Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh recently approved award of the Air and Space Campaign Medal to airmen who supported Operation Odyssey Dawn and Operation Unified Protector in Libya from March 2011 through October 2011, according to the Air Force Personnel Center. Welsh made the decision on Oct. 28, according to AFPC’s Dec. 11 release. Odyssey Dawn began on March 19, 2011, when a US-led coalition attacked targets in Libya to prevent the military of then-dictator Muammar Qaddafi from massacring Libyan civilians in that country’s civil war. The operation became known as Unified Protector on March 31, 2011, when NATO took command and control of the effort, which concluded on Oct. 31, 2012. The Air Force Secretary authorized the Air and Space Campaign Medal on April 24, 2002, for airmen who participated in, or directly supported, a significant US military operation that the Chief of Staff designates as qualifying for the medal, according to the service’s fact sheet. (See also Mildenhall report by A1C Dillon Johnston.)
F-15E Aviator Missing in Iran Rescued by US Forces
April 5, 2026
The second crew member of the Air Force F-15E shot down April 3 has been rescued from Iran. U.S. forces recovered the aviator alive and all American forces involved in the operation are believed to be safe, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.