Army's elite flyers decorated for service in Afghanistan

SAVANNAH - Flying at treetop level under cover of darkness in the frigid altitudes of the Afghanistan mountains, the Night Stalkers&#39; job was to drop U.S. Special Forces troops behind enemy lines and bring them back alive - often under fire from al-Qaida fighters on the ground. <br> <br> At Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, the Army pinned Bronze Stars for valor and other medals Saturday on 96 soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. They&#39;re also known as the Night Stalkers, the Army&#39;s elite helicopter unit. <br> <br> Their missions in Afghanistan included flying teams of soldiers assigned to capture or kill upper-level al-Qaida operatives and to rescue Army Rangers locked in an 18-hour fire fight in the mountains during Operation Anaconda, said Lt. Col. Robert Welch, the battalion commander. <br> <br> Flying 100 feet above the ground in mountains 12,000 feet high pushed the soldiers&#39; skills and their MH-47 Chinook helicopters to the limit, Welch said. <br> <br> ``You&#39;re talking about not even being able land the aircraft up in the mountains, but only being able to put one wheel on a precipice or a rock, in the dark with night-vision goggles on,&#39;&#39; Welch said. ``That&#39;s how they earned these medals.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Formed in response to the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, the Night Stalkers have only recently begun to emerge from a shroud of secrecy. The recent movie ``Black Hawk Down&#39;&#39; raised their public profile, as has the military&#39;s increased reliance on Special Forces troops in conflicts such as Afghanistan. <br> <br> But members of the 160th, who refer to themselves as ``quiet professionals,&#39;&#39; aren&#39;t used to talking publicly. Soldiers decorated Saturday declined to discuss details of their missions. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re not out to be in the limelight,&#39;&#39; said Sgt. 1st Class Lazaro Farray, a flight engineer awarded three Air Medals, including one for valor for flying under enemy fire. ``We prefer to go out quietly, do our job and come home.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Staff Sgt. Christopher Marshall, a medic, was awarded the Air Medal for valor and a Combat Medic Badge for treating wounded soldiers aboard a Chinook as they were airlifted from battle. <br> <br> Staff Sgt. Steven Campbell, who maintains armaments aboard the helicopters, found himself behind a Chinook&#39;s machine gun returning fire at al-Qaida fighters who launched a surprise attack from the ground. <br> <br> ``You get to a point where you&#39;re not really thinking and there&#39;s not much emotion involved,&#39;&#39; said Campbell, who won the Air Medal for valor. ``What your crew&#39;s doing and what you&#39;re supposed to be doing is foremost in mind. When you get back on the ground, then you start thinking about what happened.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The 3rd Battalion returned home in October after a nine-month deployment. If President Bush orders an attack on Iraq, it&#39;s likely some elements of the 160th, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., would be called back overseas. <br> <br> Campbell said he&#39;s keeping an eye on the news for developments in the U.S.-Iraq standoff. ``I don&#39;t dwell on it,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> The Night Stalkers have been involved in every major U.S. military operation from Grenada to Afghanistan, and their readiness is never a question, said Brig. Gen. Howard W. Yellen, deputy commander of Army Special Operations Command. <br> <br> ``These guys are a very unique group of individuals,&#39;&#39; Yellen said. ``We go out and specially recruit, assess and select and then train these individuals. We ask them to give a little bit more than their contemporaries.&#39;&#39;

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