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Video by Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Crane

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KYARNG G3 Podcast: Fix Bayonets | Ep. 2: The Battle of Salman Pak

Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs Office

Dec. 12, 2025 | 01:04:03

In Episode 2 of “Fix Bayonets,” Distinguished Service Cross recipient Sgt. Maj. Timothy Nein recounts the events of March 20, 2005, when he earned the nation's second-highest award for valor. Now the operations sergeant major for the 75th Troop Command, Kentucky Army National Guard, Nein details his actions as a squad leader during the Battle of Salman Pak, also known as the Palm Sunday Ambush.

The battle occurred just southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, when two U.S. supply convoys traveling in opposite directions encountered a complex ambush by more than 50 Iraqi insurgents intent on killing and capturing U.S. forces.

From the north, a three-vehicle security element known as “Stallion 33,” assigned to Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery, escorted 30 civilian supply trucks southbound. The convoy was shadowed by then-Staff Sgt. Nein’s three vehicles from the 617th Military Police Company. Both elements were drawn from Kentucky National Guard units. From the south, a 29-vehicle coalition convoy led by the Nebraska National Guard’s 1075th Transportation Company was escorted by three vehicles from the 518th Guntruck Company. The 518th, known by the call sign “Regulators,” was a provisional unit composed of active-duty, reserve, and National Guard Soldiers created specifically to enhance convoy security. As the ambush unfolded, Nein’s squad—call sign “Raven 42”—maneuvered from the rear to provide close combat support and became the primary counterattack force.

Nein describes how his squad and adjacent units engaged the enemy under intense fire, ultimately disrupting the ambush and ensuring no Americans were killed or captured.

Hosted by Sgt. 1st Class Clay Benningfield, the discussion focuses on small-unit leadership, trust, and rapid decision-making under fire, and how the lessons from Salman Pak continue to shape Nein’s approach to leadership, training, and readiness throughout his military career.

For information concerning home station training resources, please contact the J3 Training LNO at: ng.ky.kyarng.list.j3-training-lno@army.mil

Fix Bayonets! = Lessons learned from authentic stories in the Kentucky National Guard.

Produced by: Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
Location: Boone National Guard Center, Frankfort, Ky.
Recorded and edited by: Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Crane
Date Recorded: Dec. 12, 2025

Note: For more on this topic, search for "Battle of Palm Sunday Ambush" and view a related video from the U.S. Army Training Support Center here: https://dvidshub.net/r/1i88yd

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