting, sometimes right next to our Army brothers.”
Since his ceremony, Case has told and read his story countless times. He can close his eyes and take himself back to the darkness in the mountainous terrain of the Khost-Gardez Pass as the insurgents tried to close in on their position.
Once he realized his radio wires were damaged, Case held them together as he made the call to request immediate air support. However, the AC-130 needed a couple of minutes to get into position, and Case learned support was still five minutes away. As enemy fire landed within feet of Case and whirled past his head, he stood up to lay down suppressive fire with his M-4 rifle and led five friendly assault force enablers, who were tactical psychological operations, cultural support team and combat camera members, to move behind cover.
As the fire continued to land within feet of his position, Case again stood to make sure the AC-130 hit the correct target area. He then saw two enemy fighters armed with AK-47 assault rifles headed down the hill and firing at him and the ground force commander.
As the insurgents closed within 15 meters of Case and the ground force commander, the joint terminal attack controller stepped between them and his commander. Case then shot dead both insurgents, who turned out to be heavily trained foreign fighters, with his M-4.
“I didn’t think too much about it,” he said. “I was just trying to make sure our GFC could do his job and move his guys and know where his platoon leader was. I’d been around long enough to understand that the GFC is a pretty important guy, and it’s our job as JTACs to be attached to that guy at the hip to make sure he’s making sound decisions in regards to airpower.”

Maj. Gen. Harry Polumbo presented Master Sgt. Thomas Case with his second Silver Star medal during a ceremony at Pope Army Airfield, N.C. Case received the medal for gallantry in action during a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan. The Silver Star Medal is the U.S. militaryÕs third highest military decoration for valor. It is presented for gallantry in action against an enemy of the U.S. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Ryan Callaghan)

As the battle raged on, the enemy moved to higher terrain and threw grenades down the mountain slope at the platoon. One grenade exploded about 10 meters from Case, damaging his helmet and wounding two Rangers. Case directed six more “danger close” strikes, which means friendly forces are within range of being harmed by incoming ordnance, and then realized he needed to link with the lead element to see the entrenched enemy position.
With zero visibility because of dust and haze from the air strikes and still under enemy fire, Case climbed 50 meters up a 60-degree embankment to reach the fire team leader. Once there, he repaired his radio and directed four AC-130 strikes on three enemy combatants about 100 meters away. A few minutes later, two more insurgents flanked his position within 7 meters in a clump of trees. Case threw a grenade that killed one of them and shot the other insurgent dead.
The 2009 mission happened six years after Case received his first Silver Star for actions during the Global War on Terror between March 31 and April 5, 2003. He was a staff sergeant aligned with Company B, 3rd Ranger Battalion in Iraq, tasked with directing combat aircraft. The company had been receiving heavy-direct and small-arms fire, anti-aircraft cannon, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar and artillery fire. Case directed air strikes while firing his personal weapon at enemy within 30 meters of his position. At one point, Case controlled 14 aircraft and was responsible for more than 300 enemy casualties and the destruction of 29 tanks, three heavy cargo trucks, nine S-60 anti-mortars, 10 enemy boats and helped ensure the success and safety of 120 Army Rangers.
Maybe it’s at least partly due to the fact that 14 of his 16 deployments were in support of their missions, but Case has always felt a special bond with Army Rangers.
“I have a very soft spot in my heart for the Army Rangers,” he said. “We’re talking about guys who, in your off-duty time, you’re with. Your friends, wives and kids are together. You’re barbecuing together, you’re training together and you’re deploying together. So there is a bond there, and it goes beyond the color of your uniform or what your name tape says. I talk to a lot of those guys to this very day.”
Some of them were at his award ceremony at Polk Field, and one Ranger, the first sergeant on the Afghanistan mission, paid Case one of the highest compliments a JTAC can receive before he returned home from the deployment.
“‘Tom, I just want you to know that what you did on this rotation was really great, and we appreciate the fact that you were here with us. There’s not a Ranger here who can out-Ranger you, and you’re in the Air Force.’
“They’re always going to remind you that you are in the Air Force,” Case said, laughing. “But it was a really big compliment, and one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever gotten.”

