The Battle of Shok Valley, also known as Operation COMMANDO WRATH, was a joint US-Afghan raid designed to kill or capture Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) in the Shok Valley of Nuristan Province of Afghanistan on 6 April 2008. Ten Special Forces soldiers and their combat cameraman were awarded the Silver Star for bravery, the greatest number of such awards for a single battle since the Vietnam War. In addition SrA Zachary Rhyner, ODA 3336’s attached Air Force Combat Controller, was awarded the Air Force Cross.

The battle plan called for the Afghan commandos of the Afghan National Army (ANA) led by American Special Forces soldiers, to be inserted into the valley via helicopter. From there they were to move on foot to the terraced slopes around the fortified town and take the HIG forces by surprise. However, the coalition’s CH-47 Chinook helicopters were unable to land on the terraced terrain, so their soldiers were forced to jump from the hovering helicopters. Due to the austere and barren nature of the valley HIG forces immediately spotted the incoming US and ANA forces and had several minutes to set up ambush positions.

While attempting to infiltrate the stronghold along a sheer-sided agricultural terrace, SSG Luis Morales was the first to observe armed insurgents moving along the ridge and opened the first salvo of automatic fire on the enemy. The unit came under heavy enemy rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and machine-gun fire from HIG positions. The initial salvo of machine gun fire was aimed at the command element in the American line. Immediately, the unit’s interpreter was killed and one of the Special Forces communications sergeants was badly wounded. Now pinned down, the US and ANA forces responded with small arms and sniper fire. After an Afghan commando was incapacitated while attempting to render aid to the wounded and pinned communications sergeants, the ODA’s combat cameraman, SP4 Michael Carter, ran through the open to recover the wounded soldier while the element’s commanding officer, CPT Kyle Walton, provided cover fire. The two then switched roles in providing cover in order to recover the second wounded soldier. While the lead elements engaged HIG positions, Walton knew he would require close air support and so again provided cover while Carter ran out to recover the unit’s communications gear.

With the communications gear restored, the ODA’s attached combat controller began directing close air support from orbiting F-15E Strike Eagles and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters onto HIG targets. Over the course of the battle, SrA Zach Rhyner, the combat controller, would direct over 70 danger close air strikes. Rhyner also used the F-15s as observation platforms, their avionics systems acting as reconnaissance tools. While the air strikes were hitting the fortified town, a massive explosion occurred in one of the buildings, causing a temporary lull in the fighting. The rear elements of the Special Forces detachment used this as an opportunity to maneuver into new positions and begin sniper fire on HIG heavy weapons positions. While providing first aid to SGT Behr, the ODA’s intelligence sergeant, Luis Morales, was struck in the thigh. SSG Morales calmly applied a tourniquet and returned to giving care. A second shot went through Morales’ boot at the ankle blowing out bone and severing the Achilles tendon (Morales would later lose his foot). In the ensuring firefight, SGT John Wayne Walding has his leg nearly severed by single shot. Walding applied a tourniquet to his leg, auto-injected morphine, folded his mangled leg upward into his crotch, and tied two bootlaces to his belt in order to retain his ability to move and shoot.

By this time, the F-15 overhead reported a massive reinforcement element moving into the valley. As daylight faded, and now burdened with several wounded soldiers, ammunition running short, and the weather beginning to turn, the ODA began to scout an exfiltration route to an extraction zone. Carter and the ODA’s team sergeant, Scott Ford, were scouting a route down the sheer terraces when Ford was hit twice by sniper fire, one of the shots nearly severing his left arm. As the combined Afghan and American forces withdrew down the mountain, the ODA’s sniper, commanding officer and their combat cameraman remained behind to collect or destroy weapons that could not be carried. The ODA sniper covered the withdrawal before making his way to the extraction zone.

In all, the battle lasted for seven hours. The primary target of the action, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, was not captured.

Zach Rhyner Actions

SrA Rhyner was part of the 100+-man combined assault force whose mission was to enter Shok Valley and capture a high-value target, the man who was funding the insurgency. SrA Rhyner is credited with saving the 10-man team from being overrun twice in the battle.

Air Force Capt Stewart Parker, special tactics commander at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, was the command-and-control link to the Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) on the ground as they went into Shok Valley. “This was the first time US special operations forces entered the territory,” said Capt Parker. “These were extraordinary conditions and the situation was dynamic.”

Shok Valley is located below 60-foot cliffs. The mission objective was at the top of the mountains surrounding the valley. “Initial infiltration began that day with snow on the ground, jagged rocks, a fast-moving river and a cliff,” said SrA Rhyner. “There was a 5-foot wall you had to pull yourself up. The ridgeline trail was out of control.”

The expectation was to encounter fire from about 70 insurgents. Consequently, one Air Force JTAC-qualified combat controller was attached to each team to call in air strikes, if needed.

“We were caught off guard as 200 enemy fighters approached,” said Air Force SSgt. Rob Gutierrez, a combat controller with the second team in the fight. “Within 10 minutes, we were ambushed with heavy fire from 50 meters. The teams were split by a river 100 to 200 meters apart, north to south.”

