[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17141]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING LIEUTENANT COLONEL KARL INGEMAN AND STAFF SERGEANT JEFFERY 
                                SALAZAR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF DENHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2012

  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lieutenant Colonel 
Karl Ingeman and Staff Sergeant Jeffery Salazar, who have distinguished 
themselves in their service to our country and who have been honored 
along with 18 other airmen in the 2012 volume of Portraits in Courage. 
These two Airmen, natives of Modesto, California, are exemplars of the 
courage, daring and professionalism of an Air Force that has been at 
war for over a decade.
  Colonel Karl Ingeman was selected to be included in the volume after 
his heroic action over Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn on the night 
of March 21, 2011. At this time Colonel Ingeman was leading a two-ship 
formation of F-16's on a mission to protect the civilian population of 
Benghazi from the depredations of Kaddafi's forces. The mission rapidly 
changed however when Colonel Ingeman heard the mayday call of an F-15E 
pilot and his weapons systems officer who had been forced to eject when 
their plane suffered a malfunction.
  Colonel Ingeman swiftly flew across hostile territory to the site of 
the crash where he coordinated the retrieval of the downed pilots. As 
enemy forces raced to capture the downed airmen, Colonel Ingeman twice 
flew low into the range of Kaddafi's surface-to-air missiles, this show 
of force caused the enemy to retreat and allowed Colonel Ingeman to 
identify the location of the crash site for the rescue team.
  Also honored in the same volume was Staff Sergeant Jeffery Salazar, a 
joint terminal attack controller who had the critical and dangerous job 
of coordinating close air support for an Army Special Forces team in 
the Konar Province of Afghanistan from January to July 2011.
  On one particular operation Sergeant Salazar's team was split into 
two elements to conduct a patrol. The patrol was quickly engaged by 
Taliban fighters who attacked the element which had split from Sergeant 
Salazaro. When Sergeant Salazar and his element moved to support their 
comrades they in turn began to receive small arms fire from four 
Taliban fighters. Sergeant Salazar swiftly eliminated two of the 
Taliban fighters and engaged a third who managed to injure Sergeant 
Salazar with a hand grenade before he was killed.
  Despite the fragmentation wounds he sustained to his knees, Sergeant 
Salazar continued to coordinate air support from two F-16's and advance 
towards the other element which had been hit by an IED during the 
course of the four-hour engagement in order to provide medical support.
  In this operation and in the many others Sergeant Salazar proved his 
valor and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I could not be prouder as an American or an Air Force 
veteran to honor Colonel Ingeman and Sergeant Salazar in particular and 
all our servicemen and women who defend this country every day.

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