On 6 April 2008, a 130-man combined assault force, dubbed Commando Wrath had inserted deep into a remote valley of the Nuristan Province, Afghanistan with the task of capturing a high ranking insurgent.
Then-Senior Airman Zachary Rhyner, just six months out of training and on his first deployment, was an AF Combat Controller attached to ODA 3336.
Shortly after landing, the assault force was ambushed, pinned down and split in two on either side of a river.
Several SF members were wounded throughout the course of the battle, including Rhyner who was shot twice in the chest and once in the leg.
Despite being wounded within the first 15 minutes of the battle, he continued to direct CAS and airstrikes until the assault force was evacuated 7 hours later.
Fifty of the airstrikes he called in were within 200m of friendly positions and was credited with saving the entire 100-man team from being overrun twice.
He called in a total of 4,570 cannon rounds, 9 Hellfire missiles, 162 rockets, a dozen 500-pound bombs, and one 2,000-pound bomb.
Rhyner would receive the Air Force Cross, making him the second CCT recipient after John Chapman.
As a result of the same battle, ten U.S. Army soldiers, nine Special Forces and one Combat Cameraman received the Silver Star, the greatest number of Silver Stars awarded for a single battle since the Vietnam War.
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