Silver Star

Brothers in Arms: Army Rangers and TACPs

After the attacks of 9/11, U.S. special operations units were quickly thrust into the fight in Afghanistan. The 75th Ranger Regiment first deployed to Afghanistan in October of 2001. It has been fighting there and in Iraq ever since. A small, specialized unit has been fighting and training alongside them since day one — this unit is the Air Force’s 17th Special Tactics Squadron (STS).

According to an article published on Military.com, operators from the 17th STS have deployed over 6,900 days with the 75th.

The 17th STS is comprised of Tactical Air Control Parties (TACPs), Combat Controllers (CCTs), Special Reconnaissance Airmen, Special Tactics Officers, and combat missions support personnel, all of whom have been deployed with Ranger units.

Conveniently, the 17th STS’s headquarters are located right next to the 75th Ranger Regiment’s headquarters and the 3rd Ranger Battalion, in Fort Benning, Georgia. In addition, the 17th has detachments alongside the 1st Ranger Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia and at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington with the 2nd Ranger Battalion.

Explaining the role of the 17th’s members, Lt. Col. Travis Deutman, Commander of the 17th STS, said in a release: “Our operators are consistently providing desperately needed close-air support at the most critical times in combat, while also coordinating insertion, extraction, and medical and casualty evacuation lift for critically wounded teammates.”

It is not surprising that the Special Tactics community is the most highly decorated Air Force group since the Vietnam War. The 17th has specifically contributed to that honor, with its members having received 80 combat-related medals.

Among these heroes is TACP Tech Sergeant Cam Kelsch. Last year he was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions while on deployment in Afghanistan in 2018.

Attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment, his unit was ambushed on a night raid. Putting himself in harm’s way, he called in danger-close air support from an AC-130 that was overhead. Later in the fight, he was pulling a wounded teammate to safety, when he also became wounded. But, during it all, he continued to call in airstrikes and provide medical attention to a wounded teammate and an Afghan soldier.

During the same deployment, he was was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for putting himself between his wounded team leader and the enemy, when his unit was ambushed.

In order for TACPs to be so successful in combat operations and to maintain their edge, they train hard and often. In a release, 1st Lt. Evan Patoray, the 17th STS Detachment 2 flight commander said,

“The training that we provide simply adds different layers and different [tactics, techniques, and procedures], seeing that the Ranger Regiment conducts operations in a very specific way. As a team, we push each other beyond what we have all seen in combat. We do this because we understand that if this training does not save their own life, it will allow them to save the lives of the Rangers around them.”

The Air Force Special Tactics community has created quite a prestigious and honorable reputation over the years. The op-tempo for these specialized units has been high, but they have continued to answer the call.

Summing it up, the 17th STS Operations Superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Steve Reedy said: “The foundation of this unit is the heritage of warriors that distinguished themselves in combat before we walked these halls. Every member of this organization earns their right to be a member every day in keeping with that heritage.”

The Giant Killer: A Fascinating Look at the Smallest Green Beret in History

The Green Berets, the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, are the military’s premier unconventional warriors. And Richard Flaherty was, perhaps, the most unconventional Green Beret warrior to ever serve.

Flaherty served with the 101st Airborne during Vietnam. He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. After Vietnam, he did contract work for the CIA all over the world.

But he had to fight to even get into the Army and the Army’s Officer Candidate School (OCS), going so far as to get his congressman involved. The reason was that Richard Flaherty was just 4’9” tall.

Years after Vietnam, David Yuzuk, a career Miami Beach police officer, struck a friendship with a confident but unassuming homeless man. After 15 years the man told Yuzuk, “It’s time I tell you who I really am.” The homeless man was Richard Flaherty.

Yuzuk finally learned the man’s story and began a quest to discover all there was to know about this diminutive man who cast a giant shadow in combat.

