US troops involved in Afghanistan withdrawal to receive awards

The thousands of U.S. troops involved in last year’s withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan will be awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation or its equivalent, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Wednesday.

The decision, made at President Biden’s direction, means all units involved in the retrograde operation from Afghanistan — as well as those from 10 military installations that later housed more than 80,000 Afghan evacuees — will be awarded.

Austin will also direct an expedited review of all units present at the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport to determine whether the Presidential Unit Citation, “or appropriate individual awards,” are also necessary, Austin said in a statement.

“No words can properly honor the deeds we recognize with these awards. What these awards reflect — and what I hope the units who receive them will feel — is the gratitude and love of our nation,” Austin said.

The announcement comes one year after America’s withdrawal from Kabul ended on Aug. 30, 2021.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, the U.S. military and its allies flew about 124,000 Afghans and Americans out of the country.

The effort did not go smoothly, with 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans killed in a suicide bombing at the airport, an attack believed to have been carried out by the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State.

Thousands of Afghans and American civilians hoping escape Taliban rule were also left behind.

On Tuesday, Austin acknowledged that America’s work “is not done” in the country, and expressed “profound gratitude” to all who served in Afghanistan for the prior two decades.

Wednesday’s message, meanwhile, sought to thank those involved in the final days of the war and its aftermath.

“No other military could have protected so many lives under such challenging circumstances in such a short amount of time — not just because of our airlift or our logistics capabilities, but most of all because of the immense compassion, skill, and dedication of American Service members,” Austin said.

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