2021 USAF & USSF Almanac: Awards & Decorations

Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.

Two dozen KC-135 crew members from multiple bases received the Distinguished Flying Cross for refueling the fighters that shot down 80 Iranian drones and missiles bound for Israel on April 13.  

The Air Force Historical Foundation (AFHF) announced the 2023-2024 winners of its prestigious annual awards honoring individuals and units “dedicated to the making and documentation of Air Force and Space Force history.” In addition to the standard collection of awards, this year’s honors include the first-ever Lifetime Achievement for Space Award.

In the third and final part of our series about how the U.S. Air Force helped defeat Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel, Airmen describe the final drone shootdowns of the night and the lessons they have drawn from one of the Air Force’s biggest nights of combat action in…

In Part 2 of our series about how Airmen helped defeat Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel, troops from the 494th Fighter Squadron describe how they kept launching jets even as their own base came under fire.

In a series of exclusive interviews with Air & Space Forces Magazine, Airmen from the 494th Fighter Squadron described how they helped defeat the massive drone and missile attack launched by Iran against Israel in April—actions that led to many being decorated Nov. 12.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Joe Henry Engle, test pilot, Apollo-era astronaut, and the only American to fly two different winged vehicles into space, died July 10 at the age of 91. Engle flew more than 185 different aircraft—38 of them fighter/attack types—and amassed more than 15,000 flight hours, including…

An Air Force combat controller earned the Air Force Cross—the service’s second-highest decoration for valor in combat behind only the Medal of Honor—for his actions during a fierce battle in Syria in 2018. His identity, however, remains publicly unknown. 

Two air commandos who helped save more than a dozen lives in an CV-22 Osprey crash in Afghanistan 14 years ago were posthumously awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses last week, Air Force Special Operations Command announced.