As he began digging into Flaherty’s background, Yuzuk decided to write a book, having previously put together an award-winning documentary on the man’s fascinating life. To do so, he enlisted the help of his father, Neil. The book dives into some of the details of Flaherty’s life that weren’t in the documentary. The trailer for the documentary can be seen here.

The book begins with Flaherty’s bizarre death. He was killed by Leslie Socolov in a hit-and-run incident. Socolov who worked for the Miami-Dade homicide division and who, despite leaving the scene of a deadly accident, was never charged with any crime, recently made headlines for an anti-Semitic rant caught on camera.

Richard Flaherty was always sensitive about his height. When he was young growing up in Stamford, Connecticut, he set about achieving the best possible physical condition he could and started learning martial arts.

When he joined the Army, he was bullied and harassed by both fellow soldiers and drill sergeants. That was until he showed his mettle in the hand-to-hand combat pit against his largest and biggest bully. He went through much the same in OCS, but persevered and graduated. Evidently, his nickname, “The Giant Killer,” which was given to him back in high school, was apt.

His commander in Vietnam hated the diminutive lieutenant. Some of Flaherty’s men corroborated this. As a result of the commander’s animosity, they always got the short end of the stick when it came to operations. His men knew Flaherty to be fearless and ruthless in combat and a capable commander.

After the war, like many Army officers, Flaherty was riffed out. This was a devastating blow to him. A failed relationship, an assortment of jobs, and later the death of a fiancé devastated him and eventually left him homeless.

That’s when he met Yuzuk. After he told him his story, the veteran police officer was skeptical. He frankly thought that Flaherty’s tale of working with the CIA was pure fantasy. But after Flaherty’s death, he spoke with his fellow vets and found his awards and decorations.

Richard Flaherty then went through Flaherty’s storage unit and found his passport. It was full of stamps to the world’s hotspots: Cambodia, Venezuela, Iraq, and Jordan among other places. Why would a homeless man visit those places, and how could he afford to?

His work with the CIA in support of the Nicaraguan Contras ended up with him being arrested and spending time in prison for drug-running. That incredible chapter involves HALO jumps from aircraft over “Alligator Alley” in Florida, guns, and lots of cocaine during the wild Miami days of the 1980s. Flaherty eventually worked undercover for the ATF in an effort to stop the flow of cocaine and weapons in the Fort Bragg, NC area.

His manner of death and his adamant statement to Yuzuk not to look into his undercover work, only raised more questions.

Yuzuk’s book is a fascinating look at one of the most extraordinary characters ever to wear a Green Beret. It is a story that sounds so off the wall that it could never be true. But it is.

The book is very well-written and guaranteed to keep your attention throughout. It is the incredible but true story of a man determined to beat the odds and make a difference. We highly recommend it. It can be ordered on Amazon.

AFSOC Commando Awarded Silver Star For Danger Close Air Support Mission

An AFSOC combat controller was awarded the Silver Star Medal for his bravery during a raid with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in Afghanistan in 2018. Tech Sgt Cam Kelsch, of the 17th Special Tactics Squadron, Hunter Army Airfield, was honored on Tuesday during a ceremony at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, GA.

Kelsch, according to the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) was awarded the Silver Star and also received a Bronze Star with “V” device for valor for separate action. During that action according to the Air Force, he “willingly stepped between the enemy and his ground force commander, who was injured during an ambush,” and then “eliminated the threat.”

His award ceremony was attended by more than 250 family, friends and U.S. service members which was officiated by Maj. Gen. Vincent Becklund, deputy commander of AFSOC.

During an interview with media held by teleconference last week, Kelsch recounted the story of April 25, 2018, when he accompanied a combined SOF team of Rangers, and Afghan Special Forces into Taliban territory, searching for a high-value target.

During that deployment, the Rangers and their Afghan Special Forces counterparts were very active … and deadly. The Rangers conducted 198 missions on that deployment and killed or captured over 1900 insurgents according to SOCOM.

During this particular mission, the team approached their designated target when a small firefight erupted that was quickly carried by the Rangers and Afghan SF. They found their high-value target, (HVT) but it was then that aircraft overhead gathered intelligence to believe a second HVT was close by.

