Story by Devyn Waits.

For our Fallen Warrior commemoration this week, we remember Master Sgt. John Chapman, 24th Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.

Chapman was born July 14, 1965, growing up in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. At Windsor Locks High School, he shined as a varsity soccer player and enjoyed muscle cars. His family always took note of his eagerness to take on a challenge and how he was always ready to lend a helping hand. In 1985, Chapman joined the Air Force, initially serving as an information systems operator until he retrained as a combat controller.

On March 4, 2002, as a part of Operation Anaconda, Chapman and a Navy SEAL Team observed enemy activity in Takur Ghar, Afghanistan. During insertion, enemy forces attacked the team’s MH-47 Chinook, forcing it to crash land.

A second Chinook carried the team back up the hill, where they engaged the enemy to rescue a fallen comrade. Chapman attacked and destroyed the position of several entrenched enemies before seeing other insurgents attacking from a different strong point.

Chapman moved to open ground to attack uphill at a steep incline while thigh-deep in snow. In the face of danger, Chapman continued assaulting the enemy with single-minded dedication and devotion to the welfare of his team, until he made the ultimate sacrifice, saving the lives of many others.

He earned the Air Force Cross on that same day, and upon further review of his decoration, was upgraded to a Medal of Honor in 2018. Chapman is survived by his wife, Valerie and their two daughters, Madison and Brianna.

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This story by Airman 1st Class Devyn Waits, 81st Training Wing Public Affairs, was first published by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. DVIDS content is in the public domain. The Fallen Warrior series highlights Fallen Warriors who exemplify our Special Tactics core values and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Story by Maxwell Daigle, 27th SOW, Dec 10, 2020.

Snapped awake by the sound of belt-fed machine gun fire, then-Senior Airman Alaxey Germanovich, a combat controller assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, surveys the compound he had dozed off in after several sleepless days of combat.

“I look around and I don’t see any of my American teammates,” said Germanovich. “(At that moment I said to myself) I need to find my friends right now.”

Grabbing his helmet and rifle, Germanovich bolted out of the compound and into the fight, where he saw several of the U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers he was embedded with huddling for cover from behind a small rock.

“I knew then that I had to go get to my teammates and help them,” he said.

Germanovich’s base instinct would quickly turn into a grueling battle for survival, but it was those selfless impulses to save and protect his teammates that proved to be the difference between life and death for many of his teammates on that fateful day.

SecAF Commends Combat Controller for Valor

The 25th Secretary of the Air Force, Barbara M. Barrett, presented the Air Force Cross to now-Staff Sgt. Germanovich during a ceremony here, Dec. 10, 2020.

Germanovich was awarded the medal, second only to the Medal of Honor, for his actions on April 8, 2017, during combat operations against enemy forces in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.

“This Air Force Cross is a tribute to your persistence (Staff Sgt. Germanovich),” said Barrett. “You risked your life and weathered blistering enemy fire to save the lives of others.”

In attendance were Col. Matthew Allen, 24th Special Operations Wing commander, the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) team Germanovich was attached to during the combat operations, and Germanovich’s family and friends.

Following the ceremony, Germanovich led those in attendance in memorial pushups to commemorate the event, the firefight and the ultimate sacrifice paid during the clash by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark De Alencar, a Special Forces Soldier assigned to 7th SFG (A) and a member of the team Germanovich was assigned to.

“This battle was a case study in toughness and extraordinary competence,” said Allen. “But it was also a case study in love. The type of love that demands teammates fight for one another and give everything they have.”

Germanovich’s actions as the air-to-ground liaison for his special operations forces team were credited with protecting the lives of over 150 friendly forces and the lethal engagement of 11 separate fighting positions.

Facing Hell, Calling for Fire

A native of Boiling Springs, S.C., Germanovich enlisted into the Air Force in November, 2012, with two goals in mind.

“I always knew I wanted a challenge,” said Germanovich. “I wanted to have a direct impact on the battlefield wherever I went.”

