Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 30, 2007
Pg. 1
Pilot who grew up in Ferguson will be honored for daring flight, bull's-eye air drop in Afghanistan
By Tim O'Neil, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The American Special Forces soldiers, low on ammunition and supplies, pulled back to a ridge in southern Afghanistan. They requested a bull's-eye air drop, lest the pressing Taliban rebels bag the goods.
Air Force Maj. Bradley C. Downs, who grew up in Ferguson, drew the nighttime assignment. And during the mission, a last-minute move by the soldiers would force him and his crew of six to fly between the Americans and the Taliban, with no terrain for cover.
Using night-vision goggles, Downs flew a modified C-130 transport low along the 2,500-foot-high ridge. The crew parachuted the 22,000 pounds of supplies within 15 yards of the target.
Downs and his navigator, Maj. Daniel Roesch, made that flight on Sept. 1 of last year during a major NATO offensive in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Next week, they are to report to the Pentagon to receive the Air Force's Cheney Award, named after a pilot who was killed in 1918.
It is given once a year for "an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest."
Downs, 34, praised his crew for a job well done.
"The recognition is good, but we did what everyone else is doing over there," he said. "Our mission was navigator-centric, and I was lucky to have (Roesch). The whole crew did an excellent job. This is for all of them."
"And remember, it's the guys on the ground who are really winning that war," Downs added by telephone from his current base near Cambridge, England.
Downs is the second of five sons of Scott and Sue Downs of St. Charles. He graduated from St. Louis University High School in 1992 and went to the Air Force Academy on a scholarship to play water polo.
He signed up for flight school upon graduation in 1996 and was flying transports in Japan on Sept. 11, 2001, the day that inspired him to apply for Air Force Special Operations.
Since then, he has flown in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is assigned to the 352nd Special Operations Group at Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base.
The C-130 Hercules, a 1950s design, is a burly and durable transport powered by four turbo-prop engines. For Special Forces, he flies a modified version called the MC-130 Combat Talon II. Hovering above him during the mission last year was an AC-130, a gunship loaded with Gatling guns and heavy cannons.
"We knew vaguely where the Taliban were and knew it was a highly fluid situation," he said. "We come in blacked out with night vision. It's pretty tough to pick us up. Still, having that gunship gave us some peace of mind."
Downs said missions of that sort are the purpose of Air Force Special Operations. Low-level runs usually are flown about 250 feet above the ground, with a quick pop-up to 500 feet to make the parachute drop.
In recommending Downs and Roesch, their commanders back at Hurlburt Field near Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said in part: "The slightest error would ensure enemy control of these crucial supplies. The daring resupply saved the lives of the (ground) team members and ensured the continuation of a successful mission."
Scott Downs said family members will join Maj. Downs for the ceremony at the Pentagon on Monday. Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb, vice chief of staff for the Air Force, is to make the presentation.
"We're very proud of him, but he's matter-of-fact about these things," Scott Downs said of his son. "We learn to live with not knowing what he's doing. Sometimes, it's good that we don't know."
Accompanying Maj. Downs to Washington are his English-born wife, Emma, and their two children, Courtney, 4, and Daniel, 2.
Downs said he was thinking mainly about playing college water polo when he went to the Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs, Colo. "Flying was an afterthought," he said.
But it's one he's proud to have undertaken.
"We're over there to make the U.S. a safe place and defeat terrorists," he said.
And the award, he added, "is a tremendous honor."
What is the Cheney Award?
*The military created it in 1927 in honor of Lt. William Cheney, who was killed in a collision over Italy in 1918.
*It is awarded each year to one or two aviators for bravery in a humanitarian venture, which does not have to include military action.
*Recipients have included an officer who rescued a pilot from a crashed and burning jet, and one of the pilots who flew the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49.
*Since war began in Iraq, it has gone to a helicopter pilot who rescued a downed fellow pilot and an air crew that supplied a ground unit under fire.
