Thank God These Guys Are On OUR Side

An AC-130H Spectre gunship crew from the 16th Special Operations Squadron was awarded the Clarence MacKay Trophy recently for most meritorious flight of the year.

The 14 airmen of “Grim 31” received the Air Force-level award for saving the lives of 82 U.S. soldiers and two HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and crews during a close-air support mission. The mission was over Afghanistan’s Shah-e-Kot Valley on March 2, 2002 -- the second day of Operation Anaconda.

Enemy forces surrounded 10th Mountain Division soldiers the first day of the operation, according to the award citation. As a fierce battle ensued, the company needed medical evacuation for critically injured soldiers. The crew of Grim 31 was tapped to escort two HH-60 helicopters for the evacuation.

“We typically fly at night, but on this occasion they woke us up and sent us in there early so we would be in position over the target area right when it got dark,” said the fire-control officer, a lieutenant colonel in charge of directing fire and coordinating target selection.

The Grim 31 crew worked closely with an enlisted tactical air controller on the ground to engage enemy positions, clearing the way for the rescue helicopters, said the colonel, whose name was not released for security purposes.

“It all came back to our training. We train to look at multiple targets," he said. "We train to work with people on the ground. It’s definitely a team effort to make the mission a success.”

The 40 mm cannon malfunctioned three times that night, and “each time we responded like clockwork,” said the lead gunner, a master sergeant in charge of the gun crew. Spectres carry one 40 mm Bofors cannon and one 105 mm howitzer cannon.

“We switched over to the 105 mm and used that until the 40 mm got cleared … . We just bounced back and forth between the two guns as our (controller) needed them,” said the sergeant. “That night we were just on. Everyone had their game faces on.”

As the two Pave Hawks landed to collect the wounded, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded 20 feet behind them. The Grim 31 crew quickly engaged the enemy position clearing the evacuation for takeoff.

“After the helicopters took off, we felt like we could cover the guys on the ground, but the pressure was still there because of the chances that someone else could pop out and start shooting down there,” said the lieutenant colonel. “You could tell that the enemy didn’t have the capability to continue, but the real sigh of relief was when we pulled off and started heading home.”

“A few days after the mission, almost everyone who was in the valley that night came to our tents to thank us,” said the sergeant. “There’s no award in the world that could make us feel any better than we did at that moment.” [ANN Thanks 1st Lt. Gabe Johnson, 16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs]

FMI: www.af.mil