Mountain Rescue

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Rogers, center, helps U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Halberg and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Stumpff hook up to extraction equipment as they prepare to be rescued from a mountainside in Afghanistan's Khowst province, July 4, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pahon.


A U.S. Army National Guard aviation MEDEVAC crew made a daring, mountainside rescue July 4, evacuating two Soldiers that were stranded on a cliff while taking cover from enemy fire.

The two 4th BCT, 25th Infantry Division Soldiers were on a narrow ledge above a 50-foot drop while escaping an enemy ambush. Stumpff was shot in the head by an insurgent, but the bullet penetrated the back of his helmet, just grazed his head, and exited the front. Halberg then killed the insurgent while protecting Stumpff.

Valkyrie medevac, a dual-state National Guard unit serving with Task Force Wolfpack, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, rescued the two Soldiers with a hoist attached to their UH-60 Black Hawk. (Source: RC-East Facebook page.)

U.S. Army Spc. Terry Mills, right, pulls U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Stumpff into a UH-60 Black Hawk medevac helicopter in Afghanistan's Khowst province, July 4, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pahon.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Brett Wood, front, treats U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Stumpff, left, for a head wound while U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Halberg, far left, looks on in Afghanistan's Khowst province, July 4, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pahon.