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Narrative to accompany the award of the Silver Star to Chief Warrant Officer James B. Herring

Chief Warrant Officer James B. Herring distinguished himself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against enemy forces near Baqubah, Iraq on 23 December 2006, while serving as the Detachment Commander for Operational Detachment Alpha 2084, Special Operations Task Force — North, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

CW3 Herring’s heroism and bravery under intense enemy fire was directly responsible for the safety and well being of a combined twenty-three man US-Iraqi force. While searching the village of Tahrir for a Sunni-Arab insurgent cell responsible for multiple complex attacks against Coalition Forces operating in the area, the combined force was caught in a complex ambush by approximately twenty insurgents firing machine guns, rifles, and rocket propelled grenades.

CW3 Herring was the Ground Force Commander and riding in the lead vehicle of the five vehicle patrol. As the convoy moved along a narrow road between two-story buildings, three insurgents opened fire with machine guns on his vehicle. He directed the driver to continue to move forward as the turret gunner engaged and killed the insurgents.

As the vehicle moved it was engaged by more than twenty insurgents from a nearby concrete wall from a distance of less than thirty feet. The turret gunner engaged the insurgents with machine gun fire. During this exchange, enemy rounds penetrated the vehicle, critically wounding the driver. As the vehicle came to a stop, CW3 Herring observed several insurgents armed with machine guns, firing on his vehicle from a distance of less than fifty meters. Realizing that the turret gunner was facing the opposite direction, CW3 Herring dismounted the vehicle and engaged the enemy forces with rifle fire, killing two enemy machine gunners. The ferocity of his action forced the other insurgents to abandon their positions and flee to nearby buildings.

An immobilized Iraqi vehicle blocked the remaining convoy vehicles from advancing to support, and CW3 Herring’s vehicle was alone against the larger enemy force. CW3 Herring then realized that the driver was critically wounded, immobile, and in need of immediate medical care. With complete disregard for his personal safety and under constant well-aimed small arms and machine gun fire, and a volley of rocket propelled grenades, CW3 Herring exited the relative safety of the vehicle for a second time. He was knocked to the ground by the concussion of an impacting rocket propelled grenade, but got up and continued to fire and maneuver, alone, with only his vehicle gunner to provide suppressive fire to get to the driver’ s side. There he removed the wounded driver from the vehicle, and after placing him in the rear seat so that the medic could continue treatment, he climbed into the driver’s seat, advised his higher headquarters of the situation, called for medical evacuation, and began to maneuver the vehicle out of the kill zone.

Though the heavily damaged ballistic windshield obscured his view, CW3 Herring led the combined ground assault force through the narrow side streets ofTahrir and back to Forward Operating Base Gabe. As a result of his decisive and heroic actions, CW3 Herring swung the tide of the engagement against a prepared enemy, killing many, and preventing other members of the combined force from being killed or wounded. His gallant action and total disregard for his personal well being directly saved the other four men in his vehicle from certain serious injury or death.

CW3 Herring’s actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of heroic military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Special Operations Task Force — North, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.