‘Grit and dedication’: Fairchild airmen receive prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross

Twelve Fairchild Air Force Base airmen last week received one of the country’s most prestigious medals for heroism, joining the likes of Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and former President George H.W. Bush.

The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded to the airmen during a medal ceremony Tuesday at the Airway Heights base for their actions during recent combat operations, including Operation Midnight Hammer, where the U.S. in June attacked Iranian nuclear sites with bombs and missiles.

Three airmen also received the Bronze Star during the ceremony.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded for extraordinary heroism and aerial achievement, while the Bronze Star recognizes heroic or meritorious service in a combat zone. Both are among the nation’s highest military decorations.

“The skill and tenacity displayed by the members here today led directly to the success of the overall operation,” Maj. Gen. Charles Bolton, Eighteenth Air Force commander, said in the release. “We thank them for displaying this true grit and dedication.”

Bolton presided over the ceremony and praised the 15 honorees for their “courage, professionalism and an unyielding commitment to the mission and their fellow Airmen,” according to a Fairchild news release.

The awards recognized the aircrews for their performance while flying what were described as complex and dangerous missions in contested airspace, the Air Force reported. The airmen were lauded for providing critical refueling that enabled other Air Force assets to continue the fight and return home safely.

“These historic missions were fraught with peril and required decisive reactions to dynamic operational environments,” Bolton said in the release. “The way they choose to respond, the way they adapt and work together – that’s what we’re highlighting today.”

It’s unclear whether Fairchild KC-135 Stratotanker crews have received the Distinguished Flying Cross before.

Two dozen KC-135 crew members elsewhere received the medal in 2024 for helping refuel fighters that shot down 80 drones and missiles Iran fired at Israel that year, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine.

On Tuesday at Fairchild, Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Stallings, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator, was the only one to receive two Distinguished Flying Crosses – one with valor and another with a combat designation.

The valor designation is for an “act of heroism in direct combat with an enemy at great personal risk,” according to Fairchild. The combat designation signifies “meritorious service under combat conditions where the recipient was personally exposed to hostile action.”

Other Distinguished Flying Cross recipients Tuesday were Capts. Joseph Ferguson, Roman Rohrbach, Robert Schaefer, Bobby Sherrill, Kimberly Soltero, Robert Maloy, Abigail Swenson, Eric Gershoff and Seung Choi. All are KC-135 pilots with the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron. First Lt. Ryan Ioanidis, a KC-135 pilot with the 93rd, and Senior Airman Clark Bromley, a boom operator with the 93rd, also received a Distinguished Flying Cross.

The three airmen who received the Bronze Star included: Lt. Col. Graydon Vandament, 93rd commander; Maj. Sean Fernando, 93rd assistant director of operations; and Master Sgt. Shane Endreson, 92nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron production superintendent.

Politicians and other local leaders in the area attended Tuesday’s ceremony.

Brian Newberry, a retired Air Force colonel who served as commander of the 92nd Air Wing from 2012-14, was one of the attendees.

He said he was grateful to see the air crews honored with extremely rare and important medals of heroism.

“Tanker crews are absolutely vital to the Air Force’s mission to fly, fight and win, and oftentimes don’t get the recognition that they deserve,” Newberry said. “This recognition showcases Fairchild airmen as some of the best air crew in the Air Force.”

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, an Eastern Washington Republican, called the ceremony “amazing” and “moving.”

“The refueling community is such a big part of the fabric of Eastern Washington in Spokane, and to see those pilots get recognized for their valiant efforts with respect to Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer last year, particularly while there’s an ongoing operation against Iran, really brought the thing home,” Baumgartner said.

The medal citations, read aloud at the ceremony, described the challenges of the operations and what the KC-135 pilots overcame, according to Baumgartner.

“It was just very impressive and should bring a lot of pride to every American, but particularly everybody in Eastern Washington, given the importance of that community,” he said. “It’s a lot more than just flying in the air and being a gas station.”

Baumgartner said the airmen deserved the medals.

“You have to do something truly extraordinary on a mission that was very complex,” he said.

The Spokesman-Review was not allowed to attend because of “operational security,” according to Fairchild’s 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs.

The public affairs office declined to allow airmen who received awards Tuesday to give interviews to The Spokesman-Review. It also refused to provide the medal citations and elaborate on the airmen’s actions during the operations that led to their medal honors, citing operational security and ongoing operations in the Middle East.

Staff members for U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both Washington Democrats, also attended.

“The senator has been concerned for some time about the increased limitations on press access to (Department of Defense) issues where appropriate,” Ansley Lacitis, a spokeswoman for Cantwell, said in a statement.

Baumgartner said he understood why Fairchild was careful on releasing information.

“They probably struck an appropriate balance,” he said.

S-R reporter Orion Donovan Smith contributed to this story.