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188th pilot earns Air Force's Combat Action Medal for July 4 mission, caps wing's deployment success

  • Published
  • By Maj. Heath Allen
  • 188th executive officer
FORT SMITH, Ark --  The smell of barbeque. The pop and sparkle of fireworks lighting up the night sky. Family fun and the comforting sound of laughter. It's how most Americans imagine spending their Independence Day holidays. But for many American Airmen, spending July 4 in a war zone is their reality.

Maj. Doug Smutnick didn't enjoy his Independence Day celebrating America's freedom on the homefront. He was busy defending it from the cockpit of one of the 188th Fighter Wing's A-10C Thunderbolt II "Warthogs" near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, where he was a key participant in a troops-in-contact predicament during a close-air support combat mission.

Smutnick, who was one of approximately 375 Airmen from the 188th deployed to Bagram in 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), earned an Air Force Combat Action Medal (AFCAM) for that July 4 mission defending the lives of Coalition ground troops engaged in a firefight with Taliban soldiers.

"I remember noting the date when I was completing my admin paperwork at the operations desk before stepping [to the aircraft]," Smutnick said. "But after I sucked the gear up and heard the troops in contact call come over the radio, the date as well as all other nuances quickly melted away."

Smutnick was recognized for this achievement at a commander's call. It was just the second Combat Action Medal awarded to a 188th member.

"The missions our pilots conducted in Afghanistan were often dangerous and required a great deal of courage, patience and precision," said Col. Mark Anderson, 188th Fighter Wing commander. "Maj. Smutnick certainly exhibited all of those traits. It took a total team effort from the outstanding work of our maintainers to the keen insight from our Intel specialists and dedication of our aircrew. These were missions critical to meeting our nation's strategic objectives."

Combat Action Medals are awarded to Airmen who deliberately go outside the defended perimeter to conduct official duties - either ground or air, and come under enemy attack by lethal weapons while performing those duties, and experience high risk situations that place them in grave danger.

"Maj. Smutnick certainly deserves to be recognized for his accomplishments," Anderson said. "He's an exceptional officer and aviator. We're definitely glad he's a part of our Flying Razorback family."

And it was because of Smutnick's actions that day that multiple Coalition troops made it home safely to their families.

"In reflection, I can't help but hope that not just my actions that day, but everyone's actions and sacrifices over the years supporting OEF, will result in a similar outcome to that of our country's freedoms," Smutnick said.

While the details of the mission are still classified and Smutnick could not elaborate much on the specifics, he was quick to deflect attention from his own accolade and credited his training and his combat cohorts for the 188th's success in Afghanistan. That success included a 100 percent completion of all Air Tasking Orders (ATO) and saving countless Coalition lives while engaged in nearly 500 Troops in Contact missions.

"There were much more harrowing, heroic, and productive sorties by the likes of Maj. Andy Vaughan and Maj. ChrisSimpson to name two, that would have put the events and effects of mine to shame," a humble Smutnick surmised.

Much of that productivity was due in part to a boost in activity when compared to the unit's last combat deployment to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in 2010. Smutnick said the unit's deployment to Bagram was more active in terms of weapons employment.

"The [Rules of Engagement] hadn't changed much at all since our previous deployment to Kandahar," Smutnick said. "It was bouts of monotony peppered with spurts of surgical remediation. But it was more the specific region we were tasked to support that often times required a more liberal application of kinetic effects."

The outcome of those effects included unit deployment records in bombs dropped (285), rockets employed (210) and 30mm rounds fired (65,000) in the largest combat deployment in unit history. The 188th flew 1,850 combat sorties and racked up 7,625 combat flight hours, both of which also set new unit deployment marks.

"Our performance in OEF is a testament to those who maintain the equipment and provide the training here at the 188th," Smutnick said.

That included the countless homestation close-air support training missions conducted by the wing's pilots at the 188th's Detachment 1 Razorback Range. This training featured unit-owned datalink system vests utilized by Special Forces Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) to communicate coordinates to the 188th's A-10s for use in close-air support combat training scenarios. The 188th trains its own pilots and JTACs around the world on the use of this system.

Smutnick credited those battle simulations for the wing's overwhelming success rate at Bagram.

"I feel I can safely speak for the entire 184th Fighter Squadron when I say that if it weren't for the selfless dedication and tireless efforts of Maj. Simpson and the spin-up training and asset integration that he has fostered and integrated here at the 188th that we would, without a doubt, not have performed at such an exemplary level as was demonstrated in this last deployment," Smutnick said.

Smutnick added that while homestation battle drills are paramount, it's also a pilot's ability to compartmentalize that's critical to success in real-world combat missions. That pinpoint focus resulted in zero civilian casualties, fratricide or border crossing incidents, any of which could have major strategic consequences.

