Captain Scott Markle

Captain Markle's Mackay
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This year's recipient, Air Force Captain Scott Markle, e-mailed Air & Space recently about the events that earned him the honor.He wrote from Lakenheath Air Force Base, England, where the 81st Fighter Squadron is stationed temporarily while the runway is being repaired at his home base, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
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The enemy was too close to the special forces team for the pilots to use their weapons, so Markle made several low passes.Each time the A-10 passed overhead, the Taliban stopped firing, and the special forces team pulled back until they were 100 feet away from the enemy.At that point, Markle was authorized to use his 30-millimeter gun, which provided the team enough cover to draw back even farther.Markle was authorized to drop his 500-pound bombs, but initially resisted because of the proximity of the team-the bomb burst can reach 1,300 feet.

Capt. Scott Markle, a fighter pilot assigned to the 81st Fighter Squadron, poses by an A-10 at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.Last month, Markle was awarded the Mackay Trophy for the "most meritorious flight of the year" when he engaged a group of Taliban fighters battling a Special Forces team on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Purchase reprint

Of the 60 flights Air Force Capt. Scott Markle made in Afghanistan during 2006, only one got delayed.

Mechanics quickly fixed the glitch responsible for the setback.It ultimately allowed Markle and his wingman, Capt. David Kirkendall, to answer an urgent call from Special Forces soldiers near the Pakistani border that day in late June.
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"Everything happens for a reason," said Markle, 31."If it wasn't for that problem, we would have been back by Kandahar and not had enough gas to get to these guys.It just worked out."

The mission earned Markle the prestigious Mackay Trophy, which was presented to him at a ceremony in Washington last month.

The Air Force and National Aeronautic Association present the award to airmen or an organization involved in the "most meritorious flight of the year."The trophy was first awarded in 1911 and is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The ceremony, at which astronauts, distinguished servicemembers and world-famous aviators also were recognized "was quite the event," Markle said.

"My story was nothing compared to some of these stories I heard from Vietnam and the Medal of Honor winners," said Markle, who attended the event with his mom and dad, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

Although he jokingly asked, Markle can't keep the trophy.In fact, he can't even pick it up.

The trophy is worth more than $1 million and is "taller than me. ...It looks like the Stanley Cup," said Markle, whose mother insisted on getting a picture of him in front of it at the museum.

But for Markle, what was most rewarding came just after his now-celebrated mission in Afghanistan, when he met up with the Special Forces soldiers who thanked him for the air support he provided that day.

"The best part was meeting up with the SF guys [after the mission] and talking to them and them thanking me," he said."It's amazing; I'm flying around in my armored plane nice and safe, and they thank me."

After Markle began releasing self-protection flares at 300 feet, the sky lit up with a firework-like glow and filled with red smoke.It gave the 15 guys on the ground, some of them injured, a distraction to distance themselves from the 100 or so Taliban forces.

"They had kind of walked into a hornet's nest," said Markle, who quickly got orders to deploy weapons.

"We were flying so low I could see these [soldiers] getting shot, I saw [rocket-propelled grenades] and machine-gun fire," Markle said."I was just waiting for that call."

Usually, Taliban will retreat after air support arrives, "but these guys weren't giving up," he said.

And neither was he.

On the radio with the troops on the ground, Markle was able to take out several enemy machine-gun nests, shooting 1,000 rounds and dropping two 500-pound airburst bombs with the help of his wingman.About 40 Taliban were killed in the fight.

Captain Markle's Mackay
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This year's recipient, Air Force Captain Scott Markle, e-mailed Air & Space recently about the events that earned him the honor.He wrote from Lakenheath Air Force Base, England, where the 81st Fighter Squadron is stationed temporarily while the runway is being repaired at his home base, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
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The enemy was too close to the special forces team for the pilots to use their weapons, so Markle made several low passes.Each time the A-10 passed overhead, the Taliban stopped firing, and the special forces team pulled back until they were 100 feet away from the enemy.At that point, Markle was authorized to use his 30-millimeter gun, which provided the team enough cover to draw back even farther.Markle was authorized to drop his 500-pound bombs, but initially resisted because of the proximity of the team-the bomb burst can reach 1,300 feet.

