Operational Detachment Alpha 574 is a part of 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 ...

's Third Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group. At the beginning of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

it operated in Afghanistan to help defeat the

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 create conditions for the establishment of a democratic government in

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 ...

. Jason Amerine was noted for leading the group in several battles of the Invasion of Afghanistan.

Invasion of Afghanistan

ODA 574, callsign "Texas 12" (Texas One-Two), was a group of 12 U.S Special Forces soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th SFG under the command of Captain Jason Amerine. They deployed from Karshi-Khanabad Air Base (nicknamed K2 by the Special Forces) to just outside of Tarin Kowt on 14 November, accompanied by

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

militia leader,

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

, who was returning from exile. Their primary objective was to capture the Islamic spiritual center in the city of

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

. To capture the province, it was necessary to first capture the town of Tarin Kowt. The civilians of the town overthrew the Taliban governor, so Karzai and Amerine moved in to help defend it. The 12 Americans of ODA 574, assisted by U.S.

close air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

and 35 Afghans, successfully defended Tarin Kowt against 1,000 Taliban delivered by 100 trucks. After this victory, they went on to defeat the Taliban further along the

Arghandab River The Arghandab is a river in Afghanistan, about in length. It rises in Ghazni Province, west of the city of Ghazni, and flows southwest, passing near the city of Kandahar, before joining the Helmand River below the town of Grishk. In its lowe ...

, at Shawali Kowt and Sayyd Alma Kalay.}

Friendly fire incident

As Karzai's forces pushed south towards Kandahar, an error by an attached United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party on 5 December caused a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) to fall short of its intended target, 100 yards from their position. It killed Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald "Donnie" Davis, Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, and SFC Daniel H. Petithory and twenty members of Karzai's militia. Five other members of ODA 574 and Karzai were wounded. Five minutes after the friendly fire incident, Hamid Karzai was notified by a satellite phone call that he'd been selected to lead Afghanistan's new interim government.

Capture of Kandahar

Hamid Karzai accepted the surrender of the Taliban on December 5, 2001, in Showali Kowt as the members of ODA 574 were medically evacuated out of Afghanistan. Various units streamed into Kandahar after the surrender including ODA 586 and ODA 524.

Awards

For their bravery in

, Operational Detachment Alpha 574 was awarded three

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

s, four

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 ...

s 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 valor, three

s, and eleven

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

s. Amerine himself was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and a

References

{{Reflist Special forces units and formations in the United States Army