More than a dozen Air Force personnel were decorated with some of the service’s highest awards for their actions in combat operations in the Middle East last year while assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing.
All told, 18 pilots, maintainers, and support personnel from the wing received six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 15 Bronze Star Medals total after participating in Operation Midnight Hammer, the strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025, and Operation Rough Rider, the spring 2025 campaign against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
The bulk of the awards were presented May 21 in a ceremony at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, where the wing, which flies the F-35A Lightning II, is based.
The Air Force was tight-lipped on the Airmen’s role in those operations or the actions that led to the decorations. The DFC recognizes acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement in the air and is the military’s fourth-highest award for heroism, separate from distinguished service medals. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service against an armed enemy.
The Distinguished Flying Crosses, given to F-35 pilots, were for a mix of missions from Midnight Hammer and Rough Rider, a spokesperson for the 388th Fighter Wing told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The wing’s 34th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron deployed on short notice to the Middle East in late March 2025 to participate in Operation Rough Rider, which lasted until a ceasefire in May.
F-35s from the 34th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron were flying missions within 24 hours of deploying to the Middle East.
During the 52-day campaign, the Houthis fired surface missiles that downed over half a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones and came close to downing two F-16 pilots who received Silver Stars for dodging six Houthi surface-to-air missiles on a mission to protect B-2s bombing Houthi ballistic missile sites.
There were also other close calls between American fighter jets and Houthi surface-to-air missiles during the campaign, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The Air Force previously said the 388th Fighter Wing “contributed” to strikes that destroyed Houthi air defense systems, command and control facilities, weapons storage facilities, surface-to-air missiles, and ballistic missile capabilities.
Jets from the squadron also scored the first kills of one-way attack drones for the F-35A model.
F-35s from the squadron were also the first American aircraft to enter Iranian airspace when they escorted seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to bomb Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz on June 22, 2025, according to Air Force officials. The F-35s were tasked with suppressing enemy air defenses.
“We employed weapons to great effect against surface-to-air missile sites … while they were trying to target us with some very high-end systems and they were just unable to,” squadron commander Lt. Col Aaron Osborne said. “It was cool to see the jet detect and defeat things—to watch it do exactly what it was designed to do.”
A weapons officer for the 34th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, who was not been publicly identified, served as the “overall mission commander” for Operation Midnight Hammer.
The F-35s from Hill were also the last American jets to leave Iranian airspace, according to wing officials. U.S. military officials said the American jets did not face enemy fire; however, U.S. forces braced for likely Iranian retaliation with ballistic missiles or drones.
“From that point forward, we’re operating under alarm yellow and alarm red conditions, dispersing aircraft and people, expecting ballistic missile attacks, preparing for casualties and medical evacuations. It was wild,” Osborne said last year.
Iran eventually retaliated against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
The F-35s were not the only planes that participated in Midnight Hammer. Around 125 aircraft supported the mission. F-22 Raptors and F-16 Fighting Falcons were also part of the strike package that escorted the B-2s that dropped 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordinance Penetrator bombs. F-16 pilots from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and Airmen from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., have also received Distinguished Flying Crosses for their efforts in Midnight Hammer.
The F-35s also provided air cover for Navy ships operating in the region, according to wing officials.
Of the 15 Bronze Stars awarded, three pilots from the 388th Fighter Wing received both the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star. Other pilots, maintainers, and support personnel received Bronze Stars, most of them enlisted.
“Broadly speaking, our maintainers and support personnel earned their Bronze Stars for enabling critical attack missions during Operation Rough Rider and supporting Operation Midnight Hammer,” the spokesperson for the 388th Fighter Wing said.
“Furthermore, these medals recognize their service in deploying to and operating from undisclosed forward locations, as well as successfully operating under, and responding to, the threat of incoming enemy attack conditions.”
The 34th Fighter Squadron previously received the Raytheon Trophy as the top fighter squadron in the Air Force for its deployments to the Middle East and actions earlier that year in the Indo-Pacific.
“As we pin these medals on their chests, we realize their bravery and sacrifice, but also that it takes an entire team to enable their achievements,” Col. Christopher Hubbard, the acting commander of the 388th Fighter Wing, said at an awards ceremony.
Awardees
Distinguished Flying Cross Recipients:
- Lt. Col. Aaron Osborne
- Maj. Alexander Cox
- Maj. Scott Lafferty
- Capt. Dakota Bowden
- Capt. Christopher Patti
- Capt. Tyler Penkalski
Bronze Star Medal Recipients:
- Lt. Col. Melissa Glindmeyer
- Lt. Col. Aaron Osborne
- Maj. Brian Kane
- Maj. Brian Kelly
- Maj. Alexander Cox
- Maj. Scott Lafferty
- Chief Master Sgt. Matthew Iuli
- Senior Master Sgt. Bryan Bradbury
- Senior Master Sgt. Vincent Traitz
- Master Sgt. Hannah Livingston
- Master Sgt. Ronald Wolfe
- Master Sgt. Nathan Varnagatas
- Master Sgt. Damian Lasalle
- Master Sgt. Eric Llaguno
- Tech. Sgt. Dale Hart