Fort Campbell, KY. – (Clarksvillenow.com) Two soldiers with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), “Wings of Destiny”, were honored in a ceremony Wednesday, June 1 with the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Woodward and Captain Lindsay Gordon were awarded the medals for their heroism in December of last year during a mission near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan while flying an AH-64 Apache helicopter.
The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight. In interviews, both soldiers said they were humbled and honored to receive their medals and also stated that they were just doing their jobs
Overnight on December 5 and 6, Ranger soldiers had been fighting with enemy forces for most of the night and in the early morning hours the commander on the ground had received information about a larger enemy force heading their way.
The commander made the decision that his troops, who were fighting in a valley, were not in a good position to defend themselves so he ordered an immediate extraction. When the extraction began, the two pilots were flying alongside soldiers from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Woodward was the air mission commander on the flight and Gordon was the co-pilot in the front seat. The aircraft began taking on heavy weapons fire and so they returned fire at the enemy in an attempt to distract them from firing at the ground forces.
It was at that point that Woodward moved their helicopter between the enemy fire and the friendly forces which consisted of approximately 50 soldiers and MH-47 Chinook helicopters. One of the Chinooks did receive some battle damage but was still able to fly.
Gordon talked about their actions on that night last December. “Honestly, we really are just out there to keep everyone safe as best we can. It’s always at the end of the day we can say everyone got home safely that’s all we want to do,” said Gordon.
Woodward also talked about their actions during combat. “Our job as attack aviators is to protect the ground force as well as the other aircraft we are supporting. It’s part of the job, it’s what we’re trained to do and sometimes it just happens to be real world and not just training anymore,” Woodward said.
Speaking at the ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bragg, Commander of the 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation regiment praised the two soldiers for their actions. “This award for distinguished aviation service showcases the brave actions of these two fine aviators,” said Bragg
He added that the two aviator’s personal courage along with their technical and tactical expertise provided the reaction time and maneuver space for the assault force to get out of the area with no friendly casualties and minimal damage to friendly equipment