John A Chapman

One of 21 Combat Control Team members killed in action and honored by the USAF Combat Control Association.

Technical Sergent John A. Chapman was cross-trained as an Information Systems Operator, and Combat Control Operator. While serving with the 34^th Special Tactics Squadron at Pope AFB, North Carolina in 2002, he was deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. The deployment culminated in his being the first U.S. Air Force Medal of Honor recipient since Viet Nam from acts of heroism spanning portions of two days and two separate battles that could qualify him for two Medals of Honors.

During March 2002, Technical Seargent Chapman was the Combat Control Operator with U.S. Navy SEAL Team Mako 30, which along with SEAL Team Mako 21, was tasked to establish an observation point on either end of the Shai-Kot valley. Seal Team Mako 30 was to move to the peak of Takur Ghar which commanded the southern approach to the Shahi-Kot valley. The SEAL teams needed to be in place by dawn. A series of delays, including engine problems with the initial helicopter, forced Mako 30’s insertion to take place on Takur Ghar’s peak, rather than the planned more secure landing zone nearby. Although surveyed earlier and determined to be clear, when the substitute MH-47 Chinook approached the peak, tracks in the snow and other activity were observed. Aborting the mission was being considered when the chopper came under fire sustaining strikes by two Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), shutting down one of its engines, the electric system, and the hydraulic systems. Petty Officer First Class Neil C. Roberts fell from the aircraft's open ramp as the pilot maneuvered to avoid further damage from the hostile fire. They attempted a return to retrieve Roberts, but the pilot was unable to overcome damage to affect the rescue, crash landing four miles from the peak in the valley below.  A nearby AC-130H gunship was directed to the mountain to provide air support over the crash site. The gunship established radio contact with Mako 30, setting an orbit over the crashed helicopter. At that time Mako 30, through Tech. Sgt. Chapman learned Roberts’ separation from the unit was known, with the enemy closing in on him. The team decided to make the daring attempt to rescue Roberts.   A Chinook supporting a nearby unit returned the regrouped SEAL team Mako 30 to Takur Ghar to search for Roberts. As the rescue Chinook arrived the team came under immediate fire from three directions. Technical Sergeant Chapman, the second of the team to disembark, immediately identified and engaged an enemy bunker in front and above the team. Moving through waist-deep snow up the side of the peak he assaulted and cleared the bunker killing two of the combatants. Moving into the open space adjacent to the bunker, Sgt. Chapman engaged the second bunker to protect his teammates. He was struck by enemy fire and critically wounded amid a barrage of mortars, hand grenade explosions, RPG and small arms fire.  Team leader, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Britt K. Slabinski, (who was awarded the Medal of Honor as well for his heroism) struggled to reach Chapman through the deep snow but was unable to close with him. Unable to gain ground, the team leader requested support from the joint Special Operations Quick Reaction Force. The nearby AC-130H gunship was directed to provide air support, arriving at the mountaintop site minutes before Mako 30’s scheduled arrival and the Quick Reaction Team (QRT) when it arrived. Due to the intensity of the firefight, the bulk of the team was forced off the hill, breaking contact a couple of hundred meters down, leaving Chapman continuing to fight from the bunker location. Despite several wounds, Chapman engaged multiple combatants in a sustained violent engagement over the next hour as the enemy bombarded the bunker position with machine and small arms fire, RPG, and flanking movements. As the sun was rising, the QRT arrived and landed into heavy RPG and small arms fire. Hearing the QRT’s helicopter approaching, Tech. Sgt. Chapman left the cover of the bunker to confront the RPG team 10 meters away preparing to assault the QRT landing zone. His actions suppressed fire allowing the helicopter to land and deploy suffering only three casualties in what otherwise could have been a near massacre. Machinegun fire hit Chapman; this time his wounds would result in his death. The QRT secured the mountain top inflecting numerous enemy causalities, with seven Mako 30 and QRT members killed on Takur Ghar. Technical Sergeant Chapman’s body was recovered within the bunker; Navy SEAL Petty Officer First Class Neil C. Roberts’ body was recovered from where he was dragged between two boulders a few hundred feet from Chapman’s bunker.

As well as the first U.S. Airforce MOH recipient after Viet Nam, Chapman is the first to have the award based, in part, on contemporaneous surveillance film taken by a CIA drone during the actions for which he was decorated. His courageous story is scheduled to be memorialized in a film entitled, “Combat Control.” Because of his remarkable courage, claims, and rumors surround his award because of the 16 years it took for approval of Chapman’s Medal of Honor, making this also part of his story. Some claim it was the result of the Navy slow-walking the award until Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Britt K. Slabinski, who fought alongside Chapman, was awarded the Medal for his valor, in part confirming the conclusion that SEAL team leader Slabinski withdrew thinking that Chapman was dead. Adding to the 16-year investigation, may have been that around the time U.S. Army Ranger Quick Reaction Force (QRF) at Bagram Air Base dispatched the QRT to join Mako 30’s search for Petty Officer Roberts, a general in the Takur Ghar operation’s command ordered a change of satellite radio frequencies. The units, including the AFO teams, and reconnaissance positions, relied upon satellite radio during the recovery to conduct and adapt the mission as the battle unfolded. The radio frequencies switch was to prevent the plan from being modified, although the change may have been meant to enhance direct control of the rescue of the downed SEALs, the practical effect of severely limiting communications between the different teams participating in the battle to recover Roberts. Though they were not given a specific mission, they were to establish communication for further instructions upon reaching a point 10 minutes from the mountain. In addition to the 19 Rangers, the QRT included a Tactical Air Control Party and a three-man USAF special tactics team carried by two Chinooks. Air Force rules prohibited AC-130 aircraft from remaining in hostile airspace in daylight, the AC-130 support protecting Mako 30 was forced to leave before the QRT reached the landing zone even though the leadership was aware the first Chinook was incoming, neither of which were equipped with functioning satellite radios to maintain communication with the headquarters in Bagram. Even more critically, the AFO Teams lead, nor, were either of the QRT Chinook’s pilots told of the enemy's anti-aircraft location on top of the mountain. Due to the satellite communications difficulties, the lead Chinook was mistakenly directed to the "hot" landing zone on the peak. With no one able to communicate the reality of the situation to the QRT, they flew into the same enemy trap into which the SEALs had flown.