thedrifter
01-11-03, 09:14 PM
This was e-mailed to me by 3BadgeMarine.........It is well worth posting.............
Sempers,
Roger
US honours Briton in Afghan raid
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 11/01/2003)
A member of the Special Boat Service has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour, the equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for his part in the rescue of a CIA officer from an Afghan prison revolt.
The man, a sergeant, led a patrol of half-a-dozen SBS commandos who rescued a member of the CIA's special activities section from the fort at Qala-i-Jangi near Mazar-i-Sharif, in November 2001.
Two CIA officers were inside the fort, which held 500 al-Qa'eda and Taliban prisoners, interrogating one of the inmates when a riot broke out.
Many of the prisoners had not been searched and were still armed and in the resultant battle one of the CIA officers Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed.
The SBS patrol had been about to leave the area when the revolt broke out but returned to rescue the other CIA officer, who has been named only as Dave.
The uprising went on for three days and the SBS commandos remained throughout, bringing down aerial fire to quell the revolt.
The battle was one of the most contentious episodes of the war in Afghanistan with human rights groups raising concerns over air strikes against prisoners, some of them unarmed.
The medal was awarded to the SBS commando in a private ceremony and kept quiet to preserve his anonymity. The SBS, based at Poole, Dorset, is often seen as a poor relation of the SAS but has been present at all leading special forces operations of recent years.
It was created during the Second World War as the Special Boat Section, earning its nickname as "the Cockleshell Heroes" after a 1942 raid on German ships in Bordeaux, by men paddling collapsible canoes or "cockles".
After the war the SBS was renamed as the Special Boat Squadron, was re-organised into boat units and deployed around the world. Then, in the 1980s, the name was changed to Special Boat Service. The unit played a key role in the Falklands war when members swam ashore ahead of the Task Force to identify the designated beaches.
The willingness of the Americans to recognise the courage of the NCO contrasts with the British decision not to award a VC either to the SBS NCO or to two SAS soldiers who took part on an attack on the al-Qa'eda cave complex also in Afghanistan in November 2001.
One led the main attack on the heavily defended caves near Kandahar while the other directed aerial fire at the other end of the caves, putting his life at extreme risk by waiting until the last possible moment to bring down fire.
Members of the SAS, SBS and the RAF squadrons that fly their aircraft were awarded four Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses, five Military Crosses and three Distinguished Flying Crosses for operations in Afghanistan but no VCs.
29 October 2002: Secret medals for unsung heroes of the SAS and SBS
26 March 2002: British SBS commando to get 'American VC'
30 November 2001: Alliance mourns victims of prison revolt
28 November 2001: Farce, tragedy and bloody combat in the final battle for Quia-i-Jhangi
28 November 2001: SAS wounded in gun battle
26 November 2001: US begins battle for Kandahar
External links
Royal Marines
CIA
Victoria Cross reference - Mike Chapman
© Copyright of Telegraph
Sempers,
Roger
US honours Briton in Afghan raid
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 11/01/2003)
A member of the Special Boat Service has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour, the equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for his part in the rescue of a CIA officer from an Afghan prison revolt.
The man, a sergeant, led a patrol of half-a-dozen SBS commandos who rescued a member of the CIA's special activities section from the fort at Qala-i-Jangi near Mazar-i-Sharif, in November 2001.
Two CIA officers were inside the fort, which held 500 al-Qa'eda and Taliban prisoners, interrogating one of the inmates when a riot broke out.
Many of the prisoners had not been searched and were still armed and in the resultant battle one of the CIA officers Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed.
The SBS patrol had been about to leave the area when the revolt broke out but returned to rescue the other CIA officer, who has been named only as Dave.
The uprising went on for three days and the SBS commandos remained throughout, bringing down aerial fire to quell the revolt.
The battle was one of the most contentious episodes of the war in Afghanistan with human rights groups raising concerns over air strikes against prisoners, some of them unarmed.
The medal was awarded to the SBS commando in a private ceremony and kept quiet to preserve his anonymity. The SBS, based at Poole, Dorset, is often seen as a poor relation of the SAS but has been present at all leading special forces operations of recent years.
It was created during the Second World War as the Special Boat Section, earning its nickname as "the Cockleshell Heroes" after a 1942 raid on German ships in Bordeaux, by men paddling collapsible canoes or "cockles".
After the war the SBS was renamed as the Special Boat Squadron, was re-organised into boat units and deployed around the world. Then, in the 1980s, the name was changed to Special Boat Service. The unit played a key role in the Falklands war when members swam ashore ahead of the Task Force to identify the designated beaches.
The willingness of the Americans to recognise the courage of the NCO contrasts with the British decision not to award a VC either to the SBS NCO or to two SAS soldiers who took part on an attack on the al-Qa'eda cave complex also in Afghanistan in November 2001.
One led the main attack on the heavily defended caves near Kandahar while the other directed aerial fire at the other end of the caves, putting his life at extreme risk by waiting until the last possible moment to bring down fire.
Members of the SAS, SBS and the RAF squadrons that fly their aircraft were awarded four Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses, five Military Crosses and three Distinguished Flying Crosses for operations in Afghanistan but no VCs.
29 October 2002: Secret medals for unsung heroes of the SAS and SBS
26 March 2002: British SBS commando to get 'American VC'
30 November 2001: Alliance mourns victims of prison revolt
28 November 2001: Farce, tragedy and bloody combat in the final battle for Quia-i-Jhangi
28 November 2001: SAS wounded in gun battle
26 November 2001: US begins battle for Kandahar
External links
Royal Marines
CIA
Victoria Cross reference - Mike Chapman
© Copyright of Telegraph