Two Airmen had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his or her half in in a daring, harmful hostage rescue operation in Africa greater than two years in the past. Three others on the mission obtained Air Medals. The awards had been offered at a Jan. 11 ceremony at Kirtland Air Pressure Base, N.M.
Maj. Kyle Konkolics and Senior Grasp Sgt. Christopher Reedy obtained DFCs, the navy’s fourth-highest award for heroism, for a short-notice mission in Northern Nigeria, the place they rescued Philip Walton, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen who had been kidnapped in neighboring Niger, in response to a contemporaneous report.
Others on the mission had been Employees Sgt. Christin Springs, Tech. Sgt. Thomas Morgan, and Employees Sgt. Robert Duck, all of whom obtained the Air Medal for his or her efforts.
Flying CV-22 Osprey and MC-130J Commando II plane, the Particular Operations Airmen transported members of Navy Seal Crew 6 from Rota, Spain, to Nigeria for the rescue operation, which concluded with no U.S. casualties. KC-135 tankers and an AC-130J gunship additionally supported the operation, in accordance to media studies on the time.
The 11-hour flight to Nigeria was the longest-distance night-time hostage rescue in Pentagon historical past, in response to the Air Pressure launch, and concerned the CV-22’s longest flight at excessive altitude, in response to the Albuquerque Journal.
In line with citations for the awards, flying at excessive altitude within the CV-22’s unpressurized cabin triggered a number of members of the assault staff to endure hypoxia from lack of oxygen. Crews needed to conduct a number of air-to-air refueling operations at the hours of darkness over distant, desolate terrain, and not less than one KC-135 suffered {an electrical} failure, and
Within the midst of the operation, the CV-22 wherein Reedy was flying suffered a “complete lack of vital plane programs,” in response to the quotation. Reedy helped regain the usage of one radio and coordinated a refueling and touchdown with no cockpit shows. Konkolics, piloting a second CV-22, escorted the malfunctioning plane for its emergency touchdown after which rejoined the formation to proceed the mission, touchdown in “an unknown menace atmosphere to get well the hostage and assault drive at an unplanned, austere touchdown zone with obstacles mere ft away from his plane,” his quotation reads.
Morgan additionally assisted with the emergency touchdown in a distant, austere atmosphere, whereas Duck was acknowledged for giving his oxygen masks to members of the assault drive who had been affected by hypoxia. Springs was honored for her efforts in refueling the MC-130J regardless of degraded communications.
