Pedro Barrientes Jr., a Mercedes, TX native, was a member of one of three U-28 Draco crews tasked with de-escalation and deterrence efforts during the evacuation of roughly 2,000 Americans, days after the Afghani government collapse in August of 2021. 

In the early morning hours on August 16, 2021, Pedro and his crew accented and began to fly directly for the Kabul International Airport. Upon arrival, the team found the airfield below littered with abandoned burning vehicles, debris, destruction, and thousands of Afghani nationals attempting to escape the county that would soon fall to Taliban forces. The crew worked tirelessly to maintain oversight and provide security and vital information for ground forces below, until they reached critically low fuel levels. “All the people pouring into the airfield looked like a giant black blob taking over empty space,” said Barrientes. “We knew we’d have to land soon or we wouldn’t have a [functioning] runway.” Another Draco crew on the ground, prepared to relieve them, were forced to abort their taxi and takeoff as a mob swarmed their airframe.

They chose to shut the propeller down to avoid critically injuring civilians. Pedro and his crew opted to say in the air, despite having dangerously low fuel levels, to help allied forces form a new perimeter around the military side of the airport. “Everyone went into problem solving mode. There was that feeling when your heart sinks for a moment, but then we sprang into action,” said Barrientes. The crew’s emergency fuel levels forced them to navigate an incredibly steep landing in a small opening on the runway cleared by ground forces. As they crew attempted to taxi the plane to the hangar, they noticed a swarm of people running towards the aircraft. They quickly put the plane in park an turned off the propeller to avoid injuring any civilians. “There was this giant mass of people coming from every direction; the crowd was so dense you couldn’t even tell it was people,” said Barrientes. “They all wanted to get on this plane and get out of there.” The crew barricaded the doors and shortly after a group of trucks surrounded the aircraft and used flash grenades to push the mob back, which created a hole for the crew to take up arms and escape on foot. Friendly forces immediately recovered the aircraft and the hangar after escorting the crew to safety. After nearly 24 hours of continuous flying, the mission of the Draco crew was complete. 

Two years later, on Friday November 17, 2023, those members received the nation’s highest honor for aerial achievement – the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor. Colonel Allison Black, 1st Special Operations Wing Commander, presided over the ceremony at Hurlburt Field. “They were ready to execute, they were ready to save lives, and they were ready to answer the nation’s call,” Black said. “For its entire existence, the U-28 community has lived in the shadows of recognition, but today there are no shadows.” 

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