Master Sgt. Thomas Case is the third Airman and first tactical air control party member since 9/11 to receive two Silver Stars. Case received the medal for gallantry in action during a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan. The Silver Star medal is the U.S. militaryÕs third highest military decoration for valor. It is presented for gallantry in action against an enemy of the U.S. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Ryan Callaghan)

A few days after receiving his second Silver Star, Case was back in his office, telling his story yet again. He was also spreading the lust for life he’s cultivated from experiences like the one in the Khost-Gardez Pass on his 16 deployments.
“I look at every day as a blessing,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I think it drives our first sergeant nuts here because I tell her that every day. Some days she asks me why I’m still smiling, and I say because it’s a blessing to be here. I don’t attribute that to any specific life-changing event. I honestly think that every day is a blessing. I like life.”

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2014/12/heroism-repeated/#sthash.z5FbVlbf.dpuf

Fallen Marine's Family Adopts His Best Friend

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, Feb. 4, 2011 – "Whatever is mine is his," Marine Corps Pfc. Colton W. Rusk wrote about Eli, his military working dog, in the final days of their deployment in Afghanistan.

Brady Rusk, 12, gets a somber kiss from Eli, a bomb-sniffing military working dog, during a retirement and adoption ceremony at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Feb. 3, 2011. The Labrador retriever was assigned to Brady's older brother, Marine Corps Pfc. Colton Rusk, who was killed in Afghanistan. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Yesterday, Rusk's family helped to prove his words true when they adopted the black Labrador retriever in a retirement and adoption ceremony at the military working dog school here.

After Rusk, 20, was killed Dec. 5 in Afghanistan’s Helmand province by Taliban sniper fire, Marine Corps officials told Darrell and Kathy Rusk, his parents, that Eli, the young Marine’s infantry explosives detector dog, crawled on top of their son to protect him after he was shot.

The Rusks drove here from their home in Orange Grove, Texas, along with their sons -- Cody, 22, and Brady, 12 -- as well as Rusk's aunt, Yvonne Rusk, and his grandparents, Jan Rusk and Katy and Wayne O'Neal.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jessy Eslick of the Defense Department’s military working dog research and development section handed the leash to the family, praising Eli as "a dog that brought Marines home to their families."

Eli immediately began licking Kathy Rusk's palms and fell into the arms of his former handler's father.

"In his last letter we got the day before we buried him, at the very top was a little smudge that said 'Eli's kisses,'" said the fallen Marine’s mother, who wore a two-sided pendant with a photo of her son on one side and another snapshot of him with Eli on the other. "[Colton] thought whatever was [his] was Eli's. "We're Colton's family, so it's just right that we're Eli's family now."

Eli, who was trained in the military working dog program here, reportedly is the second working dog the Marines discharged to permit adoption by a fallen handler's family. Cpl. Dustin J. Lee's family adopted his German shepherd, Lex, after the Quitman, Miss., Marine died from wounds he received in a mortar attack in Iraq’s Anbar province March 21, 2007. The corporal's family worked for nine months with an online petition and congressional help to secure the adoption.

Kathy Rusk said her family didn't have as many obstacles in their quest to adopt Eli. Texas Gov. Rick Perry started the process of working with the Marines on the dog's discharge, and Scooter Kelo, who trained Eli and also taught Rusk on working with the dog, also helped to make the adoption possible.

"It gets our mind off the sadness of losing Colton," she said, "just knowing we're going to have a little piece of Colton in Eli. I just wished he could talk and tell us some stories. Just to know we're going to be able to share the love we have for our son with something that he loved dearly."

Rusk joined the Marines after he graduated from Orange Grove High School and committed himself to the Marines the same week that his best friend, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Justin Rokohl, lost both legs in southern Afghanistan. Rusk deployed to Afghanistan on his 20th birthday, with Eli, as part of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, from Camp Pendleton, Calif.

"He wanted to be a Marine since he was 10 years old," his mother said of her fallen son. "We talked to him about maybe going to college first, but he said he had to fight for his country first."

Rusk often told his parents how dogs like Eli were well-trained here and in South Carolina, where he was trained as a bomb detector dog handler.

