The Secretary of the Army of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Army Commendation Medal with Combat “V” to Sergeant Richard R. Gerbeth, Jr., United States Army, for heroism during ground combat operations against enemy forces on 18 September 2004, in the Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq. While under enemy fire, Sergeant Gerbeth maneuvered across a canal road to rescue the patrol leader who had fallen into the canal. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Sergeant Gerbeth, while under fire, maneuvered across the canal road to rescue the patrol leader who had fallen into a canal where the water was approximately 7 feet deep. Although exposed to enemy fire, Sergeant Gerbeth remained with the patrol leader, maintaining communications with higher throughout the ordeal. Upon rejoining the ambush team Sergeant Gerbeth called in successive illumination missions enabling the platoon to sweep the vineyards and mudflats north of the ambush site. Acting as the Ambush Team RTO he engaged the enemy and coordinated for the QRF to respond. Acting on his own initiative he vectored in the gun trucks to support the follow on sweep. Sergeant Gerbeth’s attention to detail and stringent enforcement of PCI’s insured availability of all equipment. He personally assumed control of zeroing all PAQ-4’s and PAQ-2 lasers prior to the mission which proved to be vital to mission success.