Five years later, both of those wishes would be granted when he deployed to Afghanistan and embedded with 7 SFG (A) Soldiers and their Afghan partners.

During his tour, the joint force was tasked with clearing several valleys in Nangarhar of fighters. As the multi-day operation progressed and the coalition forces pushed the insurgents closer to the Afghan border of Pakistan, the fighting became more and more violent, and it reached a head as Germanovich sprinted through heavy enemy fire to help the Special Forces Soldiers on that fateful day.

After reaching the rock his teammates were pinned down behind, Germanovich began to call in airstrikes to try and suppress the attack.

“It was working to a degree,” said Germanovich. “But we were still receiving extremely effective fire, and one of our partner force members had gotten shot.”

To evacuate the wounded Afghan commando, Germanovich began to call for strikes extremely close to their position in order to create more separation between the coalition forces and the insurgents.

“As the bombs were falling out of the sky, I started screaming at everybody to run for cover,” said Germanovich.

After the partner force member was evacuated, the special operations forces team launched their counter-attack. A separate unit from across the valley was able to pinpoint a key enemy bunker during the firefight, and Germanovich’s element, led by De Alencar, crawled their way towards the position.

Once the fire team reached the top of the bunker, Germanovich and De Alencar dropped grenades into its entrance. Then, as Germanovich secured the opening and De Alencar and the other Special Forces soldiers began to breach the bunker, insurgents ambushed the team from hidden positions to the south, mortally wounding De Alencar.

“The situation just became complete and utter chaos,” said Germanovich. “The team and I had expended all of our ordnance engaging enemy targets. We expended all of our grenades, there was no more pistol ammunition, and we were out of ammo completely.”

Lying prone with no cover from the attack, Germanovich put out a call to an AC-130W Stinger II gunship aircraft that was leaving the area in order to refuel.

“As they were leaving, I said ‘if you don’t come back, we’re dead.’” said Germanovich.

The gunship did return and began to fire on the enemy fighters, which gave Germanovich and the soldiers the opportunity to move away and evacuate De Alencar.

“All the while, we’re still taking effective fire from the enemy,” said Germanovich. “We began dropping ordnance and basically bombing up this mountainside until we got to safety.”

Germanovich’s actions proved decisive on that battlefield and demonstrated the enormous impact of AFSOC’s precision strike mission, which provides ground force with specialized capabilities to find, assess and engage targets.

“You (Germanovich) told me earlier that you did what any one of your teammates would have done in the same situation,” said Allen. “But we don’t know that. We do know what you did that day: face and devastate a numerically superior enemy…this is why America’s enemies do not take us head on.”

Germanovich’s ability to enable precision strike operations and his bravery in the face of hostile fire are incredibly courageous in their own right, but it was the reason behind his valiant performance that makes him an unquestionable hero.

“It was 100% my teammates,” said Germanovich. “If I’m in danger, I know without a doubt in my mind that my teammates are going to do everything in their power to make sure that I come back, and I would do everything that I could possibly do to make sure that they come back.”

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Original Story: This article by Senior Airman Maxwell Daigle of the 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs was originally published on December 10, 2020. See “A Tribute to Persistence: SecAF presents Air Force Cross to Special Tactics Airman”.

Photo: Air Force Cross Awarded to Special Tactics Airman. Staff Sgt. Alaxey Germanovich was recognized for his heroic actions while attached to a 7th Special Forces Group SFODA in Afghanistan. Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Washburn, USAF, Dec 10, 2020.

Video. Watch an interview of SSgt Alaxey Germanovich explain the event for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross. On April 8th, 2017 he was attached to a 7th Special Forces Group and coalition team in Nangahar province, Afghanistan. When overrun by enemy forces the team fought for their lives in a grueling 8-hour battle. Staff Sergeant Mark R. de Alencar, a Special Forces weapons sergeant from 7th SFG(A), died during the combat engagement. Watch the 12 minute long video here:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/776130/falling-back-training

By 1st Lt. Alejandra Fontalvo, 24th SOW.

