Two USAF HH-60G crews from the 38th and 41st Rescue Squadrons at Moody AFB, Ga., rescue five soldiers from the crash of a US Army CH-47 helicopter in Iraq despite battling a blinding sandstorm and being attacked by surface-to-air missiles and small arms fire. The USAF airmen receive the 2004 Mackay Trophy.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
