By Spc. Erik LeDrew
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Two Soldiers with the 1st Cavalry Division's "Task Force Lancer" 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment received the Silver Star Medal in a Sept. 30, ceremony at Camp Hope.
Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Swope, a platoon sergeant with Company C, 2-5 Cav., and Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger, a dismounted squad leader with 2-5 Cav.'s Company A, were presented their medals by Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, commanding general of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, for "exceptional valor in combat during Operation Lancer Fury.
"Operation Lancer Fury occurred, April 4 through 9, in Baghdad's Shi"ite slum "Sadr City." The operation was a response to the first violent insurgency by rebel Shi"ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.
Swope distinguished himself in "fierce urban combat" on Route Delta in Sadr City after his platoon encountered a deliberate ambush set by the militia near the slum's Sadr Bureau, April 4.
"The day turned ugly real quick," Swope, a Richmond, Va. native said. "We just tried to stay alive and get out of there."During the ambush, Swope 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, Swope remained at the vehicles so he could maintain radio contact with his battalion headquarters and request reinforcements.
Swope remained in the vehicle by himself for over 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.
"We were so glad when those vehicles came to help us and get us out of there," he said. "I just took all my guys and got out of there as quickly as we could."
While en route back to Camp Eagle, one of his platoon's surviving vehicles got stuck on an enemy obstacle. Without hesitating, Swope dismounted from his own vehicle and assisted with its recovery under intense enemy fire, saving the lives of the three Soldiers inside.
The following morning, Swope volunteered to command a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and joined an ad hoc platoon in securing the Al-Thawra Iraqi Police Station in Sadr City. For the next two days, Swope controlled the elements maintaining the outer-cordon around the IP Station, which was composed of two Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The fields of fire he designated for his Soldiers enabled them to engage and destroy the countless enemies attempting to engage them day and night.
Swope was in command of the security force of the Al-Afreeden IP Station when he called-in air-support to neutralize a group of enemy rocket-propelled grenade gunners, April 8. Because of the precision of Swope's coordinates, the RPG gunners were destroyed and collateral damaged was kept to a minimum.
Miltenberger distinguished himself for "valorous achievement" in combat, also, April 4. After engaging the enemy in Sadr City, he directed his squad in precise and lethal fire against Muqtada militia attackers. Miltenberger himself engaged several enemies while performing critical medical care on the wounded Soldiers in his squad. In addition to the two Silver Stars awarded at the ceremony, six Bronze Stars, 16 Army Commendation Medals with Valor-device, and 20 Purple Hearts were awarded to Soldiers with 2-5 Cav. for Operation Lancer Fury and other operations that Task Force Lancer has undertaken since then.