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.
House, Senate Unveil Competing Proposals for 2026 Budget
July 11, 2025
Lawmakers from the House and Senate laid out competing versions of the annual defense policy bill on July 11, with vastly different potential outcomes for some of the Air Force’s most embattled programs.