The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander Derald Z. Skalla, United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight from 25 July through 15 September 1960 as a Project Pilot of F-3H aircraft at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland. Assigned the task of evaluating the F-3H during after burner operation in extremely adverse weather, Lieutenant Commander Skalla succeeded in obtaining invaluable data and in expeditiously completing the project although his aircraft sustained numerous lightening strikes, frequent airframe damage, and repeated loss of the longitudinal control feel system.