Lt. Gen. Brad Webb, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, speaks during a Distinguished Flying Cross Ceremony for Maj. Ryan Mittelstet, Maj. Brett Cassidy and Tech. Sgt. Christopher Nin 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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