[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4015]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO POPE AIR FORCE BASE

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I rise before you today to express my 
sincere appreciation for the men and women of a C-130 Hercules crew out 
of Pope Air Force Base, NC.
  MAJ Paul Pepe, 1LT Robert Davidson, 1LT Robert Gillis, Staff Sergeant 
Adam Monroy, Captain Kaly Godfrey, SSgt Kyle Anderson, SSgt Charles 
Jones, and CPT Jessica Kehren were responsible for transporting me and 
three of my congressional colleagues from Baghdad, Iraq, to Amman, 
Jordan, the night of August 30, 2007.
  Approximately 5 minutes into the flight, I looked out of my window 
and noticed flashes of light coming from the ground--our aircraft was 
taking on surface-to-air rocket fire. The C-130 Hercules crew 
immediately began taking evasive maneuvers to successfully defeat the 
three rockets fired at the aircraft.
  Throughout the incident, our crew remained calm and professional. I 
could not have been prouder of the way they worked together to safely 
avoid a very dangerous situation. Our warfighters face threats in Iraq 
and Afghanistan every day. While I know this type of danger was not new 
to them, the incident enhanced my already deep appreciation for the 
danger they face on a daily basis.
  For their actions, the crew was recently awarded the Air Mobility 
Command's 2007 Field of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aviator Valor 
Award. The award is given for a conspicuous act of courage or valor 
performed during aerial flight during either combat or noncombat. 
Without question, the C-130 Hercules crew is most deserving of this 
high honor.
  The training and extensive preparation that our crew undoubtedly went 
through at Pope Air Force Base has paid dividends. These men and women 
performed a stellar job without showing even the slightest bit of 
apprehension. I know my colleagues on the flight would agree; our 
military is fortunate to have this crew serving our nation in such a 
fine manner.

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