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188th Warthog pilot Gentry awarded Air Force Combat Action Medal

  • Published
  • By Maj. Heath Allen
  • 188th Wing executive officer
FORT SMITH, Arkansas --  September 10, 2012, was a day Maj. Jeremiah Gentry will never forget. The 188th Wing showed Gentry it wouldn't forget that day either.

During a commander's call Aug. 3, 2014, Gentry was awarded an Air Force Combat Action Medal for his Airmanship while piloting an A-10C Thunderbolt II "Warthog near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan during a mission to remedy a troops-in-contact (TIC) predicament. Col. Mark W. Anderson, 188th Wing commander, presented the accolade to Gentry in front of a packed house.

"Maj. Gentry is an experienced combat aviator and we're proud that his leadership and courage were recognized with a combat action medal," Anderson said. "We broke wing deployment records in missiles and rockets fired, 30mm rounds expended and bombs dropped while in Bagram. It's exciting to see some of our Airmen recognized for those accomplishments. It was a great team effort with maintenance and operations."

Gentry launched out in a Warthog from Bagram in support of a TIC mission in Ghazni province. A five-vehicle convoy was stranded in an open area and taking heavy fire from 11 confirmed enemy personnel. The enemy was actively firing high-caliber recoilless rifles, automatic machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at the stranded convoy and on the aircraft overhead.

Shows of force and multiple low angle strafes repeatedly brought Gentry to within 500 feet of enemy personnel. These tactical maneuvers placed him within the effective ranges of all these weapons, each a grave and credible threat to aircraft.

Gentry initially attempted to break contact using shows of force, making him a target for enemy fire. The joint terminal attack controller on the ground cleared Gentry for a strafe run and despite the enemy surface-to-air fire capability, he complied, employing his 30mm gun on multiple passes, expending more than 500 rounds before the enemy was neutralized.

His actions and willingness to expose his position to the enemy threat allowed the allied convoy to return to the safety of its forward operating base.

"The 188th was very actively engaged in combat while deployed to Bagram," Anderson said. "Maj. Gentry's courage under duress was outstanding. He put himself in harm's way so that the ground patrol could return safely to their unit and later, home to their families. That's service before self."

188th Warthog pilot Gentry awarded Air Force Combat Action Medal

  • Published
  • By Maj. Heath Allen
  • 188th Wing executive officer
FORT SMITH, Arkansas --  September 10, 2012, was a day Maj. Jeremiah Gentry will never forget. The 188th Wing showed Gentry it wouldn't forget that day either.

During a commander's call Aug. 3, 2014, Gentry was awarded an Air Force Combat Action Medal for his Airmanship while piloting an A-10C Thunderbolt II "Warthog near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan during a mission to remedy a troops-in-contact (TIC) predicament. Col. Mark W. Anderson, 188th Wing commander, presented the accolade to Gentry in front of a packed house.

"Maj. Gentry is an experienced combat aviator and we're proud that his leadership and courage were recognized with a combat action medal," Anderson said. "We broke wing deployment records in missiles and rockets fired, 30mm rounds expended and bombs dropped while in Bagram. It's exciting to see some of our Airmen recognized for those accomplishments. It was a great team effort with maintenance and operations."

Gentry launched out in a Warthog from Bagram in support of a TIC mission in Ghazni province. A five-vehicle convoy was stranded in an open area and taking heavy fire from 11 confirmed enemy personnel. The enemy was actively firing high-caliber recoilless rifles, automatic machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at the stranded convoy and on the aircraft overhead.

Shows of force and multiple low angle strafes repeatedly brought Gentry to within 500 feet of enemy personnel. These tactical maneuvers placed him within the effective ranges of all these weapons, each a grave and credible threat to aircraft.

Gentry initially attempted to break contact using shows of force, making him a target for enemy fire. The joint terminal attack controller on the ground cleared Gentry for a strafe run and despite the enemy surface-to-air fire capability, he complied, employing his 30mm gun on multiple passes, expending more than 500 rounds before the enemy was neutralized.

His actions and willingness to expose his position to the enemy threat allowed the allied convoy to return to the safety of its forward operating base.

"The 188th was very actively engaged in combat while deployed to Bagram," Anderson said. "Maj. Gentry's courage under duress was outstanding. He put himself in harm's way so that the ground patrol could return safely to their unit and later, home to their families. That's service before self."