Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to Air Force pilot with Williamsport ties
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The nation's fourth most prestigious medal for valor, the Distinguished Flying Cross was recently awarded to Captain Howlett D. Cohick.
Cohick, a C-17 Globemaster pilot stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, was presented the medal by General Mike Minihan, the commander of the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, according to a news release. Cohick was cited for his heroism while flying the last mission out of Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021.
His citation reads, "Assuming the risk for a departure with no controllers and a compromised airfield, his aircrew was the last in the formation of five aircraft to depart Hamid Karzai International Airport. The leadership, courage, and decisiveness of Captain Cohick directly ensured the culmination of Allied Refuge, an operation bravely supported by the courageous men and women of the U.S. Military that ultimately airlifted 124,000 individuals."
"The men and women from this installation were ready to do whatever it took to deliver the forces needed to secure the Kabul airport and then to evacuate and save as many lives as possible," Minihan said at the medal ceremony, according to Air and Space Forces magazine. "It's what they did next that displayed heroism and selfless devotion to duty -- the reason for today's ceremony."
A press release from the 628th Air Base Wing and Air and Space Forces magazine said the ceremony was "the largest of its kind in decades." Fifty other airmen and officers also received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The Distinguished Flying Cross follows, in order of precedence, the Medal of Honor, the Air Force Cross and the Silver Star, the news release said. It is awarded for single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. Notable past recipients include Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, George H.W. Bush and John Glenn.
Cohick is a 2017 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He is a grandson of Betty and Herb Cohick, of Williamsport.