- SURNAME
Driscoll
- FORENAME
Timothy
- UNIT
3 SF Group
- RANK
Captain
- NUMBER
- AWARD
Silver Star, Bronze Star with V device, Army Commendation Medal with V device
- PLACE
Afghanistan 2010
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
resided Thousand Oaks, California
born Thousand Oaks, California
WIA
CITATION:
Silver Star : The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Timothy J. Driscoll, United States Army, for gallantry in action in the face of the enemy of the United States while serving as the Detachment Commander for Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 (ODA-3336), Special Operations Task Force-East, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan and Camp Morehead, Kabul, Afghanistan, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. On 4 May 2010, Captain Driscoll played a vital role in mission accomplishment due to his professionalism, technical and tactical proficiency and unsurpassed courage. The 3d Company, 6th Commando Kandak, combat advised by ODA 3336, conducted disruption operations in Hendor Village, Mehtar Lam District, Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The mission set conditions for Coalition Forces to clear enemy safe havens in adjacent valleys. On 4 May 2010, the Commandos and ODA 3336 conducted an air assault onto Objective MUDSLIDE. Upon infiltration, the AH-64 Air Weapons Team (AWT), and AC-140 gunship identified five armed personnel assembling on the southern portion of the village. Simultaneously, AWT identified 40 enemy personnel south of the village, maneuvering on friendly forces. Fully confident in the ground force and their capabilities, Captain Driscoll controlled three maneuvering elements forward into the village. Once in the village, which was void of all but two civilians, two large caches were discovered. As Captain Driscoll relayed information from a hasty Command Post (CP), effective fire erupted from the southeast. Within seconds of the enemy fire a large burst of heavy weapons fire from the high ground surrounding the objective village saturated Captain Driscoll's location. He immediately bounded the Main Effort (ME) back to a covered position and returned fire with his M-4 carbine. Trapped in a kill zone, Captain Driscoll kept the element moving south and set up blocking positions preventing an enemy of Afghanistan (EOA) assault. As Captain Driscoll maneuvered through 100 meters of open terrain with enemy fire impacting within inches of him, he reached the southern side of the objective and established a command post (CP). While battle-tracking a developing situation of two maneuver elements and the headquarters element, Captain Driscoll effectively engaged enemy defensive fighting positions with his M-4 carbine. As Captain Driscoll continued to push the element further east into the village to secure an area of responsibility, effective sniper fire erupted from the south east. Captain Driscoll stood his ground unfazed, even with EOA rounds impacting the wall around him, to aid in spotting EOA points of origin and direct ground movements. This was a crucial task in crushing the enemy, resulting in saving the lives of the entire assault force. With only a handful of Commandos actively engaging the enemy and morale faltering due to casualties, Captain Driscoll continued to vigorously suppress the enemy positions with his M-4 and make tactical decisions for the assault force. These constant acts of bravery in the ground forces defense showed the 3d Commando Company Commander and Commandos that they would survive the intense enemy onslaught. His leadership and inspiration in the face of grave danger rallied them to continue fighting. Captain Driscoll led by example in the face of unending enemy fire and re-motivated the 3d Commando Company Commander, who in turn got the rest of the commandos to re-engage the EOA positions. After the AWT and organic small arms fire repelled several enemy attacks, Captain Driscoll began coordinating an emergency exfiltration and insertion of a Quick Reaction Force to secure a Helicopter Landing Zone (HLZ). He then moved the ME through the alleyways, leading the commandos to the west to link up with Supporting Element 1 (SE1). As Captain Driscoll led the Ground Force through steep and densely vegetated terrain to the HLZ, he was instantly engaged by enemy machinegun and small arms fire from previously unknown positions less than 150 meters to the south and east, pinning down the ME. Without hesitation, he engaged the EOA fighting positions with his M-4 and directed ground fires and a movement plan to get his element out of the kill zone before suffering more casualties. This was an extremely dire situation as Captain Driscoll and the ME were down to the last remaining rounds, out of water, and had been under direct enemy fire for over ten hours. Captain Driscoll led the ME safely to the exfiltration HLZ. His actions, while leading a 180-man Ground Force completely surrounded by the enemy and throughout a ten hour intensive enemy engagement, saved countless lives. His gallantry, perseverance, and combat leadership under extreme circumstances led to the destruction of more than 30 enemy fighters and driving off another 50 enemy fighters who were strong-pointed in robust defensive fighting positions. Captain Driscoll's actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, and the United States Army.
WEB LINKS:
https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/84898
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