The 21st Special Tactics Squadron assigned to Pope Field, North Carolina gathered with family and friends July 24, 2020 to watch the presentation of over 90 awards for the squadron’s most recent deployment in 2019, battling six extremist organizations across three areas of responsibility.

“The majority of you would rather receive a decoration in your team room, your office or at home maybe, and not in public, but it’s important,” said Lt. Col. Randall Harvey, former commander of the 21st STS and ceremony speaker. “It’s important for you, because you need to understand that we know what you do and what you sacrifice. It’s important for your families because they need to know your stories. It’s important for Americans out there to know what other Americans are doing on their behalf. Finally, it’s important for those who have come before us and those who are no longer with us. We owe it to them to be here and be standing strong.”

The presentations started by recognizing the members of the squadron who deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. The Special Tactics unit served as primary tactical planners for infiltration, exfiltration, fires, as well as Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance taskings in the execution of 241 direct-action raids during an especially “kinetic winter fighting season”.

The team engaged in 235 firefights with hardened Taliban and ISIS-K fighters, controlled 4,985 aircraft, which conducted over 622 airstrikes on enemy targets, 235 of which were within “danger close” range. Their efforts removed 1,880 enemy personnel from the battlefield. Twelve Bronze Star Medals and four Bronze Star Medals with Valor were presented for actions contributed in this area of responsibility.

“In many ways it’s the greatest adventure to put yourself on the line… and step up when it counts the most,” said Harvey. “For some of you that line was a razor’s edge between life and death.”

In addition to the numerous precision strikes and direct action raids, the team made Special Tactics history by employing their leading global access capabilities. Specifically, one of the deployed teams single-handedly secured, established, controlled and commanded a mission support site during a 96-hour ST-organic and presidentially approved operation.

The squadron members deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve were also recognized for actions ranging from controlled fires, which put pressure on thousands of enemy fighters to surrender, to driving 190 joint and coalition missions and working with United Nations and Department of Defense partners to provide food and supplies to over 40,000 internally displaced citizens. Three additional Bronze Star Medals along with several Air Force and Army commendation medals were presented for OIR.

“You may not realize it, but you are the privileged ones,” said Harvey. “You are the privileged ones to have stepped into that arena and stepped on to the line when it mattered most. Many Americans will never know what that’s like.”

Lastly, a 12-person flight deployed to Africa was recognized for their integral role in building counter violent extremist capabilities with allied nations in Northwest and East Africa while navigating complex state and military systems to establish enduring Special Tactics-led foreign internal defense missions.

“In Africa, we partnered with key allies in Mali and Kenya, establishing new partnerships to integrate airpower into the ground scheme of maneuver… things no other [special operations force] can do out there,” said Harvey. “Our guys were on the ground day and night enhancing counterterrorism capabilities of these SOF units, while simultaneously reinforcing that the United States is the partner of choice in the region.”

The squadron’s Special Tactics leaders won approval from key Kenyan military leaders to craft and launch an air to ground integration training program for the Kenyan military, focused on improving tactics in the fight against Al Shabaab extremists. The program was deemed successful and sparked demand among Kenyan military and Air Force leaders for similar programs going forward.

“I want to say congratulations on a job well done,” said Harvey. “I’ll close with a quote from John F. Kennedy, he said ‘there are risks and costs to programs of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.’ Thank you for being men and women of action.”

Special Tactics is U.S. Special Operation Command’s tactical air and ground integration force, and the Air Force’s special operations ground force, leading Global Access, Precision Strike, Personnel Recovery and Battlefield Surgery operations on the battlefield. Since 9/11, Air Force Special Tactics operators have been involved in almost every major operation and have seen a significant amount of combat. It is the most highly decorated community in the Air Force since the end of the Vietnam War.

