The Air Force has named the top air commandos for 2006. They are:
• Special Tactics Officer of the Year—Capt. Stewart Parker, 21st Special Tactics Squadron. Parker led a team of 15 combat controllers who killed 248 enemy combatants in Afghanistan and Iraq. Working alongside Special Forces, Parker braved gunfire to direct a helicopter in to pick up a wounded soldier.
• Combat Control Senior NCO of the Year—MSgt. Anthony Baldwin, 720th Operations Support Squadron. Baldwin served as current operations superintendent with the 24th STS, leading support for 1,400 missions and, while deployed to Afghanistan, another 16 missions in which 51 enemy forces were captured and 17 killed.
• Combat Control NCO of the Year—TSgt. Richard Jaillet, 24th STS. Jaillet served as sole combat controller with a Special Forces team, conducting more than 120 missions, personally killing 50 enemy forces in Iraq. During one mission, he fought back several enemy forces, while calling in airstrikes.
• Combat Control Airman of the Year—SrA. Daniel Adams, 321st STS. Adams served as the primary joint terminal attack controller with a Special Forces team, calling in multiple close air support strikes during one firefight that saved his teammates and conducting hundreds of combat patrols in Afghanistan.