Air Commandos awarded medals for saving Navy SEAL team

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  • By Amy Oliver
  • 1 SOW/PA
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Three 4th Special Operations Squadron Air Commandos were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross June 20 for their heroic achievements during a mission taking place on the night of Sept. 12, 2007 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the U.S. armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in combat in support of operations by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight.

Maj. David Torraca, Capt. Timothy Hood and Staff Sgt. J. H. Smith received this honor for a high priority mission providing cover and situational awareness to a Navy SEAL team on the ground infiltrating enemy territory.

While conducting this mission, the gunship crew noticed a group of suspicious individuals moving away from the village in a nearby field and notified the SEALs team about the situation.

The SEALs sent an eight-person team to investigate, and the insurgents unexpectedly opened fire, wounding three of the team members. Before the Joint Tactical Air Controller called for fire support, the gunship crew was already preparing to engage the enemy, and within 23 seconds from receiving the call, rounds were on the ground.

The gunship provided a protective wall of fire that allowed the SEALs to move their wounded to safety of a medical evacuation helicopter. The rain of fire power eventually eliminated the threat, and the gunship crew continued the originally tasked mission.
Lt. j.g. Don Nichols, one of the eight Navy SEALs on the ground during that mission attended Friday's ceremony.

"Without your guys, our guys would have been killed," Lieutenant Nichols said. "They saved three of my comrades."

"For any given night, that crew could have been any of the 4th SOS crews," said Col. Brad Webb, 1st Special Operations Wing commander. "It speaks volumes of the professionalism of this squadron that it happened to be this crew. They did a fantastic job. This is business as usual for the 4th SOS."

This mission was Major Torraca's 12th and final deployment. He's now retired. It was Captain Hood's sixth deployment, and it was Sergeant Smith's first.

"It's missions like this that make this job that much more rewarding," said Major Torraca. 

The following Airmen also received Single Mission Air Medals for the same mission:

Capt. Christopher Splees
Capt. Michael Engel 
Tech. Sgt. David Craker
Staff Sgt. Matthew Johnson 
Staff Sgt. Christopher Moore
Staff Sgt. Terry Parton
Staff Sgt. Daniel Russell 

Capt. Joshua Casson, Master Sgt. Kevin Stefanovsky and Staff Sgt. Matthew Jacobson were also part of the crew and earned the Single Mission Air Medal, but were unable to attend Friday's ceremony. They will receive their medals at a later date.