The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Jonathan F. Logan, United States Army, for gallantry in action 21 July 2011 during combat operations against an armed enemy of the United States as a Ranger Platoon Leader for a Joint Task Force in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Captain Logan and his team encountered and destroyed numerous enemy combatants and a complex system of bunkers and caves. During the clearance, his element was pinned down and taking multiple casualties. Captain Logan advanced under fire to within 15 meters of the enemy and exposed himself to eliminate the enemy with direct fire and a grenade. His actions saved the lives of several Rangers and enabled the assault force to eliminate the enemy advance on their position. Captain Logan’s distinctive accomplishments are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, this command and the United States Army.
NARRATIVE TO ACCOMPANY AWARD:
Captain Jonathan F. Logan, on July 21, 2011 distinguished himself by exceptionally heroic gallantry as a Ranger Platoon Leader while deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Captain Logan was assigned to a Joint Task Force, whose mission was to kill or capture enemy combatants. Captain Logan’s heroic actions under effective enemy fire on an objective saved the lives of at least three of his men and were instrumental in the death of at least 25 enemy combatants and foreign fighters and the recovery of a large cache of weapons intended for use against Coalition Forces. Captain Logan identified an enemy maneuvering on the assault force through the wadi to the east with a medium machinegun. Once Captain Logan engaged and killed him, another enemy began engaging two Rangers’ position in the wadi to the south, wounding Sergeant C. in the shoulder. Unaware of the enemy location, the Rangers took cover in the wadi, where they remained pinned down by a high volume of accurate enemy fire. Staff Sergeant J. maneuvered to Sergeant C. under fire and helped get him out of the engagement area. En route to their next covered position, Sergeant C. was wounded twice more by direct enemy fire in the right leg and left hand. Another team within the Task Force set up a support by fire position on the southeast of the wadi in an attempt to suppress the enemy combatants. As they moved up the ridgeline, the enemy combatants engaged them, resulting in one friendly killed in action. This team recovered their casualty and broke contact from the engagement area leaving Captain Logan and his men isolated and surrounded by well armed enemy. At this point, 2B was cut off from the main body due to enemy direct fire and the other team within the Task Force’s maneuver to the rear as they dealt with their friendly killed in action. The enemy was maneuvering on 2B from all sides. Captain Logan quickly realized that 2B was pinned down by enemy fire from the ridgeline to the north and from enemy fire inside the wadi to the east. Sergeant C. had been shot three times and Staff Sergeant J., Sergeant C., and Specialist S. were pinned down by accurate enemy fire. Captain Logan took charge of the dire situation and immediately ordered Staff Sergeant G. and Staff Sergeant C. to coordinate the suppression of the enemy to the east. Captain Logan, recognizing the substantial threat posed to the small element, exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he began climbing the ridgeline to kill the enemy personnel engaging Staff Sergeant J., Sergeant C., and Specialist S. Staff Sergeant B. picked up suppression to the south as Captain Logan began a 120 meter climb up to the enemy position on the ridge. Captain Logan continued to crawl up the ridge, under heavy enemy fire as he closed the distance with the enemy position. Captain Logan displayed great courage with his daring move into enemy fire, which allowed him to get within 15 feet of the enemy position. Captain Logan, under heavy machinegun fire, engaged the fortified enemy position with his M4 carbine and M67 fragmentary grenade, killing the two enemies inside. Captain Logan’s heroic actions directly saved the lives of three of his teammates as he destroyed the fighting position that had pinned down and inflicted multiple casualties to the assault force. Captain Logan identified that there were more enemy personnel left inside another fortified fighting position further back on the northern ridgeline. Captain Logan, out of hand grenades, again valiantly under enemy fire employed a smoke grenade on the enemy positions marking it for Air Weapons Team to engage. Due to Air Weapons Teams position in their orbit, and the steep cliffs on both sides of the wadi they were unable to identify and engage the enemy. Captain Logan, knowing that it would be impossible to safely fall back without AWT engaging the enemy bunker, exposed himself a third time to heavy enemy fire in order to place a flash bang at the entrance of the entrenched fighting positions. The Air Weapons Team was able to identify the heat signature from the grenade and engage the enemy fighting position with two 30-mm. gun runs. The Air Weapons Team’s engagements provided the cover necessary for Captain Logan and Staff Sergeant B. to move down the ridgeline and link up with the 2B element in the wadi. Captain Logan reached the base of the wadi, he consolidated his Rangers underneath a rock out cropping which provided them temporary cover from the enemy’s heavy small arms fire. The Ranger element was fixed to an area of 15 meters due to enemy over watching and advancing on all avenues of egress. Additionally, there were still bunker complexes to the south and to the east that had not been cleared. While maintaining suppression of all enemy locations, Captain Logan pulled all friendly personnel in close. Captain Logan quickly assessed the situation and determined the only way his Ranger element would survive was to authorize fire missions danger close to their positions. CPT Logan authorized the JTAC to engage the enemy positions on the northern ridgeline that he had previously marked that were 40 meters away with two blast fragmentation Hellfires at danger close range. He then began coordination for another fire mission on another group of enemy personnel 25 meters away that was directly above the 2B element. Captain Logan’s competence and ability to command and control in the most dire of situations allowed him to make the decision to engage the enemy within close proximity to their position. Still taking accurate fires from the east from an enemy bunker position 60 meters away, Captain Logan again authorized Staff Sergeant B. to execute a third danger close fire mission. Having killed the majority of the enemy in the high ground as well as halting the enemy advance from the east, Captain Logan quickly put together a plan of egress. The plan involved hitting the last remaining enemy position separating the 2B element from the joint task force team element with a hellfire missile prior to starting the egress. The 2B element set up several fallback positions and used bounding over watch to move back. Captain Logan ordered Staff Sergeant B. to suppress the northern ridgeline with rockets as the element maneuvered to link up with the joint task force team element, facilitating their safe fallback. Once the missile impacted the bunker to the southeast, 2B began maneuvering to link up with joint task force team. Captain Logan again employed Aerial Weapons Team to suppress the ridgeline to the north with rockets as they maneuvered. Captain Logan’s ability to quickly and decisively engage multiple enemy positions with an array of weapons systems enabled the assault force to destroy the enemy and successfully link up with the joint task force team without further harm to the assault force. When the Ranger element of 2B exfilled and returned to base they were informed they had less than 3 hours to refit and get ready to go back in to clear through the remaining enemy encampments further down the wadi. Captain Logan also briefed Task Force Central on what he saw on the ground which enabled rockets to be launched on the known enemy positions before the platoon was reinserted. Upon being reinserted, 2B’s was task organized under another team and continued assaulting the encampment as part of the company, destroying 5 more enemy fighting positions and killing 7 more enemy personnel under CPT Logan’s leadership. Captain Logan’s bravery under fire, courageous actions, and dedication to the safety of his men were exemplary. He is most deserving of the special recognition afforded by the awarding of the Silver Star Medal. Through his distinctive accomplishments, Captain Logan’s actions and leadership reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.