Air Force captain becomes first woman in service history to receive Silver Star as crews honored for drone fight
Story by Joshua Skovlund • 15h
On Nov. 12, 30 fighter pilots and airmen were recognized for missions during the largest air-to-air enemy engagement in over 50 years, according to the Air Force. The crew of one F-15E, pilot Maj. Benjamin Coffey and Fweapon systems officer Capt. Lacie Hester were awarded the nation’s third-highest valor award, the Silver Star.
With that award, Hester is the first woman in the Air Force to receive the Silver Star and the 10th woman in the Department of Defense’s history. Together, the Air Force said Coffey and Hester shot down 70 drones and three ballistic missiles.
“It takes a high-performing team with high-performing individuals to be able to find these things to begin with and then to engage it,” Coffey said in a press release..
The missions came during a massive aerial attack of missiles and unmanned drones fired from Iran from the morning of April 13 into the early hours of April 14. In total, 66 airmen from the 494th Fighter Squadron and 494th Fighter Generation Squadron worked together to repel the massive aerial attack on Israel.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/air-force-captain-becomes-first-woman-in-service-history-to-receive-silver-star-as-crews-honored-for-drone-fight/ar-AA1uazI8?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=b2d4007223084e94b52e518c37dd4850&ei=24
