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Aircrew of the AC-130U gunship ‘Spooky 41’ with Hurlburt Field’s 4th Special Operations Squadron were honored at the military facility in Fort Walton Beach
The 14-man crew received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 12 Air Medals for for providing nine hours of fire support
Crew helped U.S. and coalition forces during April 2019 mission in Afghanistan
While allied forces battled ISIS on the ground, the crew of Spooky 41 helped to ensure the safe evacuation by helicopter of 15 injured ground personnel
DFCs are awarded for ‘Heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight’
The crew of a U.S. gunship have been awarded bravery medals at a ceremony in Florida after they rained fire down on Islamic State militants for hours, as allied soldiers on the ground were whisked to safety. Forces on the ground came under heavy fire from ISIS militants in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan on April 3, 2019, in a ferocious fight which one Major on the ground likened to infamous WW2 battle Iwo Jima. They called for backup from ‘Spooky 41’ – a AC-13OU gunship, and the Hercules-variant plane arrived within minutes to provide covering fire and ensure medical helicopters could safely evacuate the injured. The crew were up in the air for nine hours and managed to suppress enemy fire during the evacuation of 15 wounded soldiers.
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