VIKING HAMMER (AND THE UGLY BABY)

01.Masters of Chaos Pages 8/17/04 12:00 PM Page 323
Viking Hammer (and the Ugly Baby)
awarding of three Silver Stars for a single battle indicated the extraordinary
acts and the intensity of the fighting. Recommendations for multiple
awards in the same battle are frequently downgraded to lesser
medals as they wend through the bureaucracy—a practice intended to
prevent medal inflation. All six men had been nominated by their commanders
for the Silver Star because each had repeatedly displayed great
courage under fire, but three of them were awarded the next-highest
medal, the Bronze Star with valor device. The three other members of
081 on the green prong were also awarded Bronze Stars with valor
devices. Yet, none of the men would ever forget March 28, 2003. Sargat
would stand as one of the fiercest battles the Special Forces had fought
since Vietnam—on foot, under sustained fire from an enemy lodged in
the mountains, and with minimal artillery and air support.
On March 29, Lt. Col. Tovo went to Sargat to survey the mop-up
operations and then briefed the Kurdish leadership. Operation Viking
Hammer had succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. In two days,
the yellow, green, orange, black, red, and blue prongs had secured 300
square kilometers of territory and routed Ansar al-Islam. The confirmed
enemy toll was 300 dead, from Ansar al-Islam and the northern splinter
group, and many more remained uncounted in the caves and mountains.
Only twenty-three Kurds had been wounded and three killed, and
no Americans had been killed or wounded.
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