A HARROWING NIGHT MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

摘要

An A-10 Thunderbolt Ⅱ pilot at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, recently pinned on the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions he took more than a decade ago during a combat search-and-rescue mission in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Mike Hilkert, operations director at the 303rd Fighter Squadron, received the DFC with valor on Oct. 2 through a combination of support from local leadership and a bit of retrospection. The military's seventh-highest award honors heroism or extraordinary achievement during aerial flight, particularly in harrowing combat situations. On April 23, 2011, Hilkert, then a captain, coordinated the movement of 21 aircraft in a fight lasting more than six hours, according to the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman. The mission required securing two landing zones, scooping up two pararescue jumpers and a downed OH-58D Kiowa helicopter pilot, and helping 32 soldiers evacuate the area.