The National Aeronautic Association announced earlier this year that the B-1B crew Bone 23 would receive the 2008 Mackay Trophy for its support of ground forces during a July 13, 2008, troops-in-contact situation in Afghanistan. The crew—Maj. Norman Shelton, Capt. Kaylene Giri, Capt. Louis Heidema, and 1st Lt. Boyd Smith—deployed from the 37th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., was short on fuel but managed to coordinate an aerial refueling that enabled it to make three bomb runs slowing the attack of a 200-strong enemy force and allowing coalition forces to regroup. The Bone crew will receive the Mackay Trophy during the NAA Falls Awards Banquet, Nov. 2, in Arlington, Va. (Also read Sept. 11 release from Creech AFB, Nev., where Smith is now a Reaper pilot)
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.