Lt. Col. Donald Cornwell, Lt. Col. Dylan Wells, Capt. Leigh Larkin, and Capt. Nicholas Tsougas receive the 2010 Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight in 2010, marking their heroic actions on a combat mission over Afghanistan April 6, 2010. Flying F-15E Strike Eagles with call signs Dude-01 and Dude-02, the four performed show-of-force passes and released six Joint Direct Attack Munitions to protect a task force of some 30 coalition troops under attack by approximately 100 Taliban fighters in Bala Morgab. The F-15E strikes killed more than 80 Taliban, saving the task force members’ lives.
A new think tank report calls for a buildup of U.S. drones and munitions needed for a potential fight against the Chinese military over Taiwan, thought other experts argue the report is missing some nuance in the munitions equation.
