Trump awards Medal of Honor to Navy SEAL for controversial mission in Afghanistan

Six months after the 9/11 attacks, then-Senior Chief Petty Officer Britt Slabinski led a seven-man Navy SEAL Team Six unit to set up an observation post in eastern Afghanistan atop a 10,000-foot mountain known as Takur Ghar, to support U.S. forces in the valley below battling Al Qaeda in an operation known as Anaconda.In the ensuing battle, seven Americans would be killed.

Thursday afternoon at the White House, President Trump presented Slabinski with the Medal of Honor for his actions – getting wounded team members off the mountain and directing devastating close-air-support against the enemy.

But not everyone in the military’s close-knit special operations community sees it that way. Many in the Army’s elite Delta Force and 75th Ranger regiment claim Slabinski left a man behind on the mission and made a pivotal mistake by landing his team so close to the objective.

In an extensive sit down interview with Fox News before the ceremony, Slabinski defended his actions.