Scott officer awarded Bronze Star for leadership and bravery

Published Aug. 13, 2009
By Christi Spargur
375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Capt. Mike Lee, a 375th Logistics Readiness Squadron officer who recently returned from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan, was awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Action Medal Aug. 11 for courage under fire.

His assignment there included training Afghans on how to do combat logistics. Because he was a logistician and due to a shortage of escorts, he moved with the supplies in 125 convoys, most of which came under numerous attacks.

The worst of these attacks occurred Oct. 10, 2008, in Afghanistan's Tangi Valley.

"There were visible IEDs [improvised explosive devices] south of us blocking the road and there were more IEDs to the north," said Captain Lee. "This meant our convoy had to go through the Tangi Valley.

"It's weird because the Tangi Valley is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. There's a stream that runs alongside the road. There are green pastures all round, grazing cows, and a hill or a small mountain on the left side."

The Tangi Valley, though, is also known for deadly ambushes. About every 200 or 300 yards, there are IEDs.

"We just lost six people there about three months before when a vehicle was completely obliterated. It's like Eden in the middle of hell," he said.

On this particular ambush in October, the convoy first met with small arms fire.
"Then, we started to hear mortars," he said. "Three mortars were aimed at us but hit a wall behind us -- boom, boom, boom. We followed our TTPs, [techniques, tactics, and procedures] and continued driving another 1,000 yards out of the kill zone. At this point, the road was blocked by a dump truck. We had to stop ... and clear the choke point."

As soon as they got out, the men were fired on from a Daskha machine gun , AK-47s, and PKMs [light machine guns] pinning the group down. They took cover by the walls of nearby adobe homes and returned fire, while the gunners on the vehicles provided suppressive fire.

Captain Lee, along with two others, cleared the dump truck and rendered it safe. After about a 25 minute fire fight, the enemy broke contact and the group returned to their vehicles moving the convoy forward another 1,000 yards.

"At the 1,000 yard mark by our books, we are supposed to stop, regroup, and make sure everyone is OK," said Captain Lee. "The enemy knows this. At the 1,000 yard mark when we started to stop, two RPGs hit the front vehicle, two RPGs hit the last vehicle, and one hit the middle vehicle. There was also more small arms fire, so we used our vehicle gunners to push them back and keep the convoy moving."

Another 1,000 yards down the road, the group hit an IED between the first and second vehicles of the convoy. The IED was buried too deeply so the group recovered.

"Since it was so deep, it just hit us with concrete shrapnel," he said. "However, the front and side of the lead vehicle was damaged badly and its communication equipment was destroyed."

The convoy continued to move forward under continued fire.

"We couldn't stop. I was in the convoy's second vehicle. It was a serpentine road, and I could only see the vehicle in front of me. I couldn't see the other four vehicles behind me. The small arms fire took out most of the communication boxes, so we couldn't talk with the lead vehicle or the vehicles in the rear."

The convoy pressed slowly forward out of the valley through intense RPG fire into safety. In all, the convoy was hit with at least seven RPGs, three mortars, three 50-caliber machine guns, and a variety of small arms fire.

"It was 30 minutes of a running gun battle," said Captain Lee. "It was the granddaddy of complex ambushes because you had dismounts, indirect fire, RPGs and IEDs. That's everything they can throw at you."

The convoy's lead vehicle was heavily damaged. It had no rear wheel and no armor remaining on the right side. Two of the five-ton trucks had numerous holes and one had taken two RPG rounds. The convoy's other vehicles also were damaged. The group's servicemen, including 5 other Air Force, Navy and Army counterparts, however, only sustained minor injuries.

"I actually think it's karma," said Captain Lee. "On Oct. 2, we were in a convoy in Kabul. I was the lead gunner when a vehicle passed by our convoy. It struck the second vehicle in our convoy in what was a failed 'vehicle-born IED.' The vehicles didn't blow up, but it hit our middle vehicle hard enough causing it to roll over and kill the driver.

"We lost one of our guys even though we did everything right that day. Eight days later, while technically the ambush was set up beautifully and all of us should have been killed or wounded, no one was. I think God was giving it back to us."

While the Bronze Star recognizes Captain Lee for his leadership and bravery during the Oct. 10 ambush, Captain Lee gives his crew all the credit.

"The guys I was with," said Captain Lee, "they're the real heroes. Some of them are on their second and third deployments doing the same thing. They're not necessarily trained for it either. There were two Navy storekeepers from ships who don't traditionally fight on land, yet, they're in the back of a convoy vehicle handling ammunitions, and returning fire on the enemy. I also had an Army and an Air Force ammunitions guy. They may know ammo, but they don't usually go slinging it downrange.

"These guys are doing things outside of their career fields, but they're completely on point. When a vehicle rolls over and someone dies, they don't stop. They don't hesitate. They go right into doing what they're supposed to do.

"I've seen them put friends in body bags onto helicopters and two seconds later they do what they have to do. I wouldn't trade this experience back for anything, because the people I served with were awesome."

Col. Gary Goldstone, 375th Airlift Wing commander, who presented the medals said, "It is an honor to recognize Captain Lee for his heroic actions. He and his team were on point executing their mission orders with precision and discipline. Captain Lee has earned every bit of this recognition, and I am proud to serve with such a fine Airman and his family."

As a logistic readiness officer, it is very likely Captain Lee will deploy again. "We are deploying six months, staying home for six, and deploying for another six. I have 18 years in now so I know I'm going to get hit with at least three or four more deployments before I finish my commitment."

Twelve of those 18 years for Captain Lee were spent as an enlisted combat medic in the Army. He and his wife, Amanda, are both from O'Fallon, Ill., but live with their two daughters in Mascoutah. Captain Lee hopes to teach history at his alma mater, St. Louis University, when he retires.