The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Paul A. Curs, United States Air Force, for gallantry in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States while serving with the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, in action in Southeast Asia on 11 October 1971. On that date, Lieutenant Curs, a forward air controller, came to the aid of a small long range reconnaissance patrol which was being pursued by a numerically superior hostile force. Despite extremely bad weather of seven-eighths cloud coverage, low ceilings and ground fog which ruled out the use of tactical aircraft and hostile automatic weapons fire directed at his aircraft, Lieutenant Curs made repeated passes with his marking rockets to allow the separated team members to break contact and set up defensive positions. He then directed the successful helicopter extraction of the beleaguered patrol with no loss of friendly lives. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Lieutenant Curs has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
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Awards Received
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Legion of Merit
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Distinguished Flying Cross
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Legion of Merit
Service:
United States Air ForceRank:
ColonelAction Date:
July 1, 1997 – January 1, 1999
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, 20 July 1942, takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Colonel Paul Anthony Curs, United States Air Force, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Individual Mobilization Augmentee Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations and Environment), Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, from 1 July 1997 to 1 January 1999. During this period, Colonel Curs provided senior leadership with highly perceptive and crisply reasoned recommendations on matters related to military and civilian personnel, equal opportunity and diversity, Air Reserve component affairs and mobilizations programs, installations issues, including base realignments and closures, and environment safety and occupational health. His experienced counsel to the Assistant Secretary on many important programs such as pilot retention and a mix of manpower and Reserve issues, was a significant factor in senior level management of these programs. His innovative foresight and keen analytic ability were instrumental in the Acting Secretary of the Air Force supporting the PHOENIX AVIATOR program in preparation for the meeting with the 4-stars at CORONA TOP’98. This leading edge transition assistance and pilot retention initiative is now a reality and promises to pay big dividends for Air Force readiness for many years to come. The singularly distinctive accomplishment of Colonel Curs culminate a distinguished career in the service of his country and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
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Distinguished Flying Cross
Service:
United States Air ForceRank:
First LieutenantBatallion:
20th Tactical Air Support SquadronAction Date:
March 18, 1971
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Paul Anthony Curs, United States Air Force, for heroism while participating in aerial flight as an O-2A Forward Air Control Pilot, 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, in Southeast Asia on 18 March 1971. On that date, Lieutenant Curs directed Tactical Air Command airstrikes against a heavily camouflaged and heavily defended storage area. Results of his direction were the complete destruction with over 100 secondary explosions, a large POL fire and numerous small fires, and no friendly losses despite the heavy AAA environment hazardous conditions encountered. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Lieutenant Curs reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.