Citation to Accompany the award ofThe Air Force Cross
to

Dustin H. Temple

Senior Airman Dustin H. Temple distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy of the United States in Helmand Province, Afghanistan from 27 to 29 September 2014, while attached to a U.S. Special Forces team, Airman Temple displayed extraordinary bravery and complete disregard for his own life as he and his teammates assaulted an insurgent safe haven. As overwhelming hostile fire continually suppressed his team and following a teammate being gravely wounded by a sniper, Airman Temple put himself in a direct line of fire to drag the wounded teammate off a rooftop and across one hundred meters of open terrain. After he returned to the compound, enemy fighters surged within 40 meters, Airman Temple immediately directed F-16s into danger close strafing runs, killing 1 insurgent and repelling the assault. As supplies dwindled, he braved open terrain again to retrieve critical ammunition from a resupply helicopter. Against continuous machine gun fire he called in F-16 close fire support so that he and his team could retrieve supplies, exposing themselves to the enemy in open terrain three times. At the end of the 48-hour engagement, he controlled 28