The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat “V” to Captain Yonel Jose Dorelis, United States Air Force, for heroism while participating in aerial flight as Mission Copilot, 66th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, near Paktia Province, Afghanistan, on 3 March 2002. On that date, Captain Dorelis launched for a combat rescue mission from alert status at a forward area rearming and refueling point, his skill and systems knowledge were instrumental in getting the aircraft airborne in 8 minutes from a 30-minute alert posture. Prior to launching, Captain Dorelis had already planned routing through enemy held territory in the extremely mountainous terrain of eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. Once launched, he navigated the flight of two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters at less than 100 feet above ground level with only starlight for illumination, using night vision goggles and the aircraft’s forward looking infrared system. Captain Dorelis instantly re-directed the flight’s path when realized they received anti-aircraft artillery fire. His ability to quickly and accurately pass this information enabled the formation to proceed directly to the landing zone with no gap in close air support coverage of troops in contact on the ground. As the aircraft came under attack by enemy mortars, small arms fire, and rocket-propelled grenades in the tight, high altitude landing zone, his calm demeanor and visual scan for threats facilitated the aircraft commander’s calls for fire. His crew coordination calls were critical to getting the aircraft out of the landing zone at maximum available power and near maximum gross weight. Captain Dorelis had incredible situational and threat awareness as Gecko 11 entered a cover pattern over Gecko 12, who was still in the landing zone. Upon departure, he accurately navigated the flight back through enemy territory to return three wounded troops to surgical care, resulting in three lives saved. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Captain Dorelis reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.