"We've had dogs all of our lives," Darrell Rusk said. "Since all of the boys were babies, they had one. Colton was probably the better handler of the bunch. When he went to train in South Carolina, he said, 'Dad, we don't know how to train dogs. These dogs here will bring you a beer, they'll open the can for you, but sometimes they'll drink it for you, too.' He said that was how well-trained the dogs were, and he was really amazed how much you can do with a dog once you've worked with them."

The dog Rusk liked to call "My boy, Eli" earned a reputation for wanting to be wherever his handler was. Eli didn't want to sleep on the ground; he slept in Rusk's sleeping bag. They even ate together outside after Rusk found out that Eli wasn't allowed to eat in the chow hall.

"He told a story of when they were in the chow line one time," the fallen Marine’s father said. "One of the Marines kicked at the dog one time and told him to get the dog out. Colton and the Marine got into a little scuffle. They told Colton he could stay inside and leave the dog outside, but from then on, Colton and Eli ate outside. That's how tight he and the dog were."

The family met Eli once when they visited Rusk at Camp Pendleton the week he deployed. After the retirement and adoption ceremony, the Rusks took Eli to their home on more than 20 acres of land, which he will share with the family, their horses and three German shepherds.

Jan Rusk said this was another way to honor her grandson’s memory, but it also will help the family as they continue to cope with their loss.

"Eli was a part of Colton, and now they have a little part of Colton back," she said.

Double Duty: AF Family Counts the Days During Parents' Dual Deployment

Disney Princess and “Toy Story” characters serve an important purpose for the Gamez family. The familiar Disney faces on 5-year-old Tomas’ and 3-year-old Eva’s calendars reminded them how many days remain before Mama and Daddy return from their deployments in Afghanistan. Eva and Tomas mark off each day as they look forward to reaching the week marked with a sticker and the words, “Daddy should be home this week.”
The calendars went to Ohio with the children when their mother, Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez, took them to their maternal grandmother’s home before the holidays. Sergeant Gamez will begin combat skills training at Camp Bullis near San Antonio in early January before deploying to Afghanistan. Her husband, Master Sgt. Rodolfo Gamez, left in September. He is a member of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
“Every night, I make it a point to [tell the kids how many days there are] until Daddy starts home,” Sergeant Gamez said two months before she reported to Camp Bullis. “They know that means it’s about [45 days after that] before Mama gets home.”
Sergeant Gamez is a financial analyst who was assigned to the 802nd Comptroller Squadron at Lackland before her deployment. She’s also writing a blog, “Double Duty,” during the couple’s deployments to help prepare other Air Force couples for the concerns they will face if they deploy at the same time. She hopes the blog will help fellow Airmen make difficult decisions before and during their deployments. “Double Duty,” is available at http://doubleduty.dodlive.mil.
Because of their ages, Sergeant Gamez tried to keep her children from hearing about the tragedy and violence where their parents would be spending the next year. The TV usually was on a Disney video or educational program and not the news, and she asked her mother to follow her lead while the children are with her.
But sometimes it was unavoidable, as when she was at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland for a medical appointment with her children before she departed.
“The TV was on CNN and they were talking about bombs in Afghanistan, so my kids asked me, “Mama, why are they talking about bombs and Afghanistan?” she said. “I told them they were talking about a different part of Afghanistan, but that’s why mamas and daddies have to go over there and keep the bad guys locked up. I don’t typically watch the news. I watch something that makes me happy or want to laugh. I don’t want them to hear that stuff.”
As the day to leave drew near, Sergeant Gamez found herself alternating between the joy of watching her children’s soccer games and the melancholy of knowing she would soon have to leave them for the uncertainty of deployment. But like her children, she drew comfort in what the calendars have in store for her family when she and her husband are home again.
A special date the Disney characters are helping the Gamez children keep in mind will be about two months after Sergeant Gamez returns. The family went to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., before the deployments and plans a return trip soon after the reunion next year.
“I get sad because I wish I didn’t have to go, but I know so many things are going to be easier,” Sergeant Gamez said. “I know all of the benefits we’re going to have when we get back. For our first time in the military, we’re going to have almost a whole year when we will probably be together. We’re just living in the moment right now.”