"I think what's most important is affecting the battlefield to minimize friendly losses," Smutnick said. "It's faith in our systems, abilities and processes developed during full-scale training and exercises that plays a significant role in our ability to set aside the fears of doubt, loss of one's life, and failure that would otherwise cripple an ill prepared and ill equipped warrior

188th pilot earns Air Force's Combat Action Medal for July 4 mission, caps wing's deployment success

  • Published
  • By Maj. Heath Allen
  • 188th executive officer
FORT SMITH, Ark --  The smell of barbeque. The pop and sparkle of fireworks lighting up the night sky. Family fun and the comforting sound of laughter. It's how most Americans imagine spending their Independence Day holidays. But for many American Airmen, spending July 4 in a war zone is their reality.

Maj. Doug Smutnick didn't enjoy his Independence Day celebrating America's freedom on the homefront. He was busy defending it from the cockpit of one of the 188th Fighter Wing's A-10C Thunderbolt II "Warthogs" near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, where he was a key participant in a troops-in-contact predicament during a close-air support combat mission.

Smutnick, who was one of approximately 375 Airmen from the 188th deployed to Bagram in 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), earned an Air Force Combat Action Medal (AFCAM) for that July 4 mission defending the lives of Coalition ground troops engaged in a firefight with Taliban soldiers.

"I remember noting the date when I was completing my admin paperwork at the operations desk before stepping [to the aircraft]," Smutnick said. "But after I sucked the gear up and heard the troops in contact call come over the radio, the date as well as all other nuances quickly melted away."

Smutnick was recognized for this achievement at a commander's call. It was just the second Combat Action Medal awarded to a 188th member.

"The missions our pilots conducted in Afghanistan were often dangerous and required a great deal of courage, patience and precision," said Col. Mark Anderson, 188th Fighter Wing commander. "Maj. Smutnick certainly exhibited all of those traits. It took a total team effort from the outstanding work of our maintainers to the keen insight from our Intel specialists and dedication of our aircrew. These were missions critical to meeting our nation's strategic objectives."

Combat Action Medals are awarded to Airmen who deliberately go outside the defended perimeter to conduct official duties - either ground or air, and come under enemy attack by lethal weapons while performing those duties, and experience high risk situations that place them in grave danger.

"Maj. Smutnick certainly deserves to be recognized for his accomplishments," Anderson said. "He's an exceptional officer and aviator. We're definitely glad he's a part of our Flying Razorback family."

And it was because of Smutnick's actions that day that multiple Coalition troops made it home safely to their families.

"In reflection, I can't help but hope that not just my actions that day, but everyone's actions and sacrifices over the years supporting OEF, will result in a similar outcome to that of our country's freedoms," Smutnick said.

While the details of the mission are still classified and Smutnick could not elaborate much on the specifics, he was quick to deflect attention from his own accolade and credited his training and his combat cohorts for the 188th's success in Afghanistan. That success included a 100 percent completion of all Air Tasking Orders (ATO) and saving countless Coalition lives while engaged in nearly 500 Troops in Contact missions.

"There were much more harrowing, heroic, and productive sorties by the likes of Maj. Andy Vaughan and Maj. ChrisSimpson to name two, that would have put the events and effects of mine to shame," a humble Smutnick surmised.

Much of that productivity was due in part to a boost in activity when compared to the unit's last combat deployment to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in 2010. Smutnick said the unit's deployment to Bagram was more active in terms of weapons employment.

"The [Rules of Engagement] hadn't changed much at all since our previous deployment to Kandahar," Smutnick said. "It was bouts of monotony peppered with spurts of surgical remediation. But it was more the specific region we were tasked to support that often times required a more liberal application of kinetic effects."

The outcome of those effects included unit deployment records in bombs dropped (285), rockets employed (210) and 30mm rounds fired (65,000) in the largest combat deployment in unit history. The 188th flew 1,850 combat sorties and racked up 7,625 combat flight hours, both of which also set new unit deployment marks.

"Our performance in OEF is a testament to those who maintain the equipment and provide the training here at the 188th," Smutnick said.

That included the countless homestation close-air support training missions conducted by the wing's pilots at the 188th's Detachment 1 Razorback Range. This training featured unit-owned datalink system vests utilized by Special Forces Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) to communicate coordinates to the 188th's A-10s for use in close-air support combat training scenarios. The 188th trains its own pilots and JTACs around the world on the use of this system.

Smutnick credited those battle simulations for the wing's overwhelming success rate at Bagram.

"I feel I can safely speak for the entire 184th Fighter Squadron when I say that if it weren't for the selfless dedication and tireless efforts of Maj. Simpson and the spin-up training and asset integration that he has fostered and integrated here at the 188th that we would, without a doubt, not have performed at such an exemplary level as was demonstrated in this last deployment," Smutnick said.

Smutnick added that while homestation battle drills are paramount, it's also a pilot's ability to compartmentalize that's critical to success in real-world combat missions. That pinpoint focus resulted in zero civilian casualties, fratricide or border crossing incidents, any of which could have major strategic consequences.

"I think what's most important is affecting the battlefield to minimize friendly losses," Smutnick said. "It's faith in our systems, abilities and processes developed during full-scale training and exercises that plays a significant role in our ability to set aside the fears of doubt, loss of one's life, and failure that would otherwise cripple an ill prepared and ill equipped warrior