Joshua Brandon

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Joshua Brandon, Captain, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Military Transition Team Intelligence Officer for the 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 20 and 21 August 2006, in Adhamiyah, Iraq. On that date, the radio operator received a call from one of the Iraqi army company commanders who said, “I have 15 soldiers on the ground and I need you here or I’m dead.” The MiTT team mounted up with 18 U.S. Soldiers and additional Iraqi army troops and moved to the location. When they arrived, the small group of Iraqi army soldiers with armored vehicles, together with a few Iraqi policemen and several uniformed members of Jaish Al-Mahdi, the military wing of Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia, were hunkered down on a bridge near the Army canal under intense small-arms and machine-gun fire. With small-arms fire crackling around them and explosions from rocket-propelled grenades at about 100 meters away, Captain Brandon crossed the danger zone twice to rally Iraqi army soldiers who had little ammunition left. The MiTT turned the marchers back to a safer route; Captain Brandon led a flanking maneuver with Major Rick Ullian, 4-320th FAR executive officer, by crossing to suppress the machine-gun fire, while Captain Ben Shaha, commander of the MiTT, led a group who stepped in front of the marchers to shield them on the bridge. The next day, Captain Brandon and the MiTT platoon linked up with Iraqi army forces at Antar Square, which surrounds the Abu Hanifa Mosque, a revered Sunni place of worship. Iraqi army checkpoints had come under attack by numerous Sunni fighters. An Iraqi army platoon was pinned down under heavy fire and lost contact with six of their soldiers near the courthouse on the square. Captain Brandon and the MiTT chief planned to lead an Iraqi army assault element up the street to relieve the platoon and find the separated Iraqi soldiers. As the combined assault element moved north, he exited the safety of his vehicle and, under sustained small-arms fire from several roof tops, attempted without success to halt a retreating group of friendly fighters. Captain Brandon then split the Iraqi army and MiTT element on either side of the road, and pushed the element forward. Under heavy enemy fire, he led his first section north of the initial intersection by the courthouse and into the square where they could place effective fires upon the enemy. He maneuvered a vehicle from the second section into the intersection in order to suppress the enemy from the west. While he and Shaha attempted to rally an Iraqi assault element, his MiTT section was caught in a crossfire. Captain Brandon positioned a third Iraqi truck in a supporting fire position and assembled his second section for the assault. He and the assault element proceeded south where they encountered a five-man enemy reinforcement element. The assault element opened fire, killing two and wounding one Sunni fighter. The enemy fighters in the battle position, flanked by the assault force, withdrew. Captain Brandon led his Soldiers through the door into three suspected enemy houses. They cleared the houses, and then the assault element followed a blood trail but lost the wounded fighter when he crossed a sewer. Iraqi army elements entered Abu Hanifa Square and recovered their six soldiers.