Isle-based combat hero honored with Silver Star

A 22-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who took the lead in repelling an enemy attack in Afghanistan as bullets smacked around him and mortars and rockets exploded nearby — knocking him unconscious at one point — was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery on Monday.

Sgt. Michael Moynihan of Shelbyville, Tenn., assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, "Wolf­hounds," received the medal at Combat Outpost Monti in Kunar province. He was presented the nation’s third highest award for combat valor by Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn, who is in charge of Regional Command East.

The intensity of combat in Afghanistan is detailed in the narrative accompanying Moynihan’s award.

From Oct. 11 to 13, Moynihan and other Schofield soldiers faced sustained fire, with both sides losing lives.

The firefight occurred during Operation Rugged Sarak near the Pakistan border to secure and pave a road in remote and hostile Kunar province.

The battle that Moynihan was in took place near the mountaintop Observation Post Shal.

Moynihan was charged with guarding the northern flank of OP Shal on Oct. 11 when the Schofield soldiers came under direct enemy fire. He led his soldiers to identify 12 enemy positions and the U.S. soldiers fired two missiles.

Moynihan then manned an abandoned and exposed machine gun position, suppressing enemy fire as the enemy tried to zero in on his position, according to his Silver Star narrative.

The next day, Moynihan identified and killed an enemy fighter across the valley and remained in a danger zone to mark enemy positions "with total disregard for his own safety even as the dust settled from a mortar impact," the report states.

He directed two missile strikes that killed seven Taliban fighters and a Taliban commander as the Schofield soldiers continued to fight using rifles, grenades and claymore mines.

That evening, enemy fighters attacked with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades at close range in an attempt to overrun the northern flank of OP Shal, the narrative said.

Moynihan, then a corporal, maneuvered through an exposed danger zone "rallying his men and (leading) a counterattack against the enemy assault. He engaged the enemy with M4 carbine, threw fragmentation grenades, detonated claymores and took control of an abandoned (Afghan machine gun position) saving valuable resources from being depleted."

On Oct. 13, during the heaviest and most coordinated attack on the Hawaii soldiers, Moynihan exposed himself to enemy fire again to acquire and pass firing coordinates to the platoon’s forward observer.

An 82 mm mortar exploded less than 30 feet away, knocking down several of the Americans. A second 82 mm mortar landed on his fighting position minutes later, wounding five Americans and three Afghan soldiers, and knocking Moynihan unconscious, according to the Silver Star narrative.

After regaining consciousness, Moynihan ordered another soldier where to fire and took control of an Afghan machine gun, leading the defense of OP Shal’s northern flank until reinforcements arrived.

"Cpl. Moynihan’s courage under fire as a leader in Bravo Company saved the lives of Americans and Afghan soldiers," the report states. "He held a vital position under extreme circumstances and was instrumental in helping destroy a determined enemy force."

Moynihan risked his life in repelling "two near ambushes that threatened to breach the vulnerable perimeter of his platoon’s patrol base," the report states.

Among the fatalities was Staff Sgt. Robert Cowdrey, 39, a flight medic out of Fort Bragg, N.C., who was killed during an attempt to evacuate wounded soldiers from OP Shal on Oct. 13.

The same day, Schofield Staff Sgt. Houston Taylor, 25, a Wolfhound with a wife and daughter, was killed by small-arms fire.

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team of about 3,500 Schofield soldiers is winding up a yearlong deployment in eastern Afghanistan. According to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield, 17 3rd Brigade soldiers were killed in 2011 on the deployment that started last March and April.