1st Lt. Russell J. Brown, flying a Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, downs a North Korean MiG-15 in history’s first all-jet aerial combat.
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.