This Army hero took out suicide bombers and saved hundreds. Why no Medal of Honor?

With a new Army Secretary at the helm, Congressman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has relaunched his campaign to award the Medal of Honor to a Special Forces soldier whose Afghanistan heroics were once considered for the top award but ultimately downgraded to a Silver Star.

On Aug. 28, 2013, then-Staff Sgt. Earl Plumlee helped to fend off an insurgent attack on Forward Operating Base Ghazni. Plumlee "aggressively advanced" and took out several insurgents, some wearing suicide vests. Plumlee, now a sergeant first class, is credited with saving hundreds of lives.
His nomination for the MoH was endorsed at the time by Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford and Army Gen. Mark Milley, but the Senior Army Decorations Board recommended a downgrade, and the decision was endorsed by then-Army Secretary John McHugh.

“(T)he Silver Star underrepresents SFC Plumlee’s actions," Hunter wrote in a letter to Army Secretary Eric Fanning. "You are in the position to make this right. The Army’s decision to downgrade SFC Plumlee’s nomination for the Medal of Honor is well known in the Special Operations Community — resubmitting his nomination will go a long way to restoring trust and morale among our warfighters at the leading edge of the fight.”

Fanning spokesman Lt. Col. Justin Platt said the Army has received two letters from Hunter on the matter and will respond accordingly, but declined further comment. Plumlee, who is now serving with 1st Special Forces Group, responded to an Army Times interview request and said he would have to first check with his unit before being interviewed.


It's unclear why the board decided to downgrade Plumlee's award. An official familiar with the situation told Military Times that Plumlee, a former Marine, was blunt and politically incorrect: “He respects authority, but is not afraid of it,” the source said. There was concern about how he would “present” in an era where a Medal of Honor comes with heavy public and media attention, with recipients representing the highest ideals of the military to a broad audience.

Another issue Hunter suspects contributed to the downgrade: During award consideration, Plumlee was questioned by U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command regarding a possible illegal sale of military property. Plumlee had sold a rifle scope online, raising questions, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Hunter's chief of staff, Joe Kasper, told Army Times the rifle scope had been given to Plumlee by a contractor as a token of appreciation; it was always private property.

Hunter has long lobbied for Plumlee and his complaints in September triggered a Defense Department's Inspector General investigation. The IG determined, however that the award process was conducted appropriately and that the CID investigation played no role in downgrading the award.

Whether Fanning resubmits the nomination or not, the Pentagon remains in the midst of reviewing more than 1,000 medals issued since Sept. 11, 2001. There's a chance that, under this review, Plumlee and many other service members could see upgrades to their valor awards.

Battlefield heroics

In the dead of night on Aug. 28, a car bomb blew a hole in the perimeter wall of FOB Ghazni. Seconds later, 10 insurgents armed with assault rifles and wearing suicide vests poured into the compound. About 10 minutes of intent close-combat ensued as those initially believing they were responding to give first aid to victims ended up taking fire. But thanks to Plumlee and other forces who responded, the insurgents would never reach the more populated parts of the camp. One American and one Polish soldier were killed.

Plumlee didn't have time to get his rifle ready as he responded to the attack, according to his citation. He first drew his pistol and “aggressively advanced on the enemy” as they tried to get from the airfield to more populated parts of the base. He sought cover, exchanged fire, and then threw a hand grenade that killed an insurgent and set off his suicide vest. At this point, using his rifle, Plumlee shot down two more advancing enemies, with a second vest exploding as well.

He then maneuvered toward more insurgents, and “ignoring incoming small arms fire, he completely exposed himself while delivering suppressive fire” en route to cover, where he reloaded. He engaged two more insurgents within six meters, setting off another suicide vest. He was repelled by continued fire to his original position where he hooked up with another special operator. The two went back to engage insurgents who were using small arms and grenades. A suicide bomber detonated his vest, wounding both of them with fragmentation and causing them to retreat again to cover.

Plumlee led a third assault on insurgents. He shot down another enemy but not before the insurgent could set off his suicide vest, mortally wounding Staff Sgt. Micheal Ollis, who had stepped in front of a Polish NATO counterpart. (The Pole, Lt. Karol Cierpica, would later name his son after Ollis). Plumlee picked up Ollis, evacuated him and rendered first aid by applying two tourniquets. He then led three coalition soldiers in an effort to ensure there were no more insurgents.
“His efforts contained the enemy to the edge of the airfield, and saved the lives of hundreds of soldiers, coalition partners and civilians,” the narrative said.

Third Special Forces Group commander Col. Patrick Roberson nominated Plumlee for the Medal of Honor, which Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan commander Maj. Gen. Austin Miller and deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan Maj. Gen. James Richardson approved. Richardson called Plumlee’s heroism “beyond question” and “truly remarkable” according to documentation acquired by Army Times. Milley, then a three-star commander of the International Security Assistance Force-Joint Command, and Dunford, as commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, approved as well.

Dunford said Plumlee “clearly meets the standard. SSG Plumlee’s heroism was truly extraordinary.” according to military documents provided to Army Times.

Downgrade

Despite the command recommendations for Plumlee, the Senior Army Decorations Board on March 28, 2014, unanimously recommended against the MoH, according the letter laying out the DoD Inspector General investigation of the award process. A majority on the board (made up of senior officials and officers at the Pentagon) voted to downgrade the award two levels to a Silver Star, bypassing the service’s second-highest valor award, the Distinguished Service Cross.

The IG investigation found that the SADB simply determined Plumlee’s actions didn’t meet the standard for the Medal of Honor; the board didn't know of the CID investigation when it recommended the double-downgrade, according to the IG summary letter.

The letter said McHugh testified that he was aware of the CID investigation, but that it carried no weight in his decision to endorse the downgrade.

But Hunter remains skeptical that decision makers didn't know of the investigation. Based on comparison to other Medal of Honor-worthy awards he said there had to be more to the downgrade than consideration of battlefield actions.
Hunter, in his May 25 letter to Fanning, compares Plumlee's actions to those of Capt. Florent Groberg; both involved confronting vest-wearing insurgents around the same time but some details differed. Groberg earned his Medal of Honor for shoving then grabbing and hauling a suicide-vest wearing insurgent away from a formation of soldiers, saving several lives while losing a portion of his calf muscle in the explosion, among other injuries.

If the IG's findings are correct in that only battlefield actions were considered in the downgrade, Hunter said earning the Medal of Honor just got tougher.

“If truly the case, then Plumlee's downgrade creates a new precedent that excessively raises the criteria for awarding the Medal of Honor-making the award nearly out of reach for soldiers whose actions are well within the time-honored spirit and tradition of the award,” Hunter said in his letter to Fanning.

Hunter has also slammed McHugh, saying the former Congressman should have followed the recommendation of combat-hardened generals like Dunford and Milley.

“All of those individuals (who approved the award) know a thing or two about leading soldiers and Marines into combat,” Kasper said. “McHugh, from comforts of his office in the Pentagon … made a decision that an action in combat didn’t rise to a level that wartime leaders believe it did.”