An F-16 pilot who took part in combat operations over Yemen last spring was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross this month for his actions.
Capt. Nathanial Welch, callsign “Icarus,” received the Air Force’s highest honor for valor during flight against an enemy on July 1 for actions on April 29, 2025 when he was part of a joint American and British strike mission against Houthi militants. During that operation, “Icarus” flew close to explosions but dodged incoming fire and helped protect and alert other aircraft, the Air Force said.
At the time, Welch was serving as part of the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, which spent late 2024-summer 2025 deployed to the Middle East. The squadron, operating out of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, were brought in as part of the wider U.S. force that targeted Houthi command and attack sites. The squadron specifically is a “Wild Weasel” force, meant to take out such air defenses.
“During a mission, Welch repeatedly flew into heavily defended airspace. Enemy forces launched three missiles at his F-16, which he successfully evaded through exceptional flying while alerting the formation of the incoming threats,” the Air Force said. “Despite coming within a few hundred feet of the explosions, Welch remained on station to protect coalition aircraft until they were safely clear of the threat.”
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The Air Force did not say in its release where Welch was flying or who he was fighting, but previous awards show that the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron took part in Operation Rough Rider, last spring’s offensive against Houthi militants in Yemen. After a loose ceasefire at the start of the year that ended 14 months of fighting around Yemen, the United States restarted operations against the Houthis, an armed group that controls much of Yemen.
Details on that specific mission are limited and the Air Force’s release on Welch’s award did not go into detail on it. However, the British Ministry of Defence said at the time that the joint British and American operation hit a series of buildings south of the capital Sana’a used to manufacture attack drones.
“Capt. Welch exemplifies everything the nation asks for in a fighter pilot escorting other combatants into a heavily defended enemy position,” Air Force Col. Matthew Johnston, 354th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement “He selflessly placed his aircraft between enemy missile systems and the aircraft he was protecting to ensure mission success and the survival of the force package.”
Welch is not the first pilot who served with that squadron in Rough Rider to be honored. Two of the squadron’s leaders Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks, the then-commander of the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, and Maj. Michael “Danger” Blea were awarded the Silver Star for their roles in a March 27, 2025 mission. During that fight they escorted B-2 Sprit bombers over Sana’a. During that the two found themselves being targeted by Houthi air defenses, both surface-to-air missiles and artillery rounds. The two pilots then spent around 15 minutes maneuvering through the thick counter attack, dodging a half-dozen SAMs and getting out of enemy range.As Air & Space Forces Magazine reported, two pilots and a boom operator for a tanker crew also received DFCs for their participation in Operation Rough Rider.
The 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron left the Middle East in July 2025.
Welch is now serving as the chief of plans and programs for the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based out of Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. That squadron patrols the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ, where U.S. aircraft regularly intercept foreign planes that enter the area.
