A boom operator on a KC-135 tanker earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses on recent combat missions, the Air Force confirmed this week, a rare double-award of the military’s top medal for flight.
Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Stallings, a KC-135 boom operator, was one of 15 members of the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron who were presented with DFCs or Bronze Stars for combat flights on March 31, in a ceremony at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.
In all, 12 pilots and boom operators from the squadron were awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses. Three senior leaders in the squadron were awarded Bronze Stars. Stallings was the only double-awardee.
Though Air Force officials were tight-lipped on when and where the tanker crews had flown the missions behind the awards, a local congressman who attended the ceremony told the Spokesman-Review newspaper that they were linked to Operation Midnight Hammer, the surprise overnight bombing mission in Iran on June 21 to 22.
U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, an Eastern Washington Republican, told the paper, “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.”
Officials with the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and the Eighteenth Air Force would not provide copies of the award citations, nor confirm if the medals were associated with Midnight Hammer. That operation targeted three Iranian nuclear installations with a massive fleet of U.S. aircraft, including B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and fighter jets. Nearly all the aircraft involved needed mid-air refueling during the operation, including B-2s flying from Whiteman Air Force Base in the continental United States.
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KC-135s fly with a crew of three, including two pilots and a boom operator. Back-up crew members are common on longer flights.
Several of the Distinguished Flying Crosses were awarded with “V” or “C” devices, which denote various levels of combat exposure during a mission.
The “V” device for valor is a higher level of award, and requires “an act or acts of heroism by an individual above what is normally expected while engaged in direct combat,” according to Air Force regulations. Those awarded DFCs with a “V” device were: Capt. Eric Gershoff; Capt. Kimberly Soltero; Capt. Joseph Ferguson; Capt. Roman Rohrbach; Capt. Seung Choi and Capt. Robert Schaefer, as well as 1st Lt. Ryan Ioanidis.
The “C” device indicates the awards were earned in combat or while exposed to “grave danger” by hostile actions. Those awarded DFCs with a “C” device were: Capt. Bobby Sherrill; Capt. Robert Maloy and Capt. Abigail Swenson, as well as Senior Airman Clark Bromley.
Stallings received one of each.
The three senior squadron officials who received Bronze Stars were: Lt. Col. Graydon Vandament, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron commander; Maj. Sean Fernando; and Master Sgt. Shane Endreson, the squadron’s production superintendent.
“The skill and tenacity displayed by the members here today led directly to the success of the overall operation,” said Maj. Gen. Charles Bolton, Eighteenth Air Force commander, who presented the awards. “We thank them for displaying this true grit and dedication.”
In 2024, 24 KC-135 crew members from various units received Distinguished Flying Crosses for support interception flights that spring, in which American fighter jets shot down dozens of Iranian drones and missiles. This February, three Air National Guard F-16 pilots also received the awards for their role in the April 2024 intercepts.
