'The Taliban were waiting for us'

Staff Sgt. Jared Pietras didn’t deploy to Afghanistan to earn a chest full of medals.

He didn’t storm into a hail of enemy gunfire during the opening salvo of last year’s spring offensive to impress any board.

And the special-operations airman didn’t rescue three dozen Afghan soldiers pinned down by Taliban fighters in a secluded grape field to be called a hero.

The unassuming, quick-witted 25-year-old South Carolina native, affectionately known to his fellow airmen as “Peaches,” said he did all that and more during a perilous six-month Afghan tour for his comrades.

“It’s not for me. And it’s not for the medals,” Pietras said from his unit’s headquarters on RAF Mildenhall in England. “I do it for my teammates, and I know they do it for me, too.”

Pietras’ was a grueling tour in the Kandahar region — sweating through long days and toiling through even longer nights in a volatile region alongside coalition partners and American special-operations counterparts — in which he established himself as an intrepid leader and selfless warrior.

The mission kicked off on a brutal note.

His squad was airlifted into a southern Afghanistan valley, an area with a rich history of combat where mujahedeen fighters had defeated a Soviet force decades earlier.

He was part of a team positioned to control the north side of the valley, while an Army Special Forces team held the south side. But when his team touched down in the valley, the plan was immediately interrupted under a fierce attack.

“As soon as we exited the back of the aircraft, we started getting shot at,” he said. “We had a pre-bombing campaign, but apparently it wasn’t enough.”

The 352nd Special Operations Group combat controller stuck to the mission, and began calling in air support.

“We had to neutralize the whole area so we could get more ground forces in,” he said. “We were doing that for a good 36 hours straight. The Taliban were waiting for us, and had dug in for a good fight. They had beat the Russians there, and thought they could do the same to us.”

The fighting in the valley prompted Pietras to scale a nearby mountain for a higher vantage point for calling in airstrikes. He ultimately took control of all the airspace above the fighting, momentarily postponing a bomber strike to expedite an emergency medical evacuation.

The coalition forces ultimately seized the area, and sought to engage Taliban fighters in the greater region.

“The push was still to go north, but we knew it wouldn’t be easy,” he said.

Days later, Pietras found himself again in the midst of a crisis. Communication difficulties in the geographically challenging region had left roughly three dozen Afghan soldiers stranded in a secluded grape field under attack by well-armed Taliban.

Pietras formed an impromptu rescue party with two other Special Forces soldiers, who sneaked undetected into the grape field and rescued their allies.

“That’s just how it is out there. I didn’t even know those soldiers before that day, and we just went in and did it. We were three guys, going to get 36 guys out,” he said. “When you look back, us three shooting our way out of that field with the Afghans running behind us, all of us smiling and laughing, it’s pretty dumb. But you don’t think that when it’s happening.”

For his actions in Afghanistan, his singular dedication to his comrades and his acts of courage in the face of overwhelming adversity, Pietras has been awarded three separate Bronze Stars with “V” device and is under consideration for awards from foreign governments as well.

His actions have not gone unnoticed by his superiors.

“ ‘Peaches’ has shown great initiative and leadership,” said Senior Master Sgt. Mickey Wright, the top enlisted airmen in Pietras’ squadron. “This was proven when he was selected as the 2004 U.S. Air Force Combat Control Airman of the Year, and as an element leader, his leadership is proven daily.”

For Pietras, the Bronze Stars affirm his role in the nation’s fight against terrorism.

“I joined the Air Force special ops to do exactly this, to find out how I would react in these kind of situations. And I liked what I found out in Afghanistan,” he said. “I know that I’m willing to do what it takes for my teammates. The medals and awards are nice, but it’s the recognition from my peers that makes this job special.”