Major Michael Tolzien, special operations pilot, awarded DFC

In another Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross story, the Air Force Times recounts the actions of Major Michael Tolzien, who at the time, was a special operations pilot of a MC-130J Commando II aircraft two years ago in Afghanistan, when he was tasked to get relief supplies to a Speciql Forces team who was critically short of war-fighting supplies. Tolzien lifted off with 1600 pounds of equipment.

After loading up and taking off, Tolzien’s aircraft began cruising toward the drop zone, which was changed multiple times due to the shifting nature of the ground combat situation.

The fluidity of the battle forced Tolzien’s crew to recalculate the perfect release point several times to ensure the supplies landed where U.S. forces, and not the enemy, could retrieve them.

Conditions were quickly deteriorating as the crew neared their objective and looked for the best spot to drop their haul. Tolzien’s aircraft was struck multiple times by enemy fire as it flew slow and low, at about 800 feet above the ground, looking for the drop point.

Despite the incoming rounds, Tolzien was able to remain calm and fly the plane steady enough that his crew dropped the supplies within 50 meters of the ground forces, “halting any further loss of life,” according to the Air Force. The drop “directly contributed to a successful counterattack.”

Category: Air Force