Photo By Karlheinz Wedhorn | The United States has awarded the Bronze Star medal to Lt. Col. Sufian Al-Slaihat...... read more read more
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – The United States has awarded the Bronze Star medal to a Jordanian special forces officer and graduate of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
Lt. Col. Sufian Al-Slaihat -- a graduate of the joint Defense Department/German Ministry of Defense-run Marshall Center Program on Terrorism and Security Studies -- received the award in April. He is only the second Jordanian to receive the U.S. award for “his exceptionally meritorious service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from Aug. 8, 2012 to Feb. 3.”
Al-Slaihat said the real reward for his efforts was recognizing cultural values in the work his team had done. "I was excited and talked to everyone about this award. As a Muslim who works for the U.S. in Afghanistan countering terrorism for the people, it's nice being appreciated for my work."
The Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest award in the U.S. Armed Forces. It is awarded to an individual who, while serving in the U.S. military or while serving with friendly foreign forces, engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the U.S. is not a hostile and aggressive party. The individual distinguishes him or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force.
Al-Slaihat was the commander of the Jordanian special forces, serving under Special Operations Task Force-Southeast. He led 106 Jordanians under his command combined with the U.S. Armed Forces and they covered all of 6,696 square miles of the Zabul province in Afghanistan promoting security, governance and development.
According to the award citation, his knowledge of village and tribal dynamics contributed to the trust building in areas of historically hostile to coalition forces. His contribution in Afghanistan was “an overwhelming success to the Special Operations Task Force-Southeast mission.”
He commanded Jordanian special forces soldiers at two village stability platforms and a village stability staging area. According to a fact sheet, village stability operations are designed to integrate security, governance and development efforts in strategically important rural Afghan districts and villages that lack a strong government presence; Village stability operations helps forward the establishment and growth of critical connections between the central Afghan government and the general public.
Al-Slaihat made critical changes to his detachments deployment operation cycle, allowing for extended time for personnel at each village stability platform. This increased daily operational focus on Afghan National Security Forces and local villagers, highlighting the shared cultural similarities at the village and district levels to promote understanding and stability.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Nick Pratt, executive director of the Marshall Center’s Program on Terrorism and Security Studies, thought highly of his former student.
“Intelligence, honed military dexterity and great people skills allowed him to succeed,” Pratt said.
Al-Slaihat said he considers himself fortunate to attend the Combating Terrorism Language Program and the PTSS before taking over the command in Afghanistan. Al-Slaihat credited part of his success in Afghanistan to these Marshall Center courses.
“In my opinion, every officer should take these two courses before they get stationed in Afghanistan,” Al-Slaihat said. “They open your mind about the culture, about the mistakes, what to improve… everything.
“They also have officers who are from other nations and even from Afghanistan who participates in this course,” he continued, “We start talking with them, speaking about the government, their people… they speak frankly. So, it is easy to get the information. Before I went to Afghanistan, I had the whole picture.”
“Al-Slaihat was one of the PTSS' top participants. In small measurement what he learned in Garmisch-Partenkirchen allowed him to accomplish some remarkable missions in a contested slice of Afghanistan,” Pratt added.
Al Slaihat said there was another key component to the success of mission there:
“If you don’t have Muslim troops with you, you won’t succeed. They know the culture; they can easily do your mission statement because they speak the same language with these countries,” Al-Slaihat said. “One fight. One team.”
Al-Slaihat has also served as the commander in the Jordanian 101st Special Forces Battalion; company commander of the Jordanian Sky Marshal Counter Terrorism Unit; and commander of the Jordanian Counter Terrorism Training Center in Amman; and the company commander of the 71st Maritime Counter Terrorism Unit in Aqaba, Jordan.
| Date Taken: | 08.08.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.08.2013 02:55 |
| Story ID: | 111544 |
| Location: | GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, BY, DE |
| Hometown: | AMMAN, JO |
| Web Views: | 409 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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