Gallantry in combat

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE - Cody Smith had been in the audience at numerous awards ceremonies, hoping he could live up to the examples of those with whom he'd served.

"Coming through the training pipeline, they were people I looked up to and wanted to emulate because of their ability to be proficient and support their team in the manner they did," Smith said.

Now he's one of them. Smith was honored Friday with the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for gallantry in combat against an armed enemy. The ceremony featured about 500 military personnel and civilians including his Iowa family and the family he's started in Clovis.

Smith, a tech sergeant serving in the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, is believed to be the first person to receive a Silver Star while stationed at Cannon Air Force Base. He was honored for his actions in a firefight that occurred Oct. 14, 2018, in Afghanistan.

The Army Special Forces team Smith was assigned to was making its way back to camp following about two weeks in the field, reached a series of serpentine-style blockades lined with improvised explosive devices and soon found it was the focus of an ambush that was 600 strong.

That, Col. Matt Allen said, was when history tapped Smith on the shoulder. Allen is the commander of the 24th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, which commands the 26th STS at Cannon.

"I'm struck on a day like today that we get to honor something that's truly exceptional," Allen said. "Many of us in uniform have been called heroes by our families, by our spouses, by our kids, by our hometowns. But the truth of it is that not everyone who puts on the uniform gets to conduct heroic actions. Among us, there are people who step up to do truly heroic things, people who have been called upon by history to accomplish extraordinary actions. People like Cody Smith."

Smith was functioning as a joint terminal attack controller that day, meaning he was on the ground directing strikes from F-16 and AH-64 Apache units. The units delivered 11 air-to-ground engagements, some as close as 50 meters to Smith.

During the mission, Smith took a round to his armor and was briefly knocked out and concussed by a mortar fire two meters away. He refused medical treatment while he continued to control the airstrikes. Once the ambush was neutralized, Smith remained with the team for a 14-hour movement back to friendly lines.

"Your actions that day," Allen told Smith, "embodied the best of Special Tactics, the best of AFSOC, the best of the Air Force."

Smith did not speak during the ceremony, but participated in a conference call Wednesday with various media outlets. He said he deserved the honors no more than anybody else serving with him that day, and that he was motivated by the fact that everybody was relying on him just as much as he was relying on them.

"What drove me during that scenario and during this event was the reliance of my teammates and the force at large," Smith said. "We needed to work as a team, and that required everyone. There was no one there that could step in as the JTAC, my specific role."

Smith was joined at the ceremony by those men who delivered the ground strikes, and the hangar hosting Smith's ceremony featured four of the F-16s from the 114th Fighter Wing of the South Dakota Air National Guard.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, commander of AFSOC, spoke of the history of combat controllers dating back to President John F. Kennedy approving an increase in military aid to Laos. The combat controllers often worked deep in enemy territory without armor or fighting power as they identified targets.

"From the pathfinders of World War II to our modern-day combat control teams," Slife said, "our nation sends the men who wear the red beret undetected behind enemy lines with only a small contingent of forces and minimal gear. You work and live in close proximity to a larger enemy force and your lifelines are sometimes hours away."

Slife said from start to finish, it takes more than two years to prepare somebody for the role of a combat controller, with numerous mentors to refine the skills for "functioning as the conduit to fuse ground and air power, providing an advantage for our missions."

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Special Tactics airmen have received one Medal of Honor, 11 Air Force Crosses and 49 Silver Star medals.

The event finished with Smith and hundreds of military personnel performing memorial push-ups for those who didn't come home from their missions.

Smith, who has also been honored as the Air Force Times' 2019 Airman of the Year, said he was just focused on doing his job and the biggest reward was knowing people came home safe. He credited his teammates with the 26th who challenge him to be a better airman and person, and the support he's received from his eastern New Mexico friends and neighbors.

"In the moment, nothing truly feels heroic," Smith said. "Nothing feels spectacular. To this day, I don't feel like I did anything more than my job."