The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Randall E. Watson, United States Coast Guard, for heroism while participating in aerial flight from 22 to 23 February 1998 as aircraft commander aboard Coast Guard helicopter CG6017. The aircrew was engaged in the medical evacuation of a critically injured crewman from the M/V HEKABE, a 713-foot tanker disabled and adrift amid a severe winter storm, 180 miles south of Adak, Alaska. Dispatched from Air Station Kodiak, Lieutenant Watson led his crew on a two-day, 1200-mile transit through 60-knot headwinds, severe turbulence, moderate icing, and zero visibility in blowing snow and fog. When CG6017 arrived on scene, the M/V HEKABE was unable to hold course, violently pitching and rolling in 40-foot seas. Deftly hovering amidships over the heaving deck between towering rigging, and with a direct 60-knot crosswind, Lieutenant Watson orchestrated a basket delivery of the rescue swimmer and a litter recovery of the patient. As snow squalls enveloped CG6017 and reduced visibility to almost zero, he maintained a precise hover while the rescue swimmer was recovered from the hazardous deck. With darkness approaching and fuel reaching critical state, CG6017 departed for Adak. Unable to execute the published instrument approach due to zero visibility, Lieutenant Watson performed an automatic approach to a 50-foot hover over the water. Unable to see the surface, he lowered the hover altitude until visual at 30 feet. Using the radar and GPS to hover taxi through a maze of terrain in nearly zero visibility and severe turbulence, the crew finally acquired the runway at a distance of 300 feet. Lieutenant Watson’s actions, aeronautical skill, and valor were instrumental in the rescue of the M/V HEKABE’s crewman. His courage, judgment, and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.