April 2010 Dude Flight Mission Saved 30 Trapped Joint Special Operators In Bala Morghab, Afghanistan

By: Larry Stencel, MSgt, USAF (ret)

(Author's note: Because the pilot of Dude 01 is the son of my closest USAF friend, I was able to glean from him and his fellow crewmen additional information -- not otherwise revealed -- about the combat mission the four award recipients flew on April 6th, 2010).

Four F-15E Strike Eagle crewmembers then assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, UK serving on temporary duty at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan were awarded the 2010 Mackay Trophy by USAF Chief of Staff, General Norton Schwartz, and National Aeronautic Association Chairman, Walter Boyne, at the NAA Fall Banquet in Arlington, VA on November 7th.

(L-R) Larkin, Cornwall, Tsoutas, Wells

The Mackay Trophy was first awarded in 1912 by Clarence Mackay to Lt. Henry “Hap” Arnold who went on to become a five-star General of both the Army and Air Force.  It was later deeded to the National Aeronautic Association and is awarded annually to “the most meritorious flight of the year by an Air Force person, persons or organization that demonstrates gallantry, intrepidity, initiative, resourcefulness and achievement of outstanding results in combat or non-combat conditions.” Other recipients include Capt. Eddie Rickenbacher, Lt. James “Jimmy” Doolittle and Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager.

The recipients this year -- pilot/lead Lt. Col. Donald Cornwell (now retired) and his WSO, Capt. Leigh Larkin, in Dude 01 and his wingman Capt. (then 1Lt.) Nicholas Tsougas and his WSO, Lt. Col. Dylan Wells, in Dude 02 -- were recognized for a combat mission they flew on April 6, 2010 over Bala Morgab, Afghanistan near the Turkmenistan border in support of a joint special operations task force clearing the town of insurgents. During the operation, approximately 100 well armed, organized and entrenched insurgents had ambushed and separated the special operations team members who began taking casualties. Because the weather was “well below” launch minimums for a helicopter rescue force, a ground rescue team was sent in. Enroute, this team hit an IED trap and began taking small arms fire itself. At this point, with the situation on the ground becoming dire and ammunition running low, the special operations task force joint tactical air controller, “Jaguar 12,” put in a call for “Dude Flight” air support. “Dude” is the call sign associated with all F-15E Strike Eagle missions in Afghanistan. (N.B.: so the story goes, the term “Dude” comes from the movie, "The Big Lebowski")

Initially sent north to a different location and mission, Dude 01 and 02 received the call and set course for the newly assigned location hundreds of miles away while awaiting further instructions. Realizing that the new far north location would leave the flight short of fuel for protracted operations or return to Bagram Air Base, Lt. Col Cornwell assumed responsibility for directing a KC-135A tanker crew to move closer to the target location while higher authority for this decision was being sought. After arriving on scene and contacting the JTAC controller on the ground directly, Dude Flight was told that the area was heavily populated and in a mountain valley . Capt. Larkin and Lt. Col. Wells studied the terrain around Bala Morgab and worked out a plan to fly “show of force” flyovers to interrupt the insurgents and allow the joint special operations team time to regroup to defensible positions. Unfortunately, even after five show of force low flyovers, the insurgents regrouped themselves and began to attack the special ops team again.

F-15E Strike Eagle File Photo

With the situation on the ground deteriorating to “desperate,” something had to be done. Jaguar 12 then directed that Dude Flight drop precision GPS guided ordnance adjacent to their position at “danger close” distances. This distance means that there is a 1 in 10 chance that friendly forces could be injured by the bomb blasts. It also requires the JTAC controller to obtain the authority for same from the on scene ground commander and transmit his initials to the aircrews after receiving higher authority clearance. Unable to contact the Combined Air and Space Operations Center directly due to terrain masking his radio, the controller worked with Capt Larkin who obtained clearance for him via SatCom. Because poor weather conditions precluded the aircrew requirement to visually identify the targets, Capt Larkin conveyed the absolutely dire situation to HHQ while simultaneously using air-to-ground radar to verify target distances from the friendly forces. With clearance to drop received, coordinates for four targets were transmitted, checked and carefully rechecked by both WSO‘s. In all, four 500 pound and two two-thousand pound GPS guided JDAM weapons were dropped on four positions. All hit their assigned targets; no friendly forces were injured while 80 Taliban insurgents were killed. There were no collateral civilian casualties and all 30 US, British and Afghan joint special operations team members were subsequently rescued and survived.

At the NAA Awards banquet when General Norton Schwartz was proudly describing the events that led to the Mackay award, he concluded his speech by saying, “… we kicked ass that day.” The crowd in attendance gave a raucous return applause and hoorah’s.

Mackay Trophy

Now -- to borrow a popular phrase from the late Paul Harvey -- here is the “rest” of the story.

This mission lasted four and a half hours and required four air refuelings by Dude Flight with two of them near Bala Morgab during the mission. The weather was solid overcast at about 200’ AGL with flat tops at 6,000’ MSL. Bala Morgab’s altitude is 1588’ so that means there was a solid layer of clouds 4,200’ in height over the target. The five “show of force” flyovers were flown using terrain following radar in formation at about 500 knots airspeed with hard pull-ups afterward due to fast rising terrain on a course worked out by the WSO‘s. Lt. Col. Cornwell stated that on an early pass, he descended below 300’ AGL to see if visual ID of the situation could be obtained if needed subsequently even though normal minimum safe altitude is 500‘. He stated that visibility at that low altitude was just breaking up … he only saw the ground on one pass. Lt. Col. Wells stated that he never saw the ground during the show of force passes. When the situation deteriorated and use of GPS guided munitions became necessary, Capt. Larkin and Lt. Col. Wells handled communications relay for Jaguar 12, radar target ID and targeting information while Lt. Col. Cornwell and Capt. Tsougas handled flight and air refueling tasks. Ground operators “name” their targets and the two two-thousand pound GPS weapons were aimed at “the garage” where weapons and ammunition were stored and “the mosque” where planning and coordination was being conducted. The five-hundred pound weapons were aimed at insurgents directly. Bala Morgab is a town of over 15,000 population so it isn’t exactly a rural village. That no collateral damage occurred “is amazing,” said Lt. Col. Cornwell. “It’s a great feeling to know you’re part of a bigger team,” said Lt. Col Wells.

Lt. Col. Cornwell is a former A-10A “Warthog” and F-117A “Nighthawk” pilot who has five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan in those aircraft. He was present overhead Bagdad on the opening night of the second Gulf War in Iraq. He is a graduate of Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH and of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. His Father is a retired USAF Flight Test Air Refueling “boomer” and his Grandfather flew B-17’s in World War II. Where does America find such families?

“Cornhole,” “Elmer,” “Dragoon,” and “Breaker.” Good on ya! … and THANKS.

FMI: www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=185