October 30, 2007
Pg. 1
Pilot who grew up in Ferguson will be honored for daring flight, bull's-eye air drop in Afghanistan
By Tim O'Neil, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The American Special Forces soldiers, low on ammunition and supplies, pulled back to a ridge in southern Afghanistan. They requested a bull's-eye air drop, lest the pressing Taliban rebels bag the goods.
Air Force Maj. Bradley C. Downs, who grew up in Ferguson, drew the nighttime assignment. And during the mission, a last-minute move by the soldiers would force him and his crew of six to fly between the Americans and the Taliban, with no terrain for cover.
Using night-vision goggles, Downs flew a modified C-130 transport low along the 2,500-foot-high ridge. The crew parachuted the 22,000 pounds of supplies within 15 yards of the target.
Downs and his navigator, Maj. Daniel Roesch, made that flight on Sept. 1 of last year during a major NATO offensive in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Next week, they are to report to the Pentagon to receive the Air Force's Cheney Award, named after a pilot who was killed in 1918.
It is given once a year for "an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest."
Downs, 34, praised his crew for a job well done.
"The recognition is good, but we did what everyone else is doing over there," he said. "Our mission was navigator-centric, and I was lucky to have (Roesch). The whole crew did an excellent job. This is for all of them."
"And remember, it's the guys on the ground who are really winning that war," Downs added by telephone from his current base near Cambridge, England.
Downs is the second of five sons of Scott and Sue Downs of St. Charles. He graduated from St. Louis University High School in 1992 and went to the Air Force Academy on a scholarship to play water polo.
He signed up for flight school upon graduation in 1996 and was flying transports in Japan on Sept. 11, 2001, the day that inspired him to apply for Air Force Special Operations.
Since then, he has flown in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is assigned to the 352nd Special Operations Group at Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base.
The C-130 Hercules, a 1950s design, is a burly and durable transport powered by four turbo-prop engines. For Special Forces, he flies a modified version called the MC-130 Combat Talon II. Hovering above him during the mission last year was an AC-130, a gunship loaded with Gatling guns and heavy cannons.
"We knew vaguely where the Taliban were and knew it was a highly fluid situation," he said. "We come in blacked out with night vision. It's pretty tough to pick us up. Still, having that gunship gave us some peace of mind."
Downs said missions of that sort are the purpose of Air Force Special Operations. Low-level runs usually are flown about 250 feet above the ground, with a quick pop-up to 500 feet to make the parachute drop.
In recommending Downs and Roesch, their commanders back at Hurlburt Field near Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said in part: "The slightest error would ensure enemy control of these crucial supplies. The daring resupply saved the lives of the (ground) team members and ensured the continuation of a successful mission."
Scott Downs said family members will join Maj. Downs for the ceremony at the Pentagon on Monday. Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb, vice chief of staff for the Air Force, is to make the presentation.
"We're very proud of him, but he's matter-of-fact about these things," Scott Downs said of his son. "We learn to live with not knowing what he's doing. Sometimes, it's good that we don't know."
Accompanying Maj. Downs to Washington are his English-born wife, Emma, and their two children, Courtney, 4, and Daniel, 2.
Downs said he was thinking mainly about playing college water polo when he went to the Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs, Colo. "Flying was an afterthought," he said.
But it's one he's proud to have undertaken.
"We're over there to make the U.S. a safe place and defeat terrorists," he said.
And the award, he added, "is a tremendous honor."
What is the Cheney Award?
*The military created it in 1927 in honor of Lt. William Cheney, who was killed in a collision over Italy in 1918.
*It is awarded each year to one or two aviators for bravery in a humanitarian venture, which does not have to include military action.
*Recipients have included an officer who rescued a pilot from a crashed and burning jet, and one of the pilots who flew the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49.
*Since war began in Iraq, it has gone to a helicopter pilot who rescued a downed fellow pilot and an air crew that supplied a ground unit under fire.