Bronze Star Recipient
Jason Amerine |
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 Major
Amerine's actions in the
face of overwhelming odds
and direct hostile
aggression resulted in the
surrender of Kandahar by the
Taliban Forces...
"BEING IN THE
SPECIAL FORCES HAD BEEN MY
DREAM..."
Jason Amerine grew up in
Honolulu, Hawaii. From
childhood he had been
interested in the Army and
took his first step toward a
military career when, as a
freshman at Roosevelt High
School, he joined the Junior
Reserve Officer Training
Corps (JROTC).
Upon
graduation from high school
in 1989, Jason entered the
United States Military
Academy at West Point. After
four years of rigorous
academic, physical,
leadership and military
education he graduated from
West Point in 1993 with a
Bachelor of Science Degree
in Arabic and was
commissioned as a Second
Lieutenant in the Infantry.
His fluency in Arabic was
uncommon for a brand-new
Second Lieutenant in the
Army, but Jason knew that it
would be a valued asset in
pursuing his later goal of
joining the Army's Special
Forces. "Being in the
Special Forces had been my
dream since I was 14 years
old. In high school and at
West Point, I focused on
cultural and language
studies with the objective
of preparing myself to
become a Special Forces
Soldier."
As a new
lieutenant, Jason
volunteered for Ranger
School, where he earned the
distinction of Officer Honor
Graduate and the Merrill's
Marauder Award.
After Ranger School, Jason
joined his first unit, 5th
Battalion, 87th Infantry
(Light), stationed in the
Republic of Panama. During
that assignment, he led a
Light Infantry Platoon of 31
Soldiers.
Thereafter, Jason joined the
elite Joint Security Force
Company at Pan Mun Jom
within the Korean
Demilitarized Zone.
"A RITE OF
PASSAGE..."
After his assignment in Pan
Mun Jom, Jason was selected
for promotion to Captain and
volunteered for Special
Forces Assessment and
Selection (SFAS). As he
observers
SFAS is not
really a school or a course,
it's a rite of passage. When
you're in SFAS, the Green
Beret cadre run you through
the ringer, to see how well
you operate in a team, see
how well you operate
individually, and in the end
the cadre assess if they
want you to go on to the
Special Forces Qualification
Course (SFQC or Q Course).
Well, I completed SFAS and I
was selected for training at
the Q Course and, following
that, I attended the
Detachment Officer
Qualification Course, where
I learned to be a Special
Forces Team Leader."
Following his Special Forces
training, CPT Amerine earned
the right to wear the Green
Beret and to lead Special
Forces. With this
distinction, he was selected
to command ODA 572
(Operational Detachment
A-Team) within the 5th
Special Forces Group
(Airborne) at Ft. Campbell,
KY.
"WE KNEW
IMMEDIATELY THAT IT WAS WAR"
On September 11, 2001,
as terrorists attacked the
World Trade Center and
Pentagon, Jason and his team
were in the Republic of
Kazakhstan where they were
training Kazakh paratroopers
in counter-insurgency
operations.
"When we
heard about the World Trade
Center being hit," he
recalls, "we knew
immediately it was war. I
was definitely certain that
this war was going to take
place in Afghanistan."
Jason began preparing
for the fight he knew was
coming. "We didn't know what
kind of mission it would
be," he says. "We were
already forward deployed so
we began our preparations,
identifying equipment we
needed, what equipment we
had, and what sort of
training we needed to catch
up on, given the fact that
we'd been deployed for the
better part of a year."
"TRAINED TO RESPOND TO
THINGS LIKE THIS"
On
14 November 2001, CPT
Amerine led ODA 574 into
Afghanistan on an
undertaking of importance
that was seemingly out of
all proportion to the team's
small size. Acting in
concert with Afghan freedom
fighters, ODA 574 was to
spearhead one of several
coordinated efforts to
topple the Taliban regime.
For years, the Taliban had
imposed increasingly
tyrannical rule on
Afghanistan. The Taliban had
also fallen in league with
Al Qaeda, providing Osama
Bin Laden a sanctuary from
which he and his lieutenants
could hatch new terrorist
plots and within which they
could recruit and train new
generations of terrorist
myrmidons.
What ODA
574 lacked in numbers it
made up for in daring,
advanced training, and
capabilities in
unconventional warfare and
foreign internal defense -
hallmark competencies of
Army Special Forces.
