Air Force heroes
AverageNCO sends us a link to remind us that zoomies can be heroes, too;
The members of the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field received 33 medals, including a Silver Star, an Airman’s Medal, six Bronze Stars with Valor, three Purple Hearts and 22 Air Force Combat Action Medals.
Lt. Col. Chris Larkin, commander of the squadron, said the ceremony was special because the citations gave the airmen’s families a peek into top-secret missions.
“They are all quiet professionals and they are not proven to boast about what they have done outside the confines of the team room with their teammates and a cold beverage,” Larkin said during the ceremony.
Most of you know that my son has been serving in the Air Force for more than eleven years, and I’m proud of his choice to serve. Sometimes we forget that all who serve are equally honorable, and they all contribute to the Big Picture mission. You don’t have to be a SEAL, a Ranger, or a Green Beret to be special. You’re special if you choose something bigger and more important than yourself. Not everyone can be a SEAL, but those cooks and medics who keep the SEALs in fighting shape are just as important to the successful completion of the mission.
But here’s a list of these awardees and their medals in a .pdf.
Category: Air Force
,,,a SEAL, a Ranger, or a Green Beret,,,, can’t get there with out a zoomie flying them in, a trans driver to haul them, and a Fobbit to feed them.
If he/she is in uniform, my respect is given.
Just an FYI, the 23rd STS are all combat controllers who attach to SoF units and tell planes where to drop bombs. Most of these guys, in addition to all of their AF training go through dive school, jump school and other Army/Navy specific schools so they can operate with them. Takes about 6 years to build one of these guys. I understand your point that any who serve desrve credit, but know that these guys are about as special as it gets.
AFSOC some of the craziest SOBs out there.
I spent 4 years with the 3/325, my brother had at points in his military career served in a Ranger battalion and with the 101st Pathfinders. We used to give our dad a good-natured hard time for spending his career as an Air Force desk jockey, but the man did spend a number of years during our childhood in southeast Asia in a field that precluded him from ever telling us what exactly he’d been doing there. It’s good to see the guys who only make the headlines if they screw up getting their props.
JTAC’s are awesome guys, hands down. I have never worked with one who I didn’t respect almost immediately. Very smart guys.
That guy on the far right is rockin a HALO badge. I’m sure a few of them could be PJ’s too
A&S for CCTs and PJs is a formidable, dangerous and unforgiving process that weeds applicants out just as ruthlessly as BUDs, SF A&S, RASP or SMU A&S.
Then the training that follows the Airmen who make it though selection…equally demanding in both the mental and physical realms.
They have my utmost respect.
As a former Soldier I have given the Air Force personnel I have been assigned with a lot of Hell over the years. Cushy summer camp, I mean “basic training”, the maid service, the people to bus their tables in their chow halls, etc.
I worked for an SAR (Search and Rescue, Viet era pre-PJ). He was an overweight man with a horrible back problem. He got it by dropping 230 feet through the jungle canopy on an arrestor seat while holding a pilot he was rescuing. The Crew Chief of his helo cut the line while they were winching them up when their bird started taking fire from an enemy brigade sized force. He held off that force and evaded with the injured pilot with only his M16 and the pilots .38. He was there for 2 weeks before they got them both out.
I never gave him crap about anything…. Yeah, these guys may not wear berets or tabs, but I wouldn’t talk bad about any of them.
By the Way – if you are a former airman, thanks for your service, but always remember Who’s Your Daddy? 😉 HOOAH!
The USAF flew us out of Baghdad, so they’re alright in my book. (plus my dad served 22 years in the USAF)
23rd STS are bad ass. Nothing but respect from me. Plus my pops was a Zoomie.
But one thing, wish that dude in the middle of the pictures would pull his hands out of his pocket.
@ 10: They call them “Air Force gloves” 😉
And my daughter was a Zoomie as well…proud as can be of her service!
I hope that these AF personel really understand how much their work means to me.