Medal for mettle: new decoration recognizes Airmen for engaging the enemy

Airman, Fall, 2007 by Orville F. Desjarlais, Jr.

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A gunship navigator, a truck driver, an aero-evacuation technician, an aerial gunner, a pararescueman and an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot--these Airmen many not have much in common, except for one thing.

They've all engaged in air or ground combat--traded fire--with the enemy. And, they were the first Airmen to receive the new Air Force Combat Action Medal.

During a mid-June ceremony in Arlington, Va., Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley awarded the six medals he said are a visual reminder that combat is a fundamental part of being an Airman.

"As we thought about the 700,000 (total force) Airmen out there today who epitomize the warrior ethos while in combat on the ground or in the air, we began to think through this notion of a combat action ribbon that is part of our culture and our heritage," the general said.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Airmen engaging hostile forces during the performance of their duties. Many of the Airmen were "outside the wire" doing nontraditional jobs when they came under fire.

The six Airmen received their combat action medals in the shadow of the U.S. Air Force Memorial, which overlooks Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. It was a fitting setting. It is a memorial to the more than 56,600 Airmen who died in battle defending America and to those still fighting for their country. It's a testament to Airmen's warrior spirit, past and present.

On the following pages the medal recipients recount, in their own words, the actions for which they received their medal. The units listed are those they served in when in combat.

The 16th Special Operations Squadron went to Afghanistan shortly after 9-11. I'm from New York, so it was especially significant. It was significant for everybody.

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So we deployed, and immediately tasked to support the ground forces, because that's what the gunship does. In this instance, we were supporting ground units by Kandahar (Afghanistan) and they were in some firefights. So we were able to put suppressive fire down on the enemy and protect our guys and make sure they had a good night's sleep.

During the whole time, I was in the moment. We train for that. The crew was so professional in getting the job done. When we got back home safely, we reflected on what had transpired.

I'm just proud to represent all the gunship community and all the folks who are going to receive this medal in the future. I'm fortunate enough to be one of the firsts. I'm blessed.

I just can't give enough thanks to the folks who are still over there doing the job.

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We had two Pave Lows making a few stops and doing a few things over the evening. During our first stop in Falusia (Iraq) we picked up remains for repatriation back home.

The landing zone already had some helicopters parked on it, so we turned around and were circling and waiting for the LZ to clear so we could land. On about our second circle, the lead helicopter took an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) right to the nose. It happened really fast and lit up the sky for a second.

Our first reaction was, "What happened?" I shot into a group of 25 (enemy combatants) on the initial contact when they hit the lead helicopter.

The first helicopter had pitched its nose up high on impact, so we scooted to our right and tried to keep from hitting it in midair. We did avoid hitting it, but unfortunately (the enemy) was still shooting at us with RPGs and small arms. So we did evasive maneuvers and got out of the way of any further danger. But, unfortunately, we lost track of the lead helicopter while we avoided getting hit.

We looked for a few minutes and we started debating about what to do. It was very, very dark and we were using NVGs (night vision goggles). We thought maybe we should set down out of harm's way and try to make radio contact. But about that same time I happened to look out the back, because I'm facing backward as the tail gunner, and I could see them (the lead helicopter) pass under us. So I called it out over the intercom and they came around hard left and we landed about 100 feet away from them.

When we landed, we sent out some Army special forces that were on board and they got all nine of the guys back (from the downed helicopter). We got them on board and took off back to Baghdad. Immediately upon take-off the enemy began shooting at us.

Again, I fired about 25 more rounds into where the fire came from. They stopped long enough for us to get our injured back to Baghdad. We off-loaded and everybody lived. We had one guy lose an eye, and three guys earned Purple Hearts.

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As we were convoying with the Marine Corps traveling through Iraq, we were setting up a mobile air medical staging facility so we could receive incoming patients and then air evacuate them so they could receive more care.

So, our job was to travel with the Marine Corps, set up these staging facilities, and move on. As we were traveling, we had quite a few engagements with the enemy. The worst was in a small town where we had tone Marine casualty and a couple of wounded people as well. We were in a somewhat lengthy firefight there and actually had to break contact and go back through the town at night. That was when they (insurgents) took pot shots at us and we returned fire. I felt safe being in a Marine convoy, though, because they're all about the warrior stuff. They were squared away with their weaponry. We came into contact no less than five or six times throughout the convoy. The convoy lasted 18 hours. It was a long trip.