ACC pilot awarded Distinguished Flying Cross

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Steven Goetsch
  • Air Combat Command Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. --  An Air Combat Command pilot was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross at a ceremony here Oct. 31 for his heroic actions in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Bernard Willi was recognized for his actions during rescue operations near Jalalabad, Afghanistan July 28-29, 2010.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is the Air Force's eighth highest honor, and is awarded for "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight."

According to the official citation, not only did he battle horrendous weather which caused the massive flooding and subsequent rescue operation, but he performed these operations "under constant enemy threat."

It was a mission that helicopter pilot Willi dreamt of, what he had trained for. Because in his words, "a rescue pilot views rescues like a fighter pilot views kills."

Prior to the morning of July 28, the flying veteran of 16 years had 10 saves to his credit. By the end of the week, he would increase his save total 100 times, fulfilling a career void by rescuing almost 1000 Afghans from the catastrophic flood in Eastern Afghanistan.

"I had missed Hurricane Katrina because I was the commander of an HH-60 test unit," Willi said. "I thought as a senior lieutenant colonel, I would never get a chance to do something like this again."

Willi arrived in Afghanistan in December of 2009 as a Combined Air Power Transition Force mentor to the fledgling Afghan Air Force. CAPTF provides trained and ready Airmen and Soldiers to execute critical tasks from the air in support of the Afghan National Army.

The CAPTF mentor teams instruct pilots and crew members through all aspects of flying operations, but the storms and flooding would provide challenges to a seasoned pilot like Willi.

"The Afghans like to create a separation between themselves and the lead aircraft when the weather is bad," Master Sgt. Kevin Fife, crew chief advisor said, who had also taken part in the rescue. "Colonel Willi closed the gap between the two Mi-17's and this made the Afghans nervous."

Tactics weren't the only obstacles Willi had to contend with. Language was also a challenge. Much of the training has to be done through a translator. Willi had to rely on his knowledge of airframes because the controls of the Mi-17s are labeled in Cyrillic.

Because the AAF is rapidly expanding, at the time, many of the AAF pilots did not have many flight hours, and in the case of their mission, "Afghan Rescue 705 Flight", his partner, Afghan Major Hassan, had never flown the V5 version of the Mi-17 before, leaving Willi to take the commander's seat.

Forty eight hours and nearly 2,000 rescues later, Willi, his crew and Afghan counterparts, pulled off the most successful rescue of their careers.

Although the recently-promoted Willi was humbled for being recognized, he knows there are many Airmen out there performing these missions every day.

"You don't do these kinds of things for recognition," Willii said. "It is just a part of doing rescue."