I would like to salute Air Force Capt. Brian Erickson, a Kingwood High School Graduate (1997) who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor on July 11, 2008.
Captain Erickson is credited with saving the lives of six German (part of the Army coalition ground forces) soldiers who were pinned down in a dark valley in Afghanistan on October 16, 2006.
A B-1B Lancer bomber was sent to support the embattled German team but was forced to give up due to weather conditions and the steep mountain terrain which restricted the bomber’s effectiveness. The daring two hour mission is a true “Top Gun” story of a pilot and his wingman. Erickson’s wingman flew above the weather to guide Erickson, who essentially was flying blind. Captain Erickson was forced to turn off his infrared screen because the ground fire would interfere with his night vision goggles, literally blinding him and impeding his ability to navigate the deep and dangerous canyon. Erickson drew fire upon his own aircraft in order to locate the insurgent’s position. Once Captain Erickson located the insurgents, his wingman lit up the area so that Erickson, in a single pass, could stop the opposition, which he effectively did.
As with all true heroes, Captain Erickson was honored to receive one of the Nation’s highest honors but discounted his own heroic actions as being minor in comparison to the lives that were saved and the team effort involved.
Here is the quote by Captain Erickson: “We train every day to support Army coalition ground forces with CAS*… It’s an honor to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor for doing the job I’m trained to do. But the real reward was returning those six coalition soldiers safely to the village they were working at as part of the PRT team.”
About his wingman, Captain Erickson makes it clear that it was a team effort and not only his actions that made the mission a success:
“He helped me find the insurgents. He was above the mountain tops and we were both trying to sort out things going on. It was team work that made it possible.”
Thank you Captain Erickson, your wingman and all of our troops for a job well done.
*close air support
