Capt. Andreas H. Ix, a C-17 pilot now assigned to Altus AFB, Okla., is the recipient of the 2005 Koren Kolligan Jr. Trophy, the only individual safety award presented annually by the Air Force Chief of Staff. On March 10, 2005 a bird struck the nose of Ix’s C-17 while he was flying a training mission. The event caused the aircraft’s nose cone to break off—taking with it several probes that feed flight data to the control system. Ix immediately started emergency procedures and, despite impaired flight controls and inaccurate flight data, safely landed the aircraft without injury to himself or the crew. Gen. John Corley, vice chief of staff, presented the trophy to Ix at the Pentagon this morning.
As the Space Force prepares to field new fleets of satellites that can track moving targets in the air and on the ground, it’s working to ensure it has the organizational structures in place to onboard and operate those systems.
