Captain Barry F. Crawford || Air Force Cross || Afghanistan
Distinguished Veteran Awardee Blog written by Zachary Lohrman Name of Veteran: Barry F. Crawford Rank and Military Branch: Captain, United States Air Force Award Name and Date of Action Leading to the Commendation: Air Force Cross, 4 May 2010 Captain Barry F. Crawford graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2003 and was commissioned a Special Tactics Officer of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron. On May 4, 2010, Capt. Crawford and a team of 100 Afghan commandos and Army Rangers entered the village of Hendor in the Laghman Province to remove insurgents in the area. Intelligence at the time said that the village was holding approximately 10 fighters to resist the team. It would later be revealed that enemy movement happened the night before the planned attack, compromising the mission. About 30 minutes into the mission the assault force received heavy machine gun and sniper fire from all sides around the village. This barrage lasted for more than 10 hours, and beca