1st F 02/27/2024 Chapman

AO: UNDERGROUND
QiC: Bogey
Date: 02/27/2024
Title: Chapman
Number of HIMs: 7
9.5, Betty Crocker, Bogey, Honker, Litter Box, Mr. Miyagi, Tutti Frutti

Number of FNGs: 0
Name of FNGs:

WarmOrama:
Did all the favorites but cut it a little short since our hero WOD was gonna take some time.

Background: John Allan Chapman (July 14, 1965 – March 4, 2002) was a combat controller in the United States Air Force who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on August 22, 2018, for his actions in the Battle of Takur Ghar during the War in Afghanistan. He is the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. He was inducted into the Hall of Heroes on August 23, 2018, and posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant on the following day. Chapman was also the first Air Force combat controller to be awarded the Air Force Cross. His award was subsequently upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Tha Thang:
Vest up and for time perform the following:

1,200 meter Run
100 Push-Ups
25 Broad-Jumps
100 Sit-Ups
1,200 meter Run
100 Push-Ups
25 Broad Jumps
100 Sit-Ups
1,200 meter Run

The one who designed this tribute workout described it with the following: “Chapman most likely dealt with agonizing muscle fatigue while aggressions the event at elevation and sprinting up hills while under fire. The run and bodyweight movements signify Chapman’s movement to the bunker and his actions on objective.”

Fourteen years after Chapman's death, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James began pushing for a Medal of Honor, the military's highest award, after new technology that allowed a deeper analysis of video of the battle suggested Chapman regained consciousness and resumed fighting Al-Qaeda members who were coming toward him from three directions. Chapman may have crawled into a bunker, shot and killed an enemy charging at him and then killed another enemy fighter in hand-to-hand combat.

COT:
Unbeknownst to me our own Tutti Frutti had friends that didn’t make it in the Battle of Takur Ghar. Thanks for sharing your personal memories Brother.

Here is the official MOH citation for MSgt John A. Chapman:

Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism as an Air Force Special Tactics combat controller, attached to a Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Team conducting reconnaissance operations in Takur Ghar, Afghanistan, on March 4, 2002. During insertion, the team's helicopter was ambushed causing a teammate to fall into an entrenched group of enemy combatants below. Sergeant Chapman and the team voluntarily reinserted onto the snow-capped mountain, into the heart of a known enemy stronghold to rescue one of their own. Without regard for his own safety, Sergeant Chapman immediately engaged, moving in the direction of the closest enemy position despite coming under heavy fire from multiple directions. He fearlessly charged an enemy bunker, up a steep incline in thigh-deep snow and into hostile fire, directly engaging the enemy. Upon reaching the bunker, Sergeant Chapman assaulted and cleared the position, killing all enemy occupants. With complete disregard for his own life, Sergeant Chapman deliberately moved from cover only 12 meters from the enemy, and exposed himself once again to attack a second bunker, from which an emplaced machine gun was firing on his team. During this assault from an exposed position directly in the line of intense fire, Sergeant Chapman was struck and injured by enemy fire. Despite severe, mortal wounds, he continued to fight relentlessly, sustaining a violent engagement with multiple enemy personnel before making the ultimate sacrifice. By his heroic actions and extraordinary valor, sacrificing his life for the lives of his teammates, Technical Sergeant Chapman upheld the highest traditions of military service and reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Pledge, pray, and on our way.