The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander [then Lieutenant, Junior Grade] Jerome L. Arbiter, United States Navy, for heroism while participating in aerial flight as an attack pilot serving with Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE (VA-155), embarked in U.S.S. ORISKANY (CVA-34), on 21 September 1971. Commander Arbiter was a member of the surface-to-air missile suppression flight which supported a Seventh Air Force major strike on the military facilities surrounding Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. During the prosecution of this mission, which was completed in spite of the most extreme weather conditions, two enemy surface-to-air missile sites were confirmed destroyed by Commander Arbiter and one was considered probably destroyed. By his superb demonstration of unusual airmanship, extraordinary courage, and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of hazardous flying conditions, Commander Arbiter reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.