The Air Force has awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross to A-10 pilot Maj. Keith Wolak, who participated in the 2005 combat-search-and-rescue effort to retrieve a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, reports the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. Wolak, who currently serves as assistant director of operations with the 74th Fighter Squadron at Pope AFB, N.C., was part of a joint CSAR task force. His initial role was to coordinate the 17 participating aircraft, but he had to join in attacks on the Taliban forces closing in on the SEAL team and put down the infrared marking for the rescue helicopter.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.