An infinite honor

The United States Air Force is a proud member of America’s Armed Forces.  Airmen work with their Joint and Interagency counterparts integrating air, space and cyber effects to achieve national objectives that influence world events and defend our interests.  I am very proud of the remarkable work the Nation’s Airmen do every day for the national defense team.  I’d like to share a story of one such Airman that Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and I had the privilege of awarding the Air Force Cross and Purple Heart to earlier this year:  Staff Sergeant Zachary Rhyner.

Sergeant Rhyner epitomizes the Air Force Core Values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence In All We Do.  His story is a dramatic reminder of the extraordinary work our Airmen are doing in very remote and dangerous places around the world alongside our Joint teammates.  An Air Force combat controller, Rhyner was a member of a Joint Special Forces team, and their harrowing story began in April of 2008 at a place called the Shok Valley in the remote mountains of Afghanistan.  A Senior Airman at the time, Rhyner was with his team during a daylight rotary-wing infiltration to apprehend high-value individuals from a village high on a mountain ridge.  Teams like this are an ongoing partnership between the Joint U.S. forces and Afghan commandos who live and fight together day and night.  The team overcame near-vertical terrain to reach the outskirts of the village when the situation dramatically deteriorated.

{mosads}The events that took place on that day are tough to imagine.  Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, described the scene saying, “If you saw it in a movie, you would shake your head and say, ‘That didn’t happen,’ you can’t imagine the intensity and the stress these men endured for hours and days on end.”  Devastating sniper, rocket-propelled grenade and machine gun fire poured down on the team from elevated and protected positions on all sides.  There was only one way to wake from this nightmare, and Airman Rhyner was trained and ready.

Courageously moving into position without regard for his own life, he returned fire with his rifle to cover his wounded teammates while they were extracted from the line of fire.  He bravely withstood the withering hail of fire to control A-10 Warthogs, F-15E Strike Eagles and Army attack helicopters in air strikes on their assailants.  Airman Rhyner was shot three times, seriously wounded in his leg, and trapped on a 60-foot cliff and under persistently heavy enemy fire.  Yet he directed over 50 aerial attacks that continuously repelled the enemy during the intense six-and-a-half hour battle.  The vicious fighting took its toll in the form of brutal injuries to members of the team, but Airman Rhyner’s control of airstrikes returned greater devastation on the enemy and opened a path for the team’s exit from danger.

Every member of the Special Forces team survived the hellish scene not by chance or luck, but because of courage, training and closely integrated teamwork including the invaluable and selfless efforts of Zach Rhyner.  The team earned an unprecedented ten Silver Stars that day for their devotion to duty and courage in the line of fire.  Such unflinching commitment to fellow warriors is a powerful reminder that when the United States goes to combat, our Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines carry with them the grit, tenacity and camaraderie of our uniquely American character.

I am proud to tell the story of Staff Sergeant Zach Rhyner and his Special Operations team on that stark day.  Their example builds upon our rich heritage and legacy of professional warriors that serve so valiantly around the world today.  Today’s Joint team epitomizes the essence of teamwork.  And America’s Air Force is “all in” as a resilient partner with the Joint and Coalition forces.

This story of one of our Airmen fighting alongside our partners is poignant and inspirational.  Consider all the effects other Airmen brought together to make that day survivable for those warriors.  That heroic team may have felt alone and exposed high on that mountain top, but overhead and around the world, their extended team had them covered.  From the aircrews that directly supported the engagement with fire, the maintainers on the flightline and logisticians at the depots, the intelligence professionals, satellite communications experts, munitions build-up and delivery and command-and-control leveraged through cyberspace.  All of these are effects Airmen around the world orchestrated to make this story a tale of success.

There were a host of Airmen, warriors all, who were with them all the way.  The magnitude of this effort I described is just one example of many such stories.  We have Airmen in the fight continuing this effort today.  No Airman’s worth is measured by their proximity to the fight, everyone counts and everyone contributes.  No job or specialty is more worthy than another because mission success demands all of us playing in our respective roles.

{mosads}These Airmen are responsible for generating Global Vigilance, Reach and Power, and I could not be more proud of them.  These men and women selflessly serve every minute of every day in peace, crisis and war.  Our warriors’ dedication, courage, and skill are extraordinary, exceeded only by the honor of serving a Great Nation.  America’s Airmen are faithful to a proud heritage and stand ready to defend our Nation.

Schwartz is the Air Force chief of staff.