SrA Rhyner was in charge of coordinating the air assets.

“I have never seen a situation this bad,” said Capt Parker, who was monitoring the situation back at the base. “The intelligence said the enemy was 40 feet away from Zach and his team at one point. It was dangerous.”

Within the first 15 minutes of fire, SrA Rhyner was wounded along with three team members. “I was pulling security when I got shot in the leg,” he said. “The rounds hit my left thigh and went through my leg and hit another guy in the foot.” Rhyner immediately felt pain and adrenalin. “There was nowhere to go. I grabbed the wounded guys, but we were trapped by the enemy,” he said. “I was calling in air strikes and firing, while moving the wounded down [the cliff].”

Sgt Gutierrez could see insurgent fire coming from the buildings on the hilltops above them and was trying to get across the river to meet up with Rhyner. “Zach and I were in constant radio contact,” he said. “I could hear the automatic weapons fire, sniper fire, and rocket-propelled grenades with multiple blasts. We tried to push to the north to collocate with Zach’s team, but every time we pushed up river, it put us in an open line of fire.”

“My team ran across the freezing river. The water came off the mountains and we were 100 to 200 feet beneath the enemy, like fish in a barrel,” said Sgt Gutierrez.

As the enemy surrounded them, SrA Rhyner, who was being treated for his injuries by Capt Kyle Walton, the Special Forces team leader, directed multiple rockets and gun runs from AH-64 helicopters against enemy positions.

“Zach was coordinating tremendous amounts of fire on both villages simultaneously,” said Gutierrez. “Zach was in charge of the air strikes, since he was closest to the fight and could see even what the F-15 pilots could not.”

Forty-five minutes to an hour had gone by since the fight began.

“We were pinned down and I could see the enemy all over the hills running around,” said Gutierrez. There were no stable targets. I kept the Apaches and the Hellfire missiles pressed to the north.”

Accurate sniper, machine gun, and rocket-propelled grenade fire poured down on the assault force in a complex ambush initiated simultaneously from all directions as the team ascended the near-vertical terrain. He called in more than 50 close air strikes and strafing runs.

Three hours into the fight, Sgt Gutierrez reached SrA Rhyner’s position.

“SrA Gutierrez and I met on the cliff during the battle briefly. We shared a laugh, but it was a busy, bleak situation,” said Rhyner.

SrA Rhyner had been calling in air strikes for three hours while he was injured, however he still felt responsible for the others who had been hurt. With disregard for his own life, he tried to get the injured to safety, still in the open line of fire.

“I left injured personnel in a house and I had to get over there,” he said. “I was frustrated being wounded. I tried to get the bombs there fast and talk to the pilots who didn’t see what I saw on the ground.”

Five or six hours into the fight, as it was getting dark, intelligence informed the JTACs that enemy reinforcements were 10 kilometers away carrying rockets and missiles.

“We continued to fight our way up the hill and the [helicopters] came,” said Sgt Gutierrez. “Zach was talking to the helos and gave the coordinates to lay the bombs on the village, while I kept the A-10s and the Apaches out of the way.”

SrA Rhyner called in a total of 4,570 rounds of cannon fire, nine Hellfire missiles, 162 rockets, 12 500-pound bombs and one 2,000-pound bomb, constantly engaging the enemy with his M-4 rifle to deter their advance.

“Zach acted fast and shut down the fighting,” said Gutierrez. “The wounded were taken out on medevac.”
Back at command and control, Capt Parker heard that the helicopters were on the ground with the wounded but he could not move the helicopters due to terrain and weather conditions.

“Radio transmissions would block the signal due to terrain and vertical cliffs,” he said. “Helicopters were vulnerable and there was pressure to do everything we could to get the teams out quickly.

Fog started rolling into the valley.

“The helicopter couldn’t fly [due to altitude] and the situation called for ‘aggressive patience,’” said Capt Parker. “More than 50 percent of the US forces were wounded and it was pretty grave.”

Toward the end of the fighting 40 insurgents were killed and 100 wounded.

SrA Rhyner was directly credited with the entire team’s survival due to his skill and poise under intense fire.

“SrA Rhyner was out of training less than a year and was in one of the most difficult situations” said Capt Parker. “It is an absolute testament to his character and the training these guys get in the pipeline. It tells me we are doing something right.”

“If it wasn’t for Zach, I wouldn’t be here,” said Sgt Gutierrez.

About the Author: CMSgt Gene Adcock retired as Chief Combat Control Inspector, Military Airlift Command, Office of the Inspector General on 31 January 1977. As a combat controller he deployed to Vietnam in 1965 and three times during the period 1969 – 1971 to Laos in support of Project 404. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, the AF Meritorious Service Award, six Air Medals and the AF Commendation medal with Combat “V”.
Adcock is the author of CCT @ The Eye of the Storm – a history of combat control teams; President of the Combat Control School Heritage Foundation. permission.