Equipped with special
communications systems and
augmented by combat
controllers, ODA 574 could
operate independently from
U.S. ground forces and yet
bring the capabilities of
supporting naval and Air
Force systems to bear at the
key time and place on the
battlefield. That
battlefield lay in the
rugged terrain of
Afghanistan - terrain into
which historically, foreign
armies had ventured to their
demise. However, Amerine and
his Soldiers would enter
Afghanistan not as elements
of a foreign army, but
rather, as allies of
indigenous freedom fighters.
For years, Afghan
freedom fighters struggled
to end Taliban rule. After
the attacks of September 11,
2001, and the Taliban's
failure to expel Al Qaeda
from Afghanistan, these
freedom fighters gained the
support of a new ally, the
United States. To destroy Al
Qaeda, the United States had
to eliminate Bin Laden's
sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
This meant ridding
Afghanistan of the Taliban
and establishing a popularly
elected Afghan government.
To lay the groundwork for
Taliban defeat, and
establishment of a stable
and democratic government,
Army Special Forces entered
Afghanistan to provide
advice, support, and
leadership to Afghan freedom
fighters. Amerine and his
team undertook just such a
mission in concert with
Afghan fighters operating
under leadership of Hamid
Karzai. For years Karzai had
struggled against the
Taliban rule of Afghanistan.
With the help of ODA 574,
Karzai and 200 freedom
fighters embarked upon
military operations that
would contribute to the
demise of Taliban tyranny,
ultimately clearing the way
for democratic elections
that would see Karzai become
the freely elected president
of Afghanistan.
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On
November 16, Karzai's Afghan
force, in company with ODA
574, entered the town of
Tarin Kot within the
province from which the
Taliban had begun their rise
to tyrannical rule. After
conferring with local
leaders, Karzai notified
Amerine that the Taliban had
gathered a large force into
a convoy of more than one
hundred vehicles at
Kandahar. Moreover, in 24 to
48 hours, they would debouch
from one of two intervening
mountain passes to the south
with the intent of retaking
Tarin Kot. While Karzai
readied the Afghans, Amerine
prepared his team for the
coming battle. Today Amerine
observes... We are trained
to respond to things like
this. I had my weapons
sergeants analyzing the
maps. I had my combat
controller send a warning
order to the Air Force and
to the Navy that we'd
probably need a lot of
aircraft-fast. My
communications sergeants
were calling back right away
to our higher headquarters,
letting them know what was
coming our way. We worked
through the evening, waiting
for Afghan guerrillas to
show up. When they arrived,
our plan was to grab as
large a force as we could
and move out to the edge of
town.
"WELL, SMOKE
'EM"
Around 0200 the
next morning, Amerine
received reconnaissance
reports that Taliban
vehicles were approaching
Tarin Kot from the south.
Based upon word from Karzai
that any northbound convoy
would be Taliban, he gave
his response: "Well, smoke 'em."
With the approach of
first light, Amerine led his
men and a few dozen of
Karzai's freedom fighters
south from Tain Kot. They
planned to take up positions
on a mountain from which
they could cover the likely
Taliban avenue of advance.
Enroute, they reached the
edge of a plateau that
opened into a wide valley.
Amerine recounts
It was
just perfect terrain to
defend from, from there, we
had great visibility. We
could bomb them as they came
through the mountain pass.
In company with the Afghan
fighters, ODA 574
established itself on the
edge of the plateau. The
Special Forces Soldiers set
up their laser designators
and radios, the combat
controllers established
communication with the
forward air controller
loitering overhead. In turn,
the air controller began
coordinating air support for
the coming battle. When,
after a few hours, the
Taliban convoy entered the
valley below Amerine's
force, it looked like a
scene from "Mad Max Beyond
Thunderdome." It included
vehicles ranging from Toyota
pickups to large trucks
outfitted with artillery and
anti-aircraft guns. With the
Taliban force in the open,
Amerine's team began
designating targets for air
strikes. The effect was
immediate and devastating -
the lead Taliban vehicles
were incinerated.
While ODA 574 continued
vectoring aircraft against
Taliban targets, Amerine and
his men heard shouting and
the noise of vehicle engines
behind them. The ferocity of
the American air strikes had
unnerved the accompanying
group of Afghan freedom
fighters. Confronted with
the chaos of battle and a
substantial language
barrier, Amerine was unable
to persuade the fighters to
stay on the scene. Knowing
that their departure would
strand his team without
transportation, CPT Amerine
and his men jumped into the
trucks with the Afghan
fighters. They headed back
to Tarin Kot where Amerine
found Karzai in front of his
headquarters, organizing his
force. CPT Amerine briefed
him on the situation and
requested use of the trucks
so that his team could go
back to the plateau and
finish what they'd started.
