C-17 crew wins Mackay Trophy
Lt. Col. Shane Hershman, 7th Airlift Squadron; Maj. Bob Colvin, 8th AS; 1st Lt. Matt Clausen, 4th AS; Master Sgt. Shawn Brumfield, 62nd Operations Group; and Master Sgt. Chris Dockery, 7th AS, were the aircrew for Vijay 10, the lead C-17 Globemaster III on the March 26, 2003, airdrop over Northern Iraq. The NAA, along with the Air Force, announced March 26 the award of the trophy to the crew for their heroic service in the war in Iraq.
The award is presented annually for the most meritorious flight of the year and for gallantry, intrepidity, unusual initiative and resourcefulness, and achievement of outstanding results with unusual presence of mind in either combat or non-combat conditions.
The initial airdrop of 1,000 soldiers occurred over Bashur, Iraq. It opened the northern front to combat operations and constituted the largest formation airdrop since D-Day in World War II. The Air Force termed the mission the most demanding C-17 mission in the aircraft's history, and it marked the first time personnel were dropped from the C-17 in combat.
After the initial insertion, Vijay 10 crew members, along with active and Reserve crews from Charleston AFB, S.C., and McChord, conducted four more nights of missions to deploy the rest of the 173rd and the Combat Readiness Group, helping establish the coalition forces' second military front in Iraq.
For their distinguished service in combat, NAA will present the five members of Vijay 10 with the Mackay Trophy at the association's Fall Awards Banquet later this year. The Mackay Trophy was first awarded in 1911; the original trophy is on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
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