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]