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Air Force Cross Recipient

SrA Alaxey Germanovich

Freedom's Sentinel

April 8, 2017
Nangarhar, Afghanistan

The President of the United States of America awards the Air Force Cross to United States Air Force Senior Airman Alaxey Germanovich for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy of the United States as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller, Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component-Afghanistan, on 8 April 2017.


On that date, Airman Germanovich and his Special Forces team accompanied Afghan Special Operations Forces to seize key terrain in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. For 17 consecutive days, the American and Afghan forces were consistently engaged in close combat with enemy forces. He commanded numerous danger close airstrikes, directly engaged the enemy, and orchestrated medical evacuations. 


On the morning of 8 April 2017, Airman Germanovich and his team came under intense machine gun and sniper fire. A ferocious firefight ensued, enveloping friendly forces with countless enemy fighting positions as insurgents continued to reinforce from all sides of the valley.


Without hesitation, he deliberately placed himself in grave danger by sprinting toward his isolated teammates, traversing 70 meters of open terrain and a fusillade of machine gun fire. He directed multiple strafing runs, with 500-pound and 2,000-pound bomb strikes as close as 90 meters from his position. As his team member was mortally wounded, Airman Germanovich placed himself between the attacking enemy and the pinned down friendly forces, protecting them with his body and employing his own suppressive fires.


As they expended all their ammunition and drew their pistols to suppress the advancing enemy, Airman Germanovich directed close air support as close as 20 meters from his position, neutralizing the enemy. Finally, he coordinated medical evacuation helicopters to extract the wounded and helped carry a Soldier 700 meters uphill to the landing zone as he continued to call for close air support.


During eight hours of intense enemy attack and complete disregard for his personal safety, Airman Germanovich's actions directly resulted in the protection of over 150 friendly forces and the lethal engagement of 11 separate fighting positions.


Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of the enemy, Airman Germanovich reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

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