Robert Miltenberger

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Robert Miltenberger, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, near Baghdad, Iraq, on 4 April 2004. Staff Sergeant Miltenberger distinguished himself during fierce urban combat on Route Delta, in Sadr City, Iraq, during Operation LANCER FURY, after his platoon encountered a deliberate ambush set by the militia near the slum’s Sadr Bureau. During the ambush he organized a hasty defense while exposed to enemy fire and personally engaged enemy positions for more than five minutes of sustained contact. When his platoon made the call to abandon their Humvees and set up hasty fighting positions, Staff Sergeant Swope remained with the vehicles so he could maintain radio contact with his battalion headquarters and request reinforcements. He remained in the vehicle by himself for more than two hours, under enemy fire while the rest of his platoon took cover in nearby hasty-fighting positions. He was able to maintain radio contact with the battalion during this time, which allowed his platoon to be located by aerial assets, and their eventual extraction by a group of armored vehicles. After engaging the enemy in Sadr City, he directed his squad in precise and lethal fire against Muqtada militia attackers, performing critical medical care on wounded Soldiers in his squad.