{"id":48731,"date":"2019-07-02T21:18:18","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T21:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/02\/awards-meted-out-for-fighting-through-insider-attack-on-high-level-meeting-in-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:08:26","slug":"awards-meted-out-for-fighting-through-insider-attack-on-high-level-meeting-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/07\/02\/awards-meted-out-for-fighting-through-insider-attack-on-high-level-meeting-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"6 soldiers given awards for actions during insider attack on high-level meeting in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six 4th Infantry Division soldiers received medals for their actions during an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/10\/18\/top-us-commander-in-afghanistan-unharmed-after-attack-that-left-key-afghan-general-dead-2-americans-wounded\/\" target=_blank>insider attack last October <\/a>on a meeting attended by the four-star U.S. general leading the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/18\/report-after-failed-afghanistan-assault-taliban-promise-to-target-only-us-forces-from-now-on\/\">NATO mission to Afghanistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The infiltrator managed to kill an Afghan general who was arguably the most powerful figure in the country\u2019s south, and two Americans were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The insider attack was perpetrated by a bodyguard for the governor of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/02\/nato-convoy-attacked-in-kandahar\/\" target=_blank>Kandahar province<\/a> who had secretly trained at a Taliban camp, according to a Taliban-produced video celebrating the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The six U.S. soldiers with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, received awards at a June 11 ceremony on Fort Carson, Colorado, for helping to put down the attacker, according to an Army <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/news\/329481\/army-commendation-medal-soldiers-earn-valor-awards-actions\" target=_blank>news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1st Lt. Cooper L. Lemons, Sgt. 1st Class John Ballenger, Staff Sgt. Timme L. Jones and Spc. Benaiah O. Wiedenhoft were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with combat device and Spcs. Jacob S. Shontz and Joseph Smith were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with valor device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The soldiers were assigned to Alpha \u201cArrowhead\u201d Company. Part of their role in Afghanistan was to provide \u201cguardian angel\u201d soldiers to watch over coalition advisers training Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the insider attack, the Arrowhead soldiers proved crucial in securing the scene, according to Col. Dave Zinn, then commander of 2nd IBCT and deputy commander for Train, Advise and Assist Command-South at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/06\/01\/valor-medals-awarded-for-a-mission-involving-a-fallen-eod-soldier-in-helmand\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5276569.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Valor medals awarded for braving a Helmand minefield to get to a fallen comrade<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Unknown to them at the time, the site they were clearing would later be determined to be a minefield.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn October 18th, Arrowhead was tasked with protecting senior U.S. officials who were meeting with high-level Afghan officials at the provincial governor\u2019s compound in the center of Kandahar City to discuss upcoming national elections,\u201d Zinn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/news\/329481\/army-commendation-medal-soldiers-earn-valor-awards-actions\" target=_blank>said in the release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The soldiers were assigned to pull security during the hours-long meeting in Kandahar City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I remember myself and my platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Ballenger, pulling security on the tower across from the (helicopter landing zone) and seeing everyone coming out of the building,\u201d Smith, a combat medic, said in the release. \u201cThen all of a sudden I heard a shot pop and all we could see were people trying to take cover.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taliban infiltrator began firing, with Afghan government figures appearing to be the main targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese soldiers, acting as guardian angels, remained standing and returned fire to eliminate the threat,\u201d Zinn said. \u201cThey secured the chaotic scene and rendered medical aid to the wounded, organized the evacuation of senior U.S. and Afghan officials, called in a MedEvac helicopter, and prepared their convoy for movement out of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6364\" height=\"4243\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86443\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg 6364w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5536163.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6364px) 100vw, 6364px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left: Spc. Jacob S. Shontz, Spc. Joseph Smith, 1st Lt. Cooper L. Lemons, Sgt. 1st Class John Ballenger, Staff Sgt. Timme L. Jones, and Spc. Benaiah O. Wiedenhoft, all with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, receive awards in front of their peers and leaders June 11, 2019, during a ceremony at Fort Carson. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Neysa Canfield)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInstincts kind of just took over, it felt surreal,\u201d said Smith, who helped provide medical aid to the wounded. \u201cI took a deep breath and started treating and prioritizing those around me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All casualties were evacuated to the NATO Role III medical facility for further medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attack claimed the lives of the powerful Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq, as well as the head of the province\u2019s National Directorate of Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top U.S. commander in-country, Gen. Austin Miller, was present at the meeting, but escaped unharmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday I lost a great friend, Lt. Gen. Raziq,&#8221; Miller said after the attack. \u201cWe had served together for many years. Afghanistan lost a patriot, my condolences to the people of Afghanistan. The good he did for Afghanistan and the Afghan people cannot be undone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/05\/01\/classified-or-nonexistent-tracking-taliban-control-goes-dark-as-focus-shifts-to-getting-out\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/sofacq.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Classified or nonexistent: Tracking Taliban control goes dark as focus shifts to getting out<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The change marks an important waypoint for the U.S. mission.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two other Americans and a foreign contractor were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy deepest admiration will always be with the Arrowhead soldiers who selflessly and courageously demonstrated their character, resiliency and their expertise under fire at the governor\u2019s palace on that day,\u201d Zinn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the wake of the incident, Col. Knut Peters, a NATO mission spokesman, told Army Times that the incident took place at Kandahar Palace and was an \u201cAfghan-on-Afghan incident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The loss of Raziq was considered significant, as the Afghan general played a key role in holding together the many disparate political groups and security forces in Kandahar \u2014 an area with a historically strong Taliban presence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The soldiers played a crucial role in the events on Oct. 18, 2018, in Kandahar City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":86441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,92,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3385],"class_list":["post-48731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QODUOQOSAZHT5HFLLM32UIMKOE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2019\/07\/02\/awards-meted-out-for-fighting-through-insider-attack-on-high-level-meeting-in-afghanistan\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>6 soldiers given awards for actions during insider attack on high-level meeting in Afghanistan - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The soldiers played a crucial role in the events on Oct. 18, 2018, in Kandahar City.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/07\/02\/awards-meted-out-for-fighting-through-insider-attack-on-high-level-meeting-in-afghanistan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 soldiers given awards for actions during insider attack on high-level meeting in Afghanistan\" \/>\n<meta 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