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  • image of Staff Sergeant Alaxey Germanovich

    Special Tactics Airman to be awarded the Air Force Cross

     Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett will be presenting the Air Force Cross to a Special Tactics Airman during a ceremony at 11:30 a.m. MST at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, Dec.10, 2020. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Alaxey Germanovich, an ST combat controller with the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, will be awarded the nation’s second highest medal for gallantry against an armed enemy of the U.S. in combat.
  • U.S. Airmen participate in the memorial pushups during the Joint Base San Antonio Annex renaming ceremony, March 4, 2020.

    Special Tactics MOH recipient honored with Annex renaming

    The Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Medina Training Annex was renamed the Chapman Training Annex in honor of Special Tactics combat controller Master Sgt. John A. Chapman March 4, 2020. The ceremony, held on the 18th anniversary of his death, was attended by family, friends and fellow Airmen. In August 2018, Chapman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor nation’s highest honor for his selfless actions in Afghanistan during the Battle of Takur Ghar on March 4, 2002 in support of Operation ANACONDA.
  • Pennsylvania Senator Elder Vogel Jr. and his staff unveil the newly named “USAF Combat Controller Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin Memorial Bridge” at a ceremony in Rochester, Pa. Feb 29, 2020. The bridge honors the service of Special Tactics combat controller Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin who was killed in action alongside two U.S. Army Special Forces members when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018.

    Fallen Special Tactics Airman honored with hometown bridge dedication

    Family, teammates and local community members commemorated the life and legacy of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, with a bridge dedication at the Veterans of Foreign War Post 128, Rochester, Pennsylvania, Feb. 29, 2020.
  • Family members and teammates of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin pose in front of the #43 Coca-Cola Chevy, which bares Elchin’s name on the windshield, before the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Miles of Remembrance race on May 26, 2019, Concord, North Carolina. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, was killed in action when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018, while deployed in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rachel Yates)

    NASCAR honors fallen Special Tactics Airman

    Family members and teammates of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin attend the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Miles of Remembrance race on May 26, 2019, Concord, North Carolina. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, was killed in action when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018, while deployed in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Special Tactics operators are U.S. Special Operations Command’s tactical air-to-ground integration force and the Air Force’s special operations ground force leading global access, precision strike, personnel recovery, and battlefield surgery operations.
  • Special Tactics Airmen carry 20 batons during a memorial march to Hurlburt Field, Fla., Oct. 13, 2015. The team of 20 Special Tactics Airmen started at 2 a.m. on Oct. 4, from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and marched 812 miles through five states to meet with the gold star families and end the memorial march with a ceremony on Hurlburt Field. Each two-man team walked approximately 90 miles during the 10-day trek while carrying a 50-pound ruck sack and a commemorative baton engraved with a fallen Special Tactics Airman's name. The memorial march is only held when a Special Tactics operator is killed in action that year, but honors all 19 Special Tactics pararescuemen and combat controllers who have been killed in action since 2001. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Kai White/Released)

    U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen plan 830-mile ruck in honor of fallen

    Twenty Special Tactics Airmen will ruck from Medina Annex at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas to Hurlburt Field to pay tribute to Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller, who was killed in Afghanistan on Nov. 27, 2018, and in honor of the other 19 Special Tactics Airmen who have been killed in action since 9/11.
  • Elchin, along with U.S. Army Capt. Andrew Ross and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Emond, were killed in action when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018, while deployed in support of OPERATION Freedom’s Sentinel. U.S. Army Sgt. Jason McClary died later as a result of injuries sustained from the IED.

    ‘Til Valhalla’: Special Tactics combat controller laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

    Known for his grit, loyalty, unwavering character, and the author of quick-witted military cadences, often referred to as “jodies,” Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin was tough, dedicated, and easy going—often making light of difficult situations. He was a good teammate, a selfless friend and a true patriot who expressed a willingness to lay down his life for what he believed in—God and country. Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, was honored as hundreds gathered in the rain and he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, Jan. 24, 2019.
  • Staff Sgt. Jorge A. Hernandez, 26, a Special Tactics combat controller with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, died in an off duty incident in Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 1, 2019.

    Special Tactics Airman killed in off duty incident

    Staff Sgt. Jorge A. Hernandez, 26, a Special Tactics combat controller with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, died in an off duty incident in Nashville, Tennessee, Tuesday. The incident is currently under investigation.
  • U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin, a Special Tactics combat controller with the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, was killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018.

    Special Tactics Airman killed in action in Afghanistan

    A Special Tactics Airman was killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2018. Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin, 25, a Special Tactics combat controller with the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, was deployed in support of OPERATION Freedom’s Sentinel.
  • U.S. Air Force Col. Spence Cocanour, vice commander of the 24th Special Operations Wing, speaks during the U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. John A. Chapman Medal of Honor memorial unveiling ceremony on Oct. 27, 2018, at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

    CSAF, family unveil recent MOH recipient's name on Special Tactics Memorial

    Sunlight shed for the first time on a well-known, but newly-engraved name under the recently installed Medal of Honor recipient display at the Special Tactics Memorial in the airpark Oct. 27. Hundreds of Air Commandos, family members and distinguished visitors gathered at the airpark to watch as U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. John Chapman’s family, along with Air Force and 24th Special Operations Wing leadership, unveil the newest addition to the MOH-recipient display, “Tech. Sgt. John Chapman” permanently inscribed within. Chapman was a Special Tactics combat controller who paid the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his teammates, according to his MOH citation.
  • Airmen, family and friends attend Chief Master Sgt. Michael West’s retirement ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Oct. 19, 2018.

    30-year ST ‘giant’ dons beret one last time

    As a teenager, he grew up like most, listening and learning from his grandfather, an Air Force maintenance officer of 25 years. The talks shaped him and ultimately decided his future at an early age – he would join the U.S. Air Force. Thirty years later, at the finishing line of an extensive and rewarding career, Chief Master Sgt. Michael West, a Special Tactics combat controller with the 24th Special Operations Wing, is donning his scarlet beret for the last time during his retirement ceremony at the Special Tactics Training Squadron, here, Oct. 19.
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