PERSONAL AWARD RECOMMENDATION FROM: (Title and Address)

PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT The Privacy Act Statement for information on this form is contained in NAVMC Form 11000, Privacy Act Statement for Marine Corps Personnel and Pay Records. TO: (Awarding Authority)

ADJUTANT HQ CO 7THMAR 1STMARDIV BOX 788260 TWENTYNINE PALMS CA 92278 8260

1. SOCIAL SECURITY #: 2. DESIG/NEC/MOS:

COMUSMARCENT MARCENT (HQ MARFOR CENTCOM)

14. EXP. OF ACTIVE DUTY: IF RETIREMENT, NUMBER OF YEARS:

1802

15. EST. DETACHMENT DATE: 09/15/2013 Retirement Terminal Leave Transfer X Impact Award 16. NEW DUTY STATION (Home address if separation anticipated):

3. NAME (Last,first,MI):

ASHINHURST, CHRISTOPHE A
5. GRADE/RANK:

4. COMPONENT (USN,USMC,etc.):

N/A
18. DUTY ASSIGNMENT:

USMC
17. UNIT AT TIME OF ACTION/SERVICE:

CAPT

1ST TANK BATTALION 1STMARDIV

7. RUC:

CO
19. PREVIOUS PERSONAL DECORATIONS AND PERIOD RECOGNIZED:

6. WARFARE DESIGNATOR (Navy Only): 8. RECOMMENDED AWARD:

21410 BV - BRONZE STAR W/ V

10. TYPE: X Heroic Meritorious 9. SPECIFIC ACHIEVEMENT: X Yes No MIA

CR - 02/13/2013 NC - 04/15/2011

NC - 05/01/2012 NC - 10/31/2008

AA - 10/21/2011 NA - 04/21/2008

Heroic Posthumous Meritorious Posthumous

11. NUMBER OF AWARD OF RECOMMENDED MEDAL:

20. PERSONAL AWARDS RECOMMENDED-NOT YET APPROVED:

1
12. ACTION DATE/MERITORIOUS PERIOD:

N/A
21. OTHER PERSONNEL BEING RECOMMENDED FOR SAME ACTION:

01/02/2013 - 07/20/2013
13. GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF ACTION/SERVICE:

OCONUS - OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM

22. I certify that the facts contained in the summary of action are NAME, GRADE, TITLE OF ORIGINATOR SIGNATURE known to me X a matter of record DATE

RANKIN, CHRISTIAN, LTCOL Executive Officer

Christian Rankin
Executive Officer
SIGNATURE & GRADE

07/17/2013

23. FORWARDING ENDORSEMENTS BY VIA ADDRESSEE(S). VIA COMMAND RECOMMENDED COMBAT "V" AWARD

DATE FWD

Commanding Officer BV - BRONZE 7TH MAR REGT 1ST MARDIV STAR W/ V (R/U) CG, II MEF (FWD) II MEF (FORWARD) CE BV - BRONZE STAR W/ V

X Yes

No

Austin Eugene Renforth

Austin Eugene Renforth COL

07/29/2013

X Yes

No

Rachael Pitts

08/17/2013

Rachael Pitts MAJ For Walter Miller JR MAJGEN, CG, II MEF (FWD)
SIGNATURE,GRADE,TITLE DATE APPROVED

24. TO BE COMPLETED BY AWARDING AUTHORITY DISPOSITION OF BASIC COMBAT "V" EXTRAORDINARY RECOMMENDATION HEROISM

BV - BRONZE STAR W/ V

X Yes

No

Yes

X No

Amanda Ciszewski

10/24/2013

Amanda Ciszewski SSGT/Awards Clerk For Robert B Neller LTGEN, COMUSMARCENT

NAVMC 11533 (EF)

