355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
9/18/2013 - DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz., -- Eight Airmen from Davis Monthan Air Force Base will receive two prestigious military awards Sept. 20, 2013 at the 55th RQS hangar.
Capt. Brian Dicks, Capt. Charles Napier, Master Sgt. William Fritsch and Staff Sgt. Joshua Reid will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal with Valor, while Capt. Ryan Prince, Capt. Patrick Mount, Tech. Sgt. Justin Wilks and Staff Sgt. Jason St John will receive the Air Medal with Valor for their actions during a contingency operation Dec. 10, 2012.
According to the citations, while deployed to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, the 55th RQS members distinguished themselves during a high-risk mission to rescue a four critically wounded coalition soldiers.
During the mission two HH-60G, Pave Hawks, Pedro 61 and Pedro 62,were responding to an evacuation site when both aircraft came under small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. The plan entailed one aircraft landing while the other maneuvered to engage the threats.
Though two U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa attack helicopters attempted to engage the threat, they were unsuccessful because they could not positively identify the enemy positions. Pedro 61 and Pedro 62 maneuvered their formation, placing themselves between the enemy and friendly forces.This allowed them to engage the threats themselves, while marking the enemy for the attack helicopters.
Their actions allowed the attack helicopters to destroy the enemy position and give the Pedro crews enough cover to return to the hot landing zone to complete their mission of evacuating the critically wounded. Their actions also protected more than 25 coalition soldiers on the battlefield during this exchange.
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