Airman of the Year saved earthquake victims, recovered remains in Nepal

For Staff Sgt. Clifford “Dylan” Crawford, the massive earthquake and aftershocks that struck Nepal last year resulted in “the pararescue mission of the century.”

Crawford, a pararescueman from the 31st Rescue Squadron at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, is the 2016 Air Force Times Airman of the Year.

He was in the middle of training exercises in the Philippines when the first 7.8-magnitude quake struck near Nepal’s Ghorka district on April 25, 2015. He said he was one of five airmen who immediately volunteered to go help. As the airmen were driving to the airfield to board two Ospreys, they got word that another major aftershock had hit.