North Fayette captain saves U.S. troops in Afghanistan battle

  • Published
  • By Mike Cronin
  • TRIBUNE-REVIEW
PITTSBURGH --  It was clear his guys on the ground were in trouble.

"It looked like July Fourth down there," said Air Force Capt. Mike Polidor, an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot from North Fayette. "They were taking fire from all directions, 360 degrees."

Polidor, 28, a West Allegheny High School graduate and former junior-league hockey player, used his jet fighter's sensors to gauge the situation occurring 20,000 feet below him.

"They were in danger of being completely overrun by insurgents," Polidor said in a phone interview from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.

For eight hours, he and fellow pilots ensured that the surrounded ground troops, protected only by barbed wire fence, small arms and rifles, withstood the assault.

Just after 9 a.m. Oct. 3, between 100 and 150 Taliban fighters had been firing weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s, at about 70 U.S. Army and Afghan soldiers for about an hour, Polidor said.

The American and Afghan troops were holed up in a remote outpost in northeast Afghanistan, the Kamdesh district of Nuristan, about 10 miles from the Pakistan border.

The "territory has often been used as a sanctuary by insurgents," said Michael O'Hanlon, a national security and defense strategy expert at The Brookings Institution in Washington. He said the battle's location underscores that many fighters come into Afghanistan from Pakistan in the east.

Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Hill, who fought in the battle, said it was "absolutely unusual," compared with other engagements he had with Taliban fighters. Hill, 27, of Blacksburg, Va., arrived in Afghanistan in May and served tours in Iraq and Bosnia.

"We had several battles prior to that. But the Taliban usually just do harassing fires and then retreat," Hill said.

"If it wasn't for our air cover, I don't think we would've made it out of there," said Sgt. Eric Harder, 29, of Minneapolis, who arrived in Afghanistan in July. He and Hill are stationed at a forward-operating base about 12 miles from where the attack occurred.

Air Force Capt. David Faggard said Polidor in particular played a crucial role: He and his weapons system officer, 1st Lt. Aaron Dove, served as the communications conduit among soldiers on the ground and fellow pilots to ensure they bombed targets.

"There is no doubt that without the incredible air support we received, it would have been a much worse day," Army Lt. Col. Robert Brown said in a statement.

Still, after more than 12 hours, eight Americans and three Afghans were killed in action, Faggard said. Nine Americans and 11 Afghans were wounded.

"Nearly 100 militants were killed," Faggard said.

The engagement is among the most relentless and deadly that American forces have endured since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, O'Hanlon said.

"The resistance fighters were large in number and determined," he said. "NATO forces were overmatched and unable to call for help fast enough."

Harder and Hill said they and fellow soldiers were vulnerable because the enemy had the high ground. "They could look right down on us," Harder said.

The outpost was in a valley surrounded on three sides by steep mountains, where the Taliban held fortified positions and fired at will, said Polidor, whose home base is Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. A convergence of two rivers, "almost like Pittsburgh," comprised the fourth side, Polidor said.

The soldier responsible for coordinating the air support of the six F-15E jets, two Apache helicopters, one B-1 Lancer bomber and several A-10 Thunderbolt II Warthogs and Predator drones in the battle was located 20 miles away, Polidor said.

That combination of air power dropped more than 20 bombs, weighing 500 to 2,000 pounds each, during the battle, Faggard said.

The aircraft experienced multiple problems during the conflict, said Polidor, a 2004 Air Force Academy graduate.

One pilot's cockpit depressurized, and he had to return to base. Another pilot's jet malfunctioned, and he had to return, Polidor said. The Apaches ran out of fuel and had to leave the combat zone. Low clouds prevented pilots from being able to see the ground or surrounding mountains and made it impossible to use laser-guided bombs. Radio communication was spotty because of the mountainous terrain and incoming thunderstorms.

"It is by far the longest battle I've been involved in," said Polidor, who is serving his second four-month tour in Afghanistan and says he has flown 87 combat sorties there. "But I didn't even notice. I was so busy. There was so much going on."

Polidor dropped four bombs during the battle and strafed the enemy's position with 170 rounds of 20 mm bullets.

He said he's proud of what he and his team did.

"All our bombs hit where they were supposed to," Polidor said. "I don't think we could've done much better. It kind of instilled more confidence in me. It showed me that how we trained back home, in flight school and at the academy -- all of it works."

Polidor's mother, Dr. Tamara Polidor, 56, a North Fayette dentist originally from the Czech Republic, said she doesn't know too much about what happened during the battle.

"I'm nervous about him and proud of him at the same time," she said. "I hate flying, so I'm nervous all the time, even when he's not in Afghanistan. Even if he was an airline pilot, I'd be nervous. I try not to think about it."

Polidor's wife, Capt. Nicola Hill, 27, is an Air Force pilot who flies B-52 bombers. Stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, she could not be reached for comment. The couple met at the Air Force Academy and married in May after seven years together, Polidor said.

"It's hard to find time, when we both deploy all the time," he said.

Polidor's father, Jaromir Polidor, 64, is a chemical engineer living in Prague. Polidor's younger brother, Marek, 21, attends Penn State University, where he studies business.

(Editors note: This story was reprinted with permission from the Tribune-Review.)