Jason Amerine | |
---|---|
Born | 1971 (age 53–54) San Gabriel,California, United States |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1988–2016[1] |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Commands | Operational Detachment Alpha 574 |
Battles / wars | |
Awards | Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal Purple Heart Defense Meritorious Service Medal Army Commendation Medal (3) Army Achievement Medal (2) |
Jason Amerine (born 1971) is a retiredlieutenant colonel in theUnited States Army Special Forces.[2] He served in theInvasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in which he aided tribal leaderHamid Karzai in fighting a guerrilla war against theTaliban. For bravery in the invasion, he was awarded theBronze Star Medal and thePurple Heart.[3] He was also a "Real Hero" in theAmerica's Army video game.[4]
After graduating fromWest Point, Amerine volunteered for Ranger duty and then for Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) and thereafter headed up Texas 12, the codename forOperational Detachment Alpha 574 of the Army's 3rd Battalion,5th Special Forces Group. When training Kazakh paratroops inKazakhstan, he received news of theSeptember 11 attacks. He was assigned to helpAfghanfreedom fighters overthrow theTaliban rule inAfghanistan. He joined forces with local tribal leaderHamid Karzai, who assisted theUS invasion via his own guerrilla war. InUruzgan, Amerine with his Americans and Karzai with his freedom fightersboth defended the town of Tarin Kowt from a Taliban attack. Next, the leaders marched on a campaign along theArghandab River, fighting the Taliban atShawali Kowt andSayyd Alma Kalay. Both were US-Afghan victories, eventually leading to thecapture of Kandahar, anIslamic spiritual center. Shortly after Karzai was elected to be interim leader of Afghanistan, Amerine washit by friendly fire from a bomber. He lost three of his friends in the explosion, and learned three days later (in a hospital inGermany) that Kandahar had finally fallen, ending the war. After recovering, he completed a master's degree in international affairs with an emphasis in national security at theGeorge Bush School of Government and Public Service atTexas A&M University, then taught atWest Point as aSocial Sciences, and later, anArabic Language teacher.
On January 15, 2002, LTC Amerine was awarded theBronze Star Medal with"V" device and thePurple Heart for his actions in Afghanistan. According to his citation: "His actions in the face of overwhelming odds and direct hostile aggression resulted in the surrender of Kandahar by Taliban forces... and directly contributed to his unit's and his country's success." Lt. Gen.Paul T. Mikolashek, who oversaw the land war in Afghanistan, praised his exceptional courage, dedication to mission, and selfless commitment to his comrades. He was a guest at PresidentGeorge W. Bush'sState of the Union address, where he said, "Serving as an officer in theUnited States Army has been the greatest privilege in my life. In Afghanistan, I commanded American and Afghan soldiers, each fighting for his own nation and his people, yet united in a common cause as they entrusted one another with their lives. There is no greater courage than for people to fight side by side against the terrible odds they faced with such impenetrable faith in one another." Amerine's story and the story of his eleven-man A-Team ofGreen Berets is told in theNew York Times andWall Street Journal bestselling book,The Only Thing Worth Dying For by Eric Blehm.
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While working on the Army Staff in 2012, Amerine was asked to seek the freedom ofBowe Bergdahl after efforts to rescue him had stalled for several years. Amerine’s team developed a plan to trade Bowe Bergdahl and several Western hostages for Haji Bashir Noorzai. The deal was widely supported by the US government as well as Pakistan. When the Taliban sat down with the State Department to conclude the deal, the State Department instead chose to release five Taliban prisoners in exchange for Bergdahl, a deal they hoped would jump start peace talks with the Taliban. Those talks failed to materialize. Noorzai was ultimately traded for Mark Frerichs in 2022.
In 2014 Amerine provided information to U.S. Rep.Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA) to assist the Congressman in preparing legislation to improve U.S. hostage-freeing efforts. The Army then received a complaint from theFBI that Amerine had provided classified information to Hunter.[5] In early 2015, the Army initiated an investigation, which those close to Amerine regarded as retaliation for criticizing the Army's hostage efforts. In May 2015, Amerine's West Point classmates initiated a Whitehouse.gov petition to "provide LTC Jason Amerine, SF, US Army, Whistleblower Protection and end all investigations and unfavorable actions." On June 11, 2015 Amerine was one of five people who testified before theU.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs when it convened a hearing entitled,"Blowing the Whistle on Retaliation: Accounts of Current and Former Federal Agency Whistleblowers."[6] Amerine was ultimately cleared of all wrong doing and awarded the Legion of Merit.
Amerine retired from the Army in 2016. He was featured in the second season of theSerial podcast, which focused on theBowe Bergdahl case.[7]
When we took on the fight we did, I had no idea that we would encounter so much resistance within government, to the point that the FBI and certain leaders within the Army began to retaliate against Jason for the progress that was being made.