58 SOW officer receives AETC Gen. P.K. Carlton Award for valor

  • Published
  • By John Cochran
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND, N.M. --  An officer assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing has been named the 2011 Air Education and Training Command recipient of the Gen. Paul K. Carlton Award for valor.

Maj. Lee Baker, of the 550th Special Operations Squadron, volunteered for service in support of NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan, embedded as an An-32 air advisor pilot.

The Airlift/Tanker Association sponsors the award, recognizing an outstanding airlift or tanker aircrew or aircrew member for valor, based on demonstrated courage, strength, determination, bravery and fearlessness during combat, contingency or a humanitarian mission. It is named in honor of the late Gen. P.K. Carlton, who retired in 1977 as the commander of Military Airlift Command.

The award nomination highlights his achievements.

As a dual-qualified evaluator pilot at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., flying the MC-130P and HC-130P/N, Baker underwent a two-month training course at the prestigious National Flight Academy, Kirovograd, Ukraine, in preparation for his deployment to the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

While flying with his Afghan crew, Baker commanded 350 combat sorties, transporting more than 8,850 Afghan National Army soldiers and equipment en route for battle with Taliban insurgents.

During a mission, Baker found himself stranded at a remote civilian airfield near the Iranian border, when an unforeseen thunderstorm completely washed out the substandard runway surface. For the next seven days, cut off from all coalition support and host-nation security assets, Baker and his Afghan crew took refuge in a local government safe house, where he developed and executed an extensive action plan to protect his crew and himself against potential capture by insurgent forces.

When weather conditions finally improved, Baker commanded his aircraft through severely inclement weather to the nearest coalition airfield, returning his crew to friendly forces, despite the Afghan aircrew being certified for day visual conditions only and the rudimentary navigational capabilities of his Soviet-built aircraft.

Baker coordinated the first Afghan Air Force dedicated medical evacuation flight and led the inaugural mission from Kandahar, airlifting 17 severely wounded soldiers for medical treatment in Kabul.

Following a devastating insurgent attack in which nine fellow air advisors were killed, Baker developed enhanced flight security procedures that allowed the rapid reinstatement of An-32 operations, with additional security measures for passenger screening and in-flight security.

Baker initiated dozens of discreet outside-the-wire meetings alone with local Afghan ministers and government officials to discuss security and corruption issues at austere locations throughout the country. In one such meeting, while stranded overnight at an austere field, he initiated contact with the commander of the regional Afghan commando forces. Through off-site discussions with the commando teams, Baker provided key advisement to enhancing coordination during troop transport. The cumulative results of these meetings allowed a conduit for critical information flow vital to the development of a professional force.

During a mission to return a fallen soldier for burial, a local supplier refused to refuel his aircraft. Baker's quick thinking and diplomatic skills diffused the standoff, allowing the mission to continue and the body to be returned to family members in respect of cultural sensitivities.

In a separate instance, Baker diffused an escalating situation of passengers attempting to storm the back of his aircraft. By exploiting a relationship developed with the Afghan aerial port commander, he skillfully avoided a potentially deadly altercation and, in the process, identified a major corruption issue that had become endemic to port operations.

Baker was selected to qualify as third-pilot instructor for C-27 airdrop and search-and-rescue missions, making him the United States' only dual-qualified advisor pilot in Afghanistan, and he was instrumental in the development of tactical procedures for the Afghan Air Force.

He commanded the final Afghan An-32 mission, ending a more than 30-year legacy of Soviet-based fixed-wing aircraft, and advised the reassignment of more than 190 aircrew and support staff.

Baker then returned to Kirtland AFB, requalifying as evaluator in the MC-130P and HC-130P/N, and has shared his invaluable combat experience and unique perspective with all aviators at the premier special operations and personnel recovery schoolhouse.