As they approached the second target moving up a narrow creek bed, the team was in a bad position with steep walls on each side of the creek bed. That is when all hell broke loose. The enemy insurgents were waiting and sprung an ambush using rifles, machine guns, and hand grenades.

One American was hit in the chest and went down right in front of Kelsch as the Air Force commando and the ground force commander were trying to find cover behind some rocks. “It was like a bomb went off,” Kelsch said. “It was so bright and looked like fireballs going off all around me.”

“The fire was so overwhelming, I couldn’t stick my head out,” Kelsch recalled. “Bullets were ricocheting, dirt was being kicked up. I had to get eyes on the target.”

Kelsch left his position of cover and exposed himself to get the circling AC-130 overhead firing on the insurgents. With the enemy only 35 meters away, Kelsch called in 40mm rounds nearly on top of their position. Kelsch in his interview stated that aircrew in the gunship were extremely accurate with their fire, or he and the Rangers wouldn’t have survived.

His Silver Star citation reads: “Minutes later and without regard for personal safety, Sergeant Kelsch willingly exposed himself to effective enemy fire again, by closing with the enemy in order to adjust fire and save the life of a wounded American team-mate by dragging him to safety under fire.”

He and MSG Phillip Paquette, the ground force commander with the Rangers, dragged their wounded comrade back to a safer location. Paquette, who was also awarded a Silver Star was directing the Rangers and Afghans. Kelsch was shot center mass but the round hit one of his magazines in his body armor plate carrier which protected him.

“When you see one of your teammates go down, you do everything to go get them,” Kelsch said. “We looked at each other and saw the opportunity,” he added.

One of the Afghan SF troops was hit and the team was able to extract him from the danger and pull back 100 meters for an extraction. That’s when Kelsch turned the AC-130’s 105mm howitzer on the enemy. Firing danger close, the gunship was pounding the insurgents with precision artillery fire.

Then Kelsch whistled up two F-16s to drop precision-guided 500lb bombs on the insurgents in the target compound until the exfiltration aircraft arrived to whisk the team away.

Kelsch, in a true “quiet professional” manner, said that “I did not think that a fight that big would ensue when we were going after that target,” he said. “It was just another day, another mission.” He added that he was accepting the award for all of his teammates as they were all in that situation.

MG Becklund in his comments said, “What Cam did was nothing short of heroic… the embodiment of an American airman, a true warrior, and a leader.”

Kelsch is the epitome of a professional,” Paquette said, adding “one of his greatest attributes is his dedication to the mission and fellow Rangers.” Paquette and 13 other Rangers were also awarded decorations for that deployment including three with Purple Hearts.

Kelsch in his interview was quick to point out the bravery and patriotism of their Afghan Special Forces counterparts.

“The Afghan partner forces are true patriots for their country,” Kelsch said. “They want their country to be rid of terrorists. They want peace. They’re professional, they’re lethal, they’re highly trained. It was an honor to work with them.”

Photos/Video: US Air Force

Former Green Beret Maj. Mark Golsteyn Charged With Murder of Taliban Suspect

A former Army Green Beret has been charged with murder and conspiracy for killing an alleged Taliban bomb-making suspect. The bomber had allegedly planted an IED that killed two U.S. Marines that were fighting with the Green Berets in the Afghan town of Marjah. Reportedly Major Mark Golsteyn and another soldier shot and killed the suspected bomber and then destroyed his remains.

This case, which happened in 2010 has been dragging on for nine years. The US Army Special Operations Command spokesman Loren Bymer said that on Friday that “sufficient evidence exists” to warrant charges against Golsteyn. Originally this story came to light in a polygraph interview that Golsteyn did with CIA officials as part of a job interview.

“Major Golsteyn is being charged with the murder of an Afghan male during his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan,” Bymer put out in a statement.