Citation BV approved as BV by LTGEN ROBERT B NELLER on 10/24/2013 For heroic service in connection with combat operations against the enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, Company D, 1st Tank Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 7, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), from 2 January 2013 to 20 July 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. During this period, Captain Ashinhurst displayed extraordinary leadership and courageously led his company in direct combat against enemy forces. During Operation DYNAMIC PARTNER, Captain Ashinhurst bravely commanded his company over five days of intense fighting against a large enemy force that had surrounded and cut off a Marine Special Operations Team at Village Stability Platform Shurakay. His decisive leadership under enemy fire and personal violence of action in directing fires of his force resulted in the death of 60 insurgents and broke the enemys ability to continue organized resistance. In the aftermath of a suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device attack on Combat Outpost Shir Ghazay, Captain Ashinhurst boldly led his company to assault the blast site where four heavily armed fighters had breached the outer wall. He immediately rendered lifesaving aid to a severely wounded Georgian Soldier and organized care and transport of casualties to the forward aid station. He unhesitatingly deployed his tanks in defensive positions around the outpost to prevent further attacks until integrity of the perimeter could be restored. By his zealous initiative, courageous actions, and exceptional dedication to duty, Captain Ashinhurst reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

NAVMC 11533 (EF)

Summary of Action SNO was in receipt of imminent danger pay during this period. Captain Ashinhurst is enthusiastically recommended for the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for his heroic achievement while serving as Commanding Officer, Company D, 1st Tank Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 7, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) from 2 January 2013 to 20 July 2013 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. During this period, Captain Ashinhurst led his company with unparalleled success through a litany of combat operations against the enemy. Always placing himself at the forefront of the fighting, he led his tank section and the company on 46 combat patrols and 2,400 km of travel through four districts (Now Zad, Musa Qaleh, Sangin, and Nahr-e Saraj) in northern Helmand with unprecedented success. During the relief-in-place (RIP) with 2d Tank Battalion, it became apparent that Company D, 1st Tank Battalion would be sent into a major operation immediately upon assuming control. In late January, after the RIP, Captain Ashinhurst traveled to Camp Leatherneck to conduct planning with Regimental Combat Team 7 and 3d Battalion, 9th Marines for Operation DYNAMIC PARTNER. The operation combined all elements of the MEF in a significant undertaking to extract Village Stability Platform (VSP) Shurakay from their position for retrograde. Captain Ashinhurst led the tank companys planning, provided recommendations on employment, and arranged for the logistics to support 10 tanks, 15 trucks, and 78 Marines for two weeks of continuous operations. Furthermore, Captain Ashinhurst personally led the companys rehearsals and combined rehearsals with Lima 3/9 to ensure the plan was understood at every level. Quickly put into a demanding mission set, Captain Ashinhurst displayed resiliency and skill by completely taking charge of his responsibilities as the Regiments tank expert, coordinating every aspect of the mammoth plan to the finest details. From 13 to 17 February 2013, Company D occupied battle positions overlooking VSP Shurakay to defend the demilitarization of the VSP and the transport of several million dollars worth of equipment out of the VSP on combat logistic patrols. On seven different occasions, extensive gun battles broke out between enemy positions surrounding the VSP and Marines in battle positions overlooking the area. Captain Ashinhursts rapid and effective command of these engagements while subjecting himself to enemy fire ensured the timely destruction of enemy forces and preserved the lives of Marines involved in the operation. Ignoring enemy fire, he boldly positioned his tank in the most forward position along the shelf overlooking VSP Shurakay so he could be in the best position to control fires and engage the enemy. On many occasions, Captain Ashinhursts tank was the target of enemy fire. At one point a grenade detonated off of his tanks front slope, shattering the drivers periscope and on another occasion a rocket fired from a nearby compound detonated meters from his tank. Early in the operation it became clear that tanks were the most responsive asset on the battlefield and the liaison officer at the VSP soon resorted to contacting Captain Ashinhurst directly for all defensive fires in support of the demilitarization. Day and night, Captain Ashinhurst and liaison officer coordinated the defense of the position over the radio. Aircraft overhead and thermal imagery from the VSP were able to confirm over 60 enemy KIA over the five days of fighting. Throughout the operation there was no loss of coalition forces or collateral civilian casualties. That is a testament to the well-trained and disciplined Marines in the tank company and Captain Ashinhursts leadership as their commander. On 15 May 2013, a Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (SVBIED) detonated in the entry control point (ECP) at Combat Outpost (COP) Shir Ghazay. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) estimated the car was carrying 200lbs of bulk explosive. The effect of the blast wave on the interior of the COP was tremendous. Captain Ashinhurst and his company staff were in their office, approximately 100 yards from the blast. The blast wave immediately destroyed the company office. Interior walls, air conditioning units, and pieces of the ceiling were thrown through the air. Captain Ashinhurst was struck in the side of the head by a wooden divider in the officer, but immediately ordered his Marines to get to the Indirect-fire (IDF) bunker and then after clearing the debris off himself, pushed his men out the door of the office. As Captain Ashinhurst left the office building, he checked each of the rooms in the buildings for casualties left behind and recovered a Georgian rifle left behind in one of the offices. As he came outside and into the IDF bunker, he took a quick head count of his staff and then moved past the Georgian living areas directly to the site of the explosion. The SVBIED blew a gap in the perimeter wall several meters across. Approximately two minutes after the blast, four enemy fighters armed with AK-47s, UGLs and RPGs dressed in military uniforms, stormed the COP through the hold made by the SVBIED. Firing through the gap in the wall and over the COP with their AK-47s the enemy forces shot at Georgian casualties lying in the rubble and soldiers running to assist. At the same time, Captain Ashinhurst, Georgian Liaison Team Officer-in-Charge, and the Georgian battalion commander, already heading for the site, accelerated their movement, bounding between MRAPS parked in a lot between them and the blast site. Without Personal Protective Equipment, and using a rifle he had found in one of the offices, Captain Ashinhurst unhesitatingly assaulted towards the enemy forces breaching the COP. When Captain Ashinhurst reached the blast site, he identified casualties among the rubble and after ensuring that the enemy forces were dead, and soldiers were covering the breach point, he began treating one Georgian soldier with open fractures to his legs, a mangled hand, and a penetrating chest wound. Capt Ashinhurst applied a tourniquet to the soldier and directed other Marines to get a stretcher to transport the casualty to the FAS. Captain Ashinhurst, recognizing a stretcher was unavailable, prepared the soldier to be lifted on to his shoulders and taken the 200 yards in a firemans carry. As Captain Ashinhurst began the carry a stretcher arrived and he then transferred the soldier to the stretcher. A moment later, Captain Ashinhurst recognized that some of the
NAVMC 11533 (EF)

