All That Glitters … 

A pair of AC-130J Ghostrider crews has been awarded the 2021 Mackay Trophy—an honor bestowed by the Air Force and the National Aeronautic Association upon those aviators deemed to have accomplished the year’s most meritorious flight. 

The trophy—in this instance—acknowledges the recipient crews’ actions during the frantic retreat from the country amid the storming of the Afghani capital city by Muslim fundamentalists. 

In the midst of the enemy advancement, two AC-130Js—call signs Shadow 77 and 78—alert-launched from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates for purpose of providing close air-support for the evacuating personnel.

With the AC-130Js overhead, two-thousand American diplomats and political appointees were evacuated with zero casualties—while hundreds of ordinary Americans and thousands of Afghani civilians were set upon by advancing Taliban troops. 

According to the NAA citation, the AC-130J crews “maintained visual custody of all American personnel” headed to Hamid Karzai International Airport and provided real-time video to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and co-architect of the troubled retreat, Gen. Mark A. Milley. 

The citation also notes that the heroic crews flew the longest un-augmented flight in the AC-130J’s relatively brief operational history.

All told, 18 Airmen from the 73rd Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida, received the recognition on 30 June.

The crews of Shadow 77 and 78 are the latest Airmen to be recognized for their efforts in Afghanistan. A number of C-17 crew members who landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport to airlift embassy personnel to safety have been recognized with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. 

FMI: https://www.af.mil