According to Army Times, Bymer stated that Golsteyn has been recalled to active duty and is under the command of the USASOC headquarters company. An intermediary commander will review the warrant of preferred charges to determine if the major will face an Article 32 hearing that could lead to a court-martial.

That commander has 120 days to make that decision.

Golsteyn had been placed on voluntary excess leave, an administrative status for soldiers pending lengthy administrative proceedings, Bymer said. He is not being confined at this time.

“I think he’s been betrayed,” his attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, told Fox News on Friday after he was interviewed on his client’s actions. Golsteyn is facing the death penalty if convicted of murder in this case.

Golsteyn, a captain at the time, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 with 3rd Special Forces Group. During the intense Battle of Marja, an IED planted on a booby-trapped door killed two Marines and wounded three others who were working with the 3rd SFG ODA-3121.

For his actions during the deployment, Golsteyn earned a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor. Later, an upgrade for his medal was approved but never given for a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor just beneath the Medal of Honor.

However, due to his CIA polygraph where he admitted killing the Taliban bomber, CIA officials turned the results over to Army CID (Criminal Investigation Command). Although the resultant Board of Inquiry resulted in no charges filed against Golsteyn, it was ordered that he be stripped of his Silver Star and his Special Forces tab, given to Green Berets at the end of their training. It further ordered that he be given a General Discharge under Honorable Conditions.

The Board of Inquiry found no evidence that Golsteyn committed no Law of Armed Conflict violation, they found him to culpable of Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer.

While investigating the bombing in the Marjah marketplace, Golsteyn and his men found bomb-making materials nearby. Local tribal leaders brought in a tied up suspect that they identified as the Taliban IED bomber. Without enough evidence to hold the suspect much longer, Golsteyn told the polygraph examiners that he feared that the Taliban would take retribution against the tribal leaders and their families who were seen to be working with the Americans.

They made the decision to eliminate the Taliban. They took him off base, shot and killed him and then burned his body in a pit where the U.S. destroyed classified documents. His remains have never been found.

Then during a November 2016 and interview with Fox News, Golsteyn again admitted that he had killed the Taliban bomber, who had been captured by American troops, found with bomb-making material and then released.

“There are limits on how long you can hold guys,” he told Fox News for a news special that they produced on the war and our troops.

“You realize quickly that you make things worse. It is an inevitable outcome that people who are cooperating with coalition forces, when identified, will suffer some terrible torture or be killed.”

Asked if he killed the man, Golsteyn said, “Yes.”

That interview can be seen here:

That prompted the Army to open its second CID investigation into Golsteyn.

CID offered immunity to two SF soldiers to testify against Golsteyn but they refused to talk.

The two Marines Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary and Lance Cpl. Larry M. Johnson, who had been working with Golsteyn’s A-Team are the forgotten ones in this case.

But the parents of one of the slain Marines believe the charges ludicrous.

“I think that’s crazy,” said David Kleinschmidt, stepfather of victim Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary.

“I don’t understand why they are bringing this up again,” Kleinschmidt told the New York Post on Friday.

“We were in a war — and things happen in war,” he added, “personally, I think they should just drop [the charges] … I’m glad the guy is dead.” McQueary’s mom said her heart goes out to the family of the former Green Beret. “I’m sure his family has to be stressed out beyond belief,” the mom said of Golsteyn.

“And my heart goes out to them.”

Ashley Johnson, the sister of killed Marine Larry Johnson was also, not surprisingly on the side of Golsteyn. “He, from what I read, is a hero and did what he had to do. I believe at a time like that, you wear your heart on your sleeve and I think it’s what anyone with a heart would do,” she said.

While soldiers who worked with Golsteyn told Army Investigators that they doubted that the Captain would kill an unarmed insurgent, it seems he wasn’t popular with senior officers in his chain of command.

“I have a hard time believing that such an incident ever occurred,” a senior medic in his unit told CID in December 2011. “I further find it hard to believe that Matt Golsteyn would do that. The only reason I could possibly conceive him doing something like that is if he felt his men’s lives were at direct risk.”

