Medal of Honor: Thomas P. Payne – War on Terror – October 22, 2015

Name: Thomas Patrick Payne
Rank: Sergeant First Class (Highest Rank: Sergeant Major)
Branch: U.S. Army
War: War on Terror (Operation Inherent Resolve)
Unit: Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Date of Action: October 22, 2015
Location: Hawija, Kirkuk Province, Iraq

Summary of Action

On October 22, 2015, Sergeant First Class Thomas P. Payne participated in one of the most daring hostage rescue operations of the War on Terror. Intelligence indicated that dozens of prisoners held by enemy forces in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, were facing imminent execution. Time was running out.

Payne was part of a combined assault force tasked with breaching the enemy compound and rescuing the hostages before they could be killed.

Leading an assault team assigned to clear one of two prison buildings, Payne rapidly moved through the structure, liberating thirty-eight hostages. While securing his objective, he learned that the second assault element was encountering fierce resistance while attempting to reach additional prisoners held in another building.

Without waiting to be directed, Payne immediately left his secured position and sprinted across the compound under enemy fire to reinforce the embattled assault force.

Upon reaching the second prison building, he climbed a ladder onto its roof, which was already partially engulfed in flames. From his exposed position, Payne attacked enemy fighters below with grenades and rifle fire before descending to ground level to continue engaging enemy positions through a breach in the building's exterior wall.

Inside the burning structure, thirty-seven more hostages remained trapped behind an armored door secured by an elaborate locking mechanism.

Previous attempts to reach the prisoners through the main entrance had been driven back by heavy enemy fire.

Knowing the hostages would soon perish if action was not taken, Sergeant First Class Payne made the decision to enter the burning building alone.

Moving through thick smoke, intense heat, and enemy gunfire, he located the armored prison door and identified the locks securing it. After exiting the building, he exchanged his rifle for bolt cutters and immediately returned inside.

Ignoring enemy rounds striking the walls around him, Payne began cutting through the complex locking system.

His courage inspired the other members of the assault force to join him in breaching the door.

Forced outside momentarily to catch his breath, Payne nevertheless entered the burning building once again to finish cutting the remaining locks.

The armored door finally gave way, freeing thirty-seven hostages.

Even after the building had become structurally unsound and commanders ordered personnel to evacuate, Sergeant First Class Payne refused to leave until every hostage had been removed to safety.

Finally, after helping evacuate the prisoners, he made one last trip into the collapsing, burning structure to ensure no one remained inside.

Throughout the operation, Payne consciously exposed himself to enemy automatic weapons fire every time he entered the building.

By night's end, seventy-five hostages had been rescued and approximately twenty enemy fighters had been killed during the assault.

Sergeant First Class Thomas P. Payne became the first living Medal of Honor recipient from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve. His extraordinary heroism during the Hawija hostage rescue stands as one of the most remarkable special operations missions in modern American military history—a mission in which one soldier repeatedly entered a burning prison not to fight his way out, but to ensure that complete strangers would have the chance to live.

Medal of Honor Citation

THOMAS PATRICK PAYNE

Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, United States Army.

Unit: Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Place and date: Hawija, Kirkuk Province, Iraq, October 22, 2015.

Citation:

Sergeant First Class Thomas P. Payne distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, above and beyond the call of duty, on October 22, 2015, during a daring nighttime hostage rescue in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.

Sergeant Payne led a combined assault team charged with clearing one of two buildings known to house the hostages. With speed, audacity, and courage, he led his team as they quickly cleared the assigned building, liberating 38 hostages.

Upon hearing a request for additional assaulters to assist with clearing the other building, Sergeant Payne, on his own initiative, left his secured position, exposing himself to enemy fire as he bounded across the compound to the other building from which entrenched enemy forces were engaging his comrades.

Sergeant Payne climbed a ladder to the building's roof, which was partially engulfed in flames, and engaged enemy fighters below with grenades and small arms fire. He then moved back to ground level to engage the enemy forces through a breach hole in the west side of the building.

Knowing time was running out for the hostages trapped inside the burning building, Sergeant Payne moved to the main entrance, where heavy enemy fire had thwarted previous attempts to enter. He knowingly risked his own life by bravely entering the building under intense enemy fire, enduring smoke, heat, and flames to identify the armored door imprisoning the hostages.

Upon exiting, Sergeant Payne exchanged his rifle for bolt cutters, and again entered the building, ignoring the enemy rounds impacting the walls around him as he cut the locks on a complex locking mechanism. His courageous actions motivated the coalition assault team members to enter the breach and assist with cutting the locks.

After exiting to catch his breath, he reentered the building to make the final lock cuts, freeing 37 hostages. Sergeant Payne then facilitated the evacuation of the hostages, even though ordered to evacuate the collapsing building himself, which was now structurally unsound due to the fire.

Sergeant Payne then reentered the burning building one last time to ensure everyone had been evacuated. He consciously exposed himself to enemy automatic gunfire each time he entered the building.

His extraordinary heroism and selfless actions were key to liberating 75 hostages during a contested rescue mission that resulted in 20 enemies killed in action.

Sergeant First Class Payne's gallantry under fire and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the United States Special Operations Command, and the United States Army.