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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited >1 y ago
Thank you my friend COL Charles Williams for sharing the great news that U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Mike “MOB” Tremel, left, received the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down a Syrian jet in 2017 — the first air-to-air kill for the U.S. military in 18 years. The award was presented by the head of naval aviation, Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller III.

Kudos to Lt. Cmdr. Mike “MOB” Tremel.

Background from the article you posted.
"The F-18 Super Hornet pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Mike “MOB” Tremel, shot down a Syrian government warplane after it attacked Washington-backed fighters near ISIS’ de facto capital of Raqqa in June 2017, as Fox News previously reported.
Tremel is a graduate of the Navy’s premier fighter weapons school — known as “Top Gun” — and a 2004 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

His F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Su-22 that had dropped bombs near positions held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The U.S.-led coalition aircraft had “conducted a show of force” to turn back an attack by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s forces on the SDF in the town of Ja’Din, south of Tabqah.
The medal is awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement during aerial flights, as Military.com has reported. “It was an absolute team effort,” said Tremel, noting his valor wasn’t solo.
“Our whole mission out there was to defeat (the Islamic State group), annihilate ISIS,” he said. “At any point in time, if this had deescalated, that would have been great. We would have gotten mission success and (gone) back to continue to drop bombs on ISIS.”
The award was presented by the head of naval aviation, Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller III, at the Tailhook Association’s annual convention at the Nugget Casino Resort in Nevada over the weekend. "

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Cpl Jeff N.
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Wow, shooting down a single Syrian jet gets you a DFC these days. It was a SU22, a 1970's former Soviet aircraft. It sounds like a good shoot but a DFC for downing a single 1970's era Syrian jet with an F-18 Super Hornet.
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PO2 Kevin Parker
PO2 Kevin Parker
>1 y
He shot it down because he couldn't persuade the jet to depart the area. Only shot it down after it dropped it's payload. Which is what should be done. Maybe they should have shot it down before it dropped it's bombs? Rules of engagement suck in the air as they do on the ground. What would you expect us to shoot the plane down with? Should we have pulled in F-14 Tomcat out of mothballs to shoot it down? It was a 70's era plane!
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SN Greg Wright
SN Greg Wright
>1 y
PO2 Kevin Parker - Good luck with that. They destroyed them all so that Iran couldn't get parts. Crying shame if you ask me.
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PO2 Kevin Parker
PO2 Kevin Parker
>1 y
They didn't destroy all of them. Mostly the D model. Here is a link (Google Maps) to Davis Monthan Air Force Base Bone Yard. In the lower left quadrant you'll see F-14's. https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1655402, [login to see] ,2051m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
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Cpl Jeff N.
Cpl Jeff N.
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PO2 Kevin Parker - Kevin, the point of my comment was getting a DFC for shooting down a single aircraft, especially one of that age, might be a bit much.
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LTC Stephen C.
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Great story, COL Charles Williams!
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