His name was Scott Markle.You would never know beneath his shy smile that there was a hero inside.

Scott was always good at tackling difficult tasks and figuring out how to do things.His father was a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, so Scott grew up with flying in his blood.The teenagers practiced flying with video games and occasionally in a real flight simulator.Many times I heard Kevin say, "Scott has the most amazing hand/eye coordination.Someday he is going to do something special with his talents."And he did.

NBCF Network

One day Kevin and Scott swung our front door open carrying a package.They tore into the rectangular box marked, "Internet in a Box".My husband, Neal, and I knew nothing about computers, so Kevin and Scott trained us how to operate a computer and move around on the internet.That was the first NBCF computer.A network of computers followed in later years.

Heroism in Action

Kevin kept in touch with his buddy, Scott, over the years, so we tracked his life.As he joined the Air Force and matured with his skills and character, a hero was born.He is now a decorated 30-year old war hero.You can read from the link below about how Scott rescued 15 members of U.S. special forces who were surrounded by the Taliban in Afghanistan.The U.S. fighters were combating 40 Taliban fighters on the ground and in the air.The odds were against them and no aircraft could fire on the Taliban without possibly killing the U.S. soldiers.That's when Scott made several low-flying passes directly into the line of fire of the Taliban causing them to retreat several times until they fled.

Another Rescue Mission

On another similar mission, U.S. soldiers were under heavy attack by the Taliban.Scott told Kevin about one of the soldiers who spent hours behind a rock in a creek, waiting to be rescued.The Taliban repeatedly shot at him, chipping away at the rock until all that was left was a small jagged edge.He was lying flat on his back in a pool of water with nothing but his nose above the water.He was terrified and unable to see anything from under the water.When he heard the screams of elation from his fellow soldiers, the man burst out of the water in disbelief.Scott 's fierce air attack on the enemy had saved the lives of another group of soldiers.

Scott is an ordinary young man who moved with opportunity into extraordinary circumstances and did not let anything in life stop him, even fear.That's how heroes are born.He has been awarded two of the highest military awards given for heroism.

Duncan J. McNabb presented Capt. Scott Markle the Clarence Mackay Trophy during a ceremony Oct. 29 in Arlington, Va. Air Force and National Aeronautic Association officials present the award to Airmen or an organization involved in the most meritorious flight of the year.
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Captain Markle is an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot from the 81st Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

Capt. Scott Markle received the Clarence Mackay Trophy during a ceremony in Arlington, Va., Oct. 29 for his actions while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom last year.

Captain Markle, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot from the 81st Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, directly engaged a group of Taliban fighters June 16, 2006, who were in combat with a 15-person special forces team.

"The presentation of this award to Captain Scott Markle underscores the very essence of what we believe about air power and the vital role America's Air Force plays in our nation's defense," said Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen.Duncan J. McNabb, who presented the trophy to Captain Markle.
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Captain Markle was leading a two-ship flight to support a mission in southern Afghanistan when his flight was re-tasked on takeoff to support special forces troops along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in contact with Taliban forces.

When he arrived just before dawn, heavy gunfire and tracers were going in many directions and visibility made it difficult to find the team's location.Captain Markle, unable to employ weapons due to the enemy's close proximity to the team, flew a dangerously low pass over the area while releasing self-protection flares.

The flares momentarily halted enemy fire, which was noted by the ground controller.The controller requested a few more close passes from Captain Markle that gave the special forces team time to create more distance between themselves and the Taliban.This also allowed Captain Markle to strafe the enemy area with more than 1,000 30 millimeter rounds on his final pass.

The special forces team was able to escape with no casualties.Captain Markle was credited with destroying three machine gun nests and killing 40 enemy combatants.

"I am humbled to have my name added to the list of trophy winners, which includes some of the greatest aviators of all time," Captain Markle said at the ceremony.
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"While we celebrate Captain Markle's incredible achievements tonight, he is not alone," General McNabb said.