downed enemy fighters were wearing possible suicide vests. He alerted the Georgians securing the scene and then notified the GLT chain of command so they could get EOD to check the enemy bodies. After Captain Ashinhurst assisted a few more soldiers and Marines with the evacuation of casualties he located his company 1stSgt to ensure all his Marines were accounted for. Recalling a tank in from outside the base, Captain Ashinhurst took the company executive officers tank and crew back outside the COP to command the defense of Shir Ghazay during the medical evacuation of casualties and the reconstruction of the perimeter. His fearlessness in the face of the enemy and boldness of action inspired his men and those around him. His unhesitating reaction assisted in breaking up the enemy follow-on attack, saved the life of at least one Georgian soldier, and secured the COP from follow on attacks. Throughout the deployment, Captain Ashinhurst led the men of his company with boldness of action, decisiveness, all the while demanding a high standard of performance. He enthusiastically pursued the employment of tanks across the province, traveling to Camp Leatherneck, Sangin, and Task Force 66 to conduct planning with other units and bring tanks into the fight against the enemy at every opportunity. Even though the company averaged approximately the same number of miles patrolled as other tank companies to serve in Afghanistan, Company D, they struck significantly fewer Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) overall. For seven months of combat operations and approximately 2,000 kilometers of patrolling per tank, the company only struck four IEDs. This is a testament to the companys training, discipline, and patience. As a result of his tireless efforts, unyielding commitment to excellence and determination to destroy the enemy while protecting friendly forces Captain Ashinhurst is enthusiastically recommended for the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device.

NAVMC 11533 (EF)