But a Lieutenant Colonel in Golsteyn’s chain of command differed and told CID that often Golsteyn was insubordinate and would act with a sense of impunity. According to CID, this LTC stated when asked by investigators if he believed Golsteyn capable of murder, he essentially threw him under the bus. “I would hope not, the colonel stated but “would not doubt it either because of the captain’s attitude,” the investigator wrote.

When the Marines returned from the mission that their comrades were killed and wounded, Golsteyn was there as they reentered the compound. He produced a bottle of whiskey (which is forbidden in a combat zone) and toasted the fallen Marines. That small act went a long way with bringing the SF men and Marines closer but infuriated Army brass for drinking alcohol in a war zone. The fact that the Army was more concerned with a toast to killed Marines rather than removing a Taliban bomber speaks volumes to several Special Forces veterans.

Golsteyn has at least one member of Congress on his side, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter Jr. (R.Calif.), a Marine veteran and frequent critic of the Army secretary.

“Major Matt Golsteyn is an American hero, and his experience calls to attention another hero, retired General James Mattis and something he said: ‘There are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot.’ I know you agree that a known Afghan bomb-maker with the blood of American service members on his hands fits into that category,” the congressman wrote to Army Secretary Eric Fanning and Gen. Mark A. Milley, Army chief of staff.

Hunter said: “Golsteyn is an American hero — a true warrior, in fact. Why the Army is hell-bent on destroying a combat hero’s career is truly astonishing. I’m confident that Army CID has more important things to [do] than investigate Golsteyn again, and you both have the ability to fix this stupidity.”

In a handwritten note, the former Marine said, “Gentlemen, come on! This is a joke. I’m sure you have more important stuff to do. This is getting old.”

This brings to mind a case of similar circumstances back in Vietnam that was known as the “Green Beret Affair” where a suspected Vietnamese double-agent who was responsible for the death of several agents was killed and dumped into the ocean.

And now President Trump says he’ll review the case, “At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a ‘U.S. Military hero,’ Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas,” Trump said on Twitter.

This will likely make this case a politicized event …for better or worse.

Photo: DOD

Narrative for Silver Stars Awarded To Special Operations Forces Reveal Valor

Since 9/11 there have been over 1000 awards for valor consisting of the Silver Star or higher awarded to US troops, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Almost 20 percent of those have been awarded to Special Operations Forces, Navy SEALS, Green Berets, Delta Force commandos and Army Rangers.

The Pentagon and the Special Operations Command has released some of the narratives that accompanied the soldiers’ awards. And they read like a Hollywood script. Some of the narratives were published to give the public a glimpse of the valor of the Special Operations troops, however, the names were blacked out for security concerns.

Taliban insurgents blew a hole in the eastern wall of the fort in east central Afghanistan with a car bomb. The base housed a Provincial Reconstruction Team, a military-civilian unit tasked with helping Afghans rebuild their country. After the blast, 10 insurgents dressed in Afghan army uniforms flowed through the breach with rifles, grenades and suicide vests.
The Army special operator, identified only as “the Medical sergeant” raced to the “sound of gunfire and explosions.” He killed the insurgent closest to him, while two of his fellow commandos gunned down two more. Turning a corner with another commando, they confronted six more insurgents and faced a hailstorm of gunfire and grenades. One bullet struck the sergeant’s helmet, knocking him to the dirt where he continued to fight to blunt the attack.
Sped to a surgery team, the medical sergeant refused treatment, insisting on guarding the medical personnel until more troops arrived.
“His efforts directly supported containing the enemy to the edge of the airfield and saved the lives of (1,400) personnel,” the narrative states.

The Pentagon is reviewing the awards and considering many for reclassification to a higher award. Many Special Operations troops frequently are awarded awards below what they’d normally get in a conventional unit. That is one of the factors in being the “Quiet Professionals”.

To read the entire article from USA Today, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD