By Air Force Master Sgt. Sean E. Cobb
U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The day began like many other days for two servicemembers deployed to Saudi Arabia. However, before the sun set, 22 people lay dead and eight others were alive because of one Airman's actions May 29, 2004.
Lt. Col. Ed O'Neal's combat leadership skills following an al-Qaeda terrorist attack on a Khobar, Saudi Arabia, residential compound saved the lives of five people, enabled the rescue of a family trapped in a burning apartment, and resulted in him being awarded the Bronze Star (with Valor) by the Secretary of the Air Force Wednesday.
"I really appreciate the service you have provided -- this is extremely well deserved," said Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, during a ceremony at a desert air base in Southwest Asia.
"There is no low-intensity conflict when bullets are coming at you," Secretary Wynne continued. "I admire the courage and persistence that causes victory like that to occur."
The Attack
Colonel O'Neal and Lt. Col. James Broome III, were U.S. Military Training Mission military training advisors at the time the attack occurred.
"We were having breakfast in a small coffee shop on the ground floor of one of the compound buildings, when a foreign worker came in and said terrorists were attacking the compound," Colonel O'Neal said.
A security guard who was posted outside the coffee shop asked the two colonels to remain inside until security forces secured the compound.
However, Colonel O'Neal knew from his military anti-terrorism training that their exposed position on the first floor was perilous if the terrorists came through the area. Without weapons or body armor, getting to a more secure place became paramount.
With little hesitation, Colonel O'Neal suggested going to the roof of a three-story building next to the coffeehouse.
On their way to the roof, the colonels came across four construction workers who they motioned to follow them. The group grabbed a water cooler, tools and construction materials that were later used to barricade the roof door.
While searching for the roof access, Colonel O'Neal saw a woman lying protectively on top of a small child on a narrow apartment terrace next door, while smoke billowed out of the terrace door.
"I had no idea where the terrorists were, but I knew we had to help these people," Colonel O'Neal said.
Colonel O'Neal asked the woman, who was joined by her husband, what apartment she was in and immediately called the military operations center at Riyadh and relayed the family's location so rescuers could respond.
Colonel O'Neal's group then continued up to the roof, where they barricaded the roof entrance and prepared for 120-degree temperatures.
After about two hours, Saudi Ministry of Interior forces began entering the compound and the gun battles intensified.
"Fighting became heavy at times," Colonel O'Neal said. "We heard sporadic gunfire, machine guns and large explosions " like grenades."
From their birds-eye view, the colonels used their cell phones and relayed information about the attack and the location of gunfire around the compound to the U.S. operations center, the Saudi MOI forces and a FBI team.
At 8 p.m., nearly 12 hours into the ordeal, Saudi MOI forces informed the group the compound was secure and that the terrorists, who had hostages, were contained on the sixth floor of a nearby building. Security forces then directed the group to leave the compound.
Using cover and concealment tactics, the group proceeded to the first-floor stairway. From there they had to low crawl across the floor, to a back metal door because lights were left on.
"I knew if we turned the lights off, we might signal our location to the terrorists," Colonel O'Neal said.
Once at the back door, the escape went awry.
As Colonel O'Neal slowly opened the door, a terrorist sniper let loose with a machinegun -- rounds ripped through his hand, arm, thigh, side and back. Colonel Broome's left upper arm was shattered
Colonel O'Neal dove to the ground, outside the building, while Colonel Broome escaped back up the stairwell to the third floor.
"I could hear shots, the ricochets and then the distinctive recoil sound of the AK-47," Colonel O'Neal said. "I low-crawled 10 yards along a stone wall until I found an alcove that offered a small amount of cover."
Despite bleeding and being in extreme pain, Colonel O'Neal used his cell phone to relay information about the escape attempt, the possible status of Colonel Broome and their location to the responding Saudi MOI forces.
The Aftermath
Two hours later, Saudi MOI forces evacuated Colonel Broome to a Dhahran hospital and Colonel O'Neal followed seven hours after that. Both were later repatriated at the Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany.
Colonel O'Neal was back on the job in Riyadh within weeks, where he finished the rest of his tour, while Colonel Broome's injuries required further medical care in the U.S.
Throughout the attack, Colonel O'Neal relied heavily on lessons learned from various courses, from self-aid and buddy care to combat maneuver tactics. "I've no doubt the training I've received during my career saved my life," he said.
The colonel said a stint at the International Terrorism Awareness Course, Fort Bragg, N.C, in 1993 was particularly useful. "I paid attention even though some people may wonder why a personnel officer needs that information -- twelve years later, the training sure paid off."
Colonel Broome credits Colonel O'Neal for saving lives during the attacks. "I seriously doubt I would have survived the attack if not for Ed's quick thinking at the beginning and throughout the ordeal," he wrote in a statement about the event.
"He put his life on the line when he chose to lead us out of that building," Colonel Broome added.
As a result of his injuries, the Air Force awarded Colonel O'Neal the Purple Heart upon return to his home station at Bolling Air Force Base, District of Columbia, in August 2004.
Colonel O'Neal fully recovered from the attack, although bullet fragments still lay behind the scars. Currently he is the U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward Personnel and Manpower director at a desert air base in Southwest Asia.
NOTE: The Bronze Star is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the military of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.