"IF THE TALIBAN GOT
PAST US, WE LOST THE TOWN"
Because the Taliban
convoy, by this time, had
advanced through the pass
and overrun the team's
previous position, CPT
Amerine led his men south to
new positions just outside
Tarin Kot. Amerine recalls
this was the last line of
defense for the town
If
the Taliban got past us, we
lost the town, I had no real
hopes whatsoever of keeping
Tarin Kot if the Taliban
made it into the town in
large numbers. All the
aircraft in the world
weren't going to help us
once the Taliban got into
the town and it turned into
an urban fight.
As
Amerine's team resumed
vectoring in aircraft, armed
townspeople began to arrive,
cheering the destruction of
the Taliban convoy. After
several hours of close
combat, the Special Forces
had held their ground. They
had engaged the Taliban with
their light weapons as well
as countless air strikes,
decimating the enemy force
so that not even the few
remaining trucks attempting
to flee back to Kandahar
escaped.
Over the
next few weeks, ODA 574
interdicted Taliban convoys
attempting to move north
from Kandahar, destroying
dozens of Taliban vehicles
loaded with the means of
war. These actions near
Tarin Kot earned Amerine and
his team the trust and
respect of Hamid Karzai and
tribal leaders throughout
the area. The success of the
combined Afghan and Special
Forces team also opened the
door for Karzai and Amerine
to move on the Taliban
stronghold of Kandahar.
"IN THE FACE OF
OVERWHELMING ODDS"
By
late November 2001, Karzai
had assembled a formidable
force. He had negotiated
several Taliban surrenders
and begun the work of
creating a new governmental
structure. With the
assistance of ODA 574 he was
ready to move south against
the Taliban in Kandahar.
Leading this effort, CPT
Amerine organized the
advance in two elements of
freedom fighters. He
gathered a contingent of 150
Afghans and half of his
Special Forces team into one
element under his control.
The remainder of his team
with another force of
Afghans were to follow a few
hours behind.
On
December 3rd, after a
pitched street-by-street
battle, the freedom fighters
seized the town of Showali
Kot. Directing in AC-130
gunship support, they also
fended off a Taliban
counterattack that
threatened to surround the
town.
Thereafter, CPT
Amerine's objective was to
seize the lone bridge that
crossed the Arghandab, a
major river between Tarin
Kot and Kandahar. While
traversing the last major
ridgeline before the
Arghandab River, his force
came under fire from Taliban
in the town of Sayyd Alma
Kalaya below the ridge.
After a fierce firefight,
Amerine's force drove the
Taliban off and took the
town.
Throughout the
night and into the next
morning, Amerine's team
fought off Taliban
counterattacks, engaging the
enemy in close combat and
with air strikes. The
following afternoon, as the
enemy fire died down, the
first element of an American
command team arrived by
helicopter.
With the
arrival of leaders from his
battalion headquarters,
Captain Amerine and his team
recovered to a hill near
Sayyd Alma Kalaya and, for
the first time in a long
time, got a good night's
sleep. On December 5th, the
Taliban sent a delegation to
surrender Kandahar.
For his contributions in
leading ODA 574, Captain
Amerine was awarded the
Bronze Star with "V" Device.
In part, his award citation
states that his actions
in the face of overwhelming
odds and direct hostile
aggression resulted in the
surrender of Kandahar by the
Taliban forces .. directly
contributed to his unit's
and his country's success
"THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE
OF MY LIFE"
After
returning from Afghanistan,
the Army selected Captain
Amerine to join the faculty
at the United States
Military Academy at West
Point. As with his
preparation to become a
Green Beret, this new
undertaking entailed a
substantial period of
education and development.
The Army assigned Captain
Amerine as a student at
theGeorge Bush School of
Government at Texas A&M
University. For 18 months,
Jason focused his attention
on graduate studies in
international relations.
Thereafter, he joined the
faculty at West Point, where
as an Assistant Professor of
International Relations, he
assumed the mantel of
mentoring and developing a
new generation of Soldiers.
Just as other Soldiers had
prepared him to dominate the
challenges of life and
battle, he now set about
preparing West Point cadets
for challenges they would
face in the defense of
freedom. Today he states
Serving as an officer in the
United States Army has been
the greatest privilege of my
life. In Afghanistan, I
commanded American and
Afghan soldiers, each
fighting for his own nation
and his people, yet united
in a common cause as they
entrusted one another with
their lives. There is no
greater courage than for
people to fight side-by-side
against the terrible odds
they faced with such
impenetrable faith in one
another. |
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Photo and information courtesy of US
Army /
Dept. of Defense |
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