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This story is a repost of an article by 1st Lt. Alejandra Fontalvo of the 24th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs, posted 29 July 2020 on DVIDS entitled “USAF Special Tactics unit recognized for deployment actions in fight against extremist organizations”. DVIDS articles are within the public domain.

The US Military Freefall Association is a collective of freefall parachutists, jumpmasters, and military freefall instructors bound by their common training, experience, and passion for military parachuting. The association seeks to promote an understanding of military freefall and to maintain a close relationship with the USAJFKSWCS Military Freefall School, veteran’s organizations, and the larger parachuting community. This is a newly formed organization that will fill a void for a selective group within the special operations community.

There are numerous veterans interest groups and organizations across the country. Some are general in nature – providing information or services to current military service members or veterans. Others are more specialized – such as the Navy SEAL Foundation that seeks to assist active and former members of the SEAL community with events, scholarships, and assistance to wounded SEALs and their families.

The Military Freefall Association (MFFA) is focused on the very technical and high-risk discipline of military freefall (MFF). One of the most technical skills in the United States armed services is MFF. It is a qualification usually restricted to the U.S. special operations community. Less than 1% of 1% of the U.S. military have received MFF training. Another purpose of the MFFA is to take actions that will memorialize fallen warriors from the MFF community.

Members Wanted

Like any newly formed organization the MFFA is looking for new members. If you are a graduate of a United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) recognized MFF school or a former schoolhouse cadre member, then you qualify to join the MFFA. What does membership in the MFFA offer? First of all, you will receive an exclusive MFFA membership packet, full of MFFA swag! But beyond the bragging rights and the ability to connect to other members, you are also helping the association support the wider MFF community through sponsorship of events, honoring sacrifices of our fallen, and supporting the MFF schoolhouse to meet requirements that cannot be paid for with appropriated funds.

In addition, the organization will pass on relevant information (reports, policy, etc.) to members via email or through its online forum. There is also a “Members Area” (requires logon and password) that will allow you to connect to other MFFA members. And you get to purchase some MFFA swag through its online store. It is easy to become a member.

Sponsors Wanted

All non-profit organizations require a certain level of funding to conduct its operations. If your organization, firm, or business would like to contribute to the work that the Military Freefall Association does then becoming a sponsor is the way to achieve that goal. Any person, business, or organization can sponsor, donate, or become an affiliate member of the Military Freefall Association. A sponsor’s help can assist the MFFA help our fellow military freefall warriors.

Upcoming MFFA Events

Military Freefall Instructor Reunion. The U.S. MFFA will host its annual Military Freefall Instructor Reunion on Friday, April 3, 2020 in Yuma, Arizona. Current and former instructors can share their stories, experiences, and challenges from across the generations of instructors since 1968.

Military Freefall Ball. The U.S. MFFA will host its annual “Freefall Ball” in Yuma, Arizona on Saturday, April 4, 2020 in Yuma, Arizona.

Military Freefall Association
https://www.usmffa.org

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Photos: All photographs and images are from the Department of Defense.

During the summer, most college students are enjoying a much-needed break from their studies or working a part-time job to pay for school. Instead, nearly 50 Air Force ROTC cadets across the nation chose to push through grueling workouts and leadership challenges during a week-long Special Tactics orientation course here.

Run twice a summer by the Air Force’s only Special Tactics wing, Airmen from the 24th Special Operations Wing taught 48 cadets what it takes to become a Special Tactics officer. “It’s a chance for the cadets to come in here to get a feel for what Special Tactics careers are like,” said John Thomas, director of the recruiting, assessment and selection section at Special Tactics Training Squadron. “It’s an opportunity for them to get a look at us and for us to get a good look at them as prospective Special Tactics Officers.”

Read more about the Special Tactics Monster Mash in “Future officers forfeit summer to train with Special Tactics”, Maxwell Air Force Base, August 2, 2016. Photo by Senior Airman Ryan Conroy USAF.