FAIRFIELD, Calif.– A Clearfield native serving as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force was one of 24 airmen awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Staff Sgt. Courtney Smith was recognized during a special ceremony Dec. 9 at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif. She was a member of the Flight Moose 98 Critical Care Transport Team.
The team was tasked with the transport of wounded servicemen and civilians who were suicide-bombing victims from Kabul, Afghanistan to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
Moose 98 was the first aircraft to land at the Kabul airfield following the suicide-bombing that happened on Aug. 26, 2021, according to information provided by Smith’s family.
The crew successfully loaded and treated numerous critically-wounded service members, foreign nationalists and pediatric patients and safely evacuated them to Germany.
Smith was a 2013 graduate of the Clearfield Area High School and joined the U.S. Air Force in January of 2014.
She continues to serve as a medic on an air evacuation team stationed at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. She is the daughter of David and Andrea Smith of Clearfield.
The award ceremony can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube: “Distinguished Flying Cross Ceremony – Travis AFB 9 Dec. 22.”
