Graham Ragsdale (born 28 June 1969) is a former soldier of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. He commanded the

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

team from the 3rd Battalion

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricias) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...

attached to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

187th Infantry Regiment,

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

during

Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda or the Battle of Shah-i-Kot was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban force ...

in the

Shah-i-Kot Valley The Shah-i-Kot Valley (also Shahi-Kot, Shah-e-Kot and other variant spellings) is a valley in the Paktia province of Afghanistan, southeast of the town of Zormat. The terrain in and around the valley is notoriously rugged, located at a mean alt ...

, Paktia Province, Afghanistan, in March 2002. He was awarded the United States

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

with

"V" device A "V" device is a metal Letter case, capital Letter (alphabet), letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on #Decorations eligible for the "V" device, certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes a decoration award ...

for his actions in combat and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

by the Canadian Forces.

Early life and military career

Graham Ragsdale was born on 28 June 1969 in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist ...

, Canada. He joined the

in 1988 after graduating from

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. Ragsdale began his military career with the 2nd Commando of the

Canadian Airborne Regiment The Canadian Airborne Regiment () was a Canadian Forces formation created on April 8, 1968. It was not an administrative regiment in the commonly accepted British Commonwealth sense, but rather a tactical formation manned from other regiments and ...

before transitioning to the 3rd Battalion PPCLI. In 1991, after his initial three-year service contract, he chose to be released from the regular force and joined a

Canadian Rangers The Canadian Rangers () are a sub-component of the Canadian Army Reserve under Canadian Armed Forces reserves that provides a limited military presence in regions of Canada where stationing conventional Army units would not be practical or eco ...

patrol group. At this time he was also pursuing an amateur boxing career with Olympic hopes. He rejoined the regular force in 1996 and was posted to the newly formed 3rd Battalion

Afghanistan and Operation Anaconda

Ragsdale was assigned to Canada's involvement in the Afghanistan War, particularly during

in 2002. As part of the sniper detachment, Ragsdale and his team were embedded with U.S. forces in the

, a region controlled by

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

and

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

forces. During this mission, Ragsdale's unit, including Master Corporal Arron Perry and Corporal Rob Furlong, set records for the longest combat kills during the operation, with Furlong's shot at 2,430 metres becoming the longest confirmed sniper kill at the time.

Investigation and aftermath

Shortly after Operation Anaconda, allegations surfaced against one of the snipers, Arron Perry, regarding the desecration of an enemy corpse. This led to an investigation by the Canadian military's National Investigation Service (NIS). As the investigation unfolded, Ragsdale was relieved of his command of the sniper unit.

Post-military career

He worked many years as a designated defensive marksman in a counter-sniper role for various private military companies throughout

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

region of North Africa. After serving in military, Ragsdale was, , working for Rob Furlong's Marksmanship Academy as an instructor.

Medals and decorations

* Sacrifice Medal (replacing the previously awarded Wound Stripe) –

* South-West Asia Service Medal * Special Service Medal – Rangers and Alert * Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal * NATO SFOR Medal – Former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

with

(United States) *

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation The Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation (French: is a Canadian award given to military units for "an extraordinary deed or activity of a rare high standard in extremely hazardous circumstances". Not only Canadian military units are eligible; Com ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragsdale, Graham Living people Canadian military snipers Kincardine, Ontario Canadian Army soldiers Canadian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 1969 births