A KC-135 tanker crew with the Illinois National Guard’s 126th Refueling Wing was honored with the Hoyt Award in August for their role in helping shepherd a crippled A-10 over hostile territory to a safe landing in northern Iraq this April.
By United States Air Force [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The attack jet had taken fuel from the tanker when its left engine failed. The KC-135 crew then decided to stay with the twin-engine aircraft for an hour and help supervise its landing at Al Asad in northern Iraq.
The task wasn’t easy, said boom operator Master Sgt. Jarrett Crawford. Both aircraft were flying at 18,000 ft and desert dust creates thick haze which made keep visual contact with each other difficult.