Maj. Ryan Mittelstet, Maj. Brett Cassidy and Tech. Sgt. Christopher Nin were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla., April 21, 2017. While assigned to the 8th Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron, Mittelstet, Cassidy and Nin were onboard a CV-22 Osprey conducting a mission to evacuate American citizens during a civil war in Africa. While attempting the evacuation, their aircraft was targeted and hit more than 50 times by surface-to-air fire from ground forces.

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