Gen. Herbert Carlisle, Pacific Air Forces commander, presented the Distinguished Flying Cross to MSgt. Richard Joy and SSgt. Tyson Reams during an Oct. 29 ceremony at Kadena AB, Japan. He recognized these airmen for their heroic actions in combat while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2010. Joy, an HH-60G aerial gunner with Kadena’s 33rd Rescue Squadron, distinguished himself by performing a precision hover and hoist on extreme mountainous terrain under direct enemy fire, according to an Oct. 30 Kadena release. “Without Joy’s actions, many of the men on the mission would not have survived,” states the release. Reams, a 33rd RQS HH-60G flight engineer, flew two mass-casualty evacuation missions in support of a coalition operation in the Watapur Valley. “For more than nine hours, Reams provided accurate power calculations in high-altitude landing zones, along with a steadily increasing number of wounded troops,” states the release. (Kadena report by A1C Malia Jenkins)
Airman 1st Class Marcus White-Allen concocted a story to cover up that he fired his M18 9mm pistol into Airman Braden Lovan’s chest killing him on July 20, two Airmen from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, WY testified during separate courts martial proceedings on Oct. 30-31.
