11 Airmen Survived 2006 Confrontation In Sudan -- Air Force TimesTrapped in Sudan: 11 airmen in an HC-130 ‘taxi’ run. 150 Sudanese soldiers with weapons. It added up to trouble.
One senior airman threw his weight against the door of the HC-130 King as 150 armed Sudanese soldiers surrounded the search-and-rescue plane. He and the 16 other crew members had their orders from the State Department — “If someone comes on the plane, shoot ’em.”
What started out as “taxi duty” to pick up a U.S. military liaison in the Darfur region was now stretching into a five-hour confrontation between the Americans and the Sudanese. The soldiers were convinced the airmen were at the airfield to collect evidence of war crimes, not fly a husband back to his pregnant wife.
The classified Air Force mission nearly cost the 11 airmen and six Guam National Guardsmen their lives and could have launched the U.S. into another armed conflict if they hadn’t kept their cool.
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My Comment: These Air Force personnel definitely deserve the medals and recognition for how they overcame the obstacles and pressures that were put on them during this mission. A fascinating story in which everything could have gone all wrong very quickly.
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