CITATION TO ACCOMPANY THE AWARD OF THE SILVER STAR

AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR

OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM - SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA - AFGHANISTAN

DELOREAN SHERIDAN

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 Technical Sergeant Delorean M. Sheridan, United States Air Force, for gallantry in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States in Wardak Province, Afghanistan on 11 March 2013.

On that date, while attached to a United States Special Forces Team, Sergeant Sheridan displayed extraordinary bravery and complete disregard for his own safety during a coordinated insider insurgent attack.

Just prior to departing for a tactical ground movement, an Afghan National Police Officer engaged Sergeant Sheridan and his American and Afghan Special Forces teammates with a truck mounted machine gun from 25 feet away. Simultaneous to this attack, 15 to 20 insurgents located 150 meters south of his position also engaged the base with heavy AK-47 and PKM machine gun fire. With rounds impacting all around him and striking teammates immediately to his left and right, Sergeant Sheridan closed the distance with the shooter and leapt into the back of an armored vehicle in order to engage him. From the turret of the vehicle, Sergeant Sheridan engaged the shooter, twice with his pistol and nine times with an M-4 rifle until the shooter was dead.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Sergeant Sheridan quickly exited the vehicle, returning to the kill zone in order to extract his wounded teammates. Sergeant Sheridan maneuvered through the heavy volume of gunfire streaming into the base and grabbed his wounded Team Leader by the shoulder strap, pulling him some 20 feet out of the field of fire to medical assistance. Sergeant Sheridan then transitioned the kill zone, once again moving through heavy insurgent machine gun fire, reaching his Team Sergeant and subsequently dragged him to safety. Still undaunted by the enemy fire, Sergeant Sheridan charged into the kill zone a third time in order to retrieve the infantry squad Noncommissioned Officer-in-Charge, pulling him to the casualty collection point.

Within the next 30 minutes, Sergeant Sheridan methodically sequenced six medical evacuation aircraft, assisting with the litter transfer of wounded personnel while simultaneously directing close air support and surveillance aircraft. With the medical evacuation complete, Sergeant Sheridan located and directed aircraft to engage insurgents maneuvering towards the friendly location, resulting in four additional enemy fighters killed.

Sergeant Sheridan's complete disregard for personal safety and extreme calm under pressure despite grave danger to himself and others directly resulted in saving the lives of 23 critically wounded personnel.

By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Sergeant Sheridan has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.