Air Force Rescue units awarded rare Presidential Unit Citation

Two Air Force rescue squadrons have been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their roles in the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the desperate evacuation of American citizens and Afghans from Kabul in August 2021.

The Presidential Unit Citation is the highest award that U.S. military troops can be awarded for collective action as a unit, rather than individual valor. Past recipients include the 2nd Ranger Battalion in World War II for the daring capture of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day; the 1st Marine Division, for the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea during November and December 1950; and Navy Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU — commonly referred to as SEAL Team Six – for the May 2011 mission that killed Osama Bin Laden.

Last month, the 55th and 48th Rescue Squadrons received the award on behalf of the 66th and 58th Rescue Squadrons, both of which have been deactivated since 2021, according to an Air Force news release.

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“Every couple of years, there’s something that happens that defines the next generation of rescue Airmen,” Air Force Col. Jose Cabrera, 355th Wing commander, said in the news release. “Every generation has their time and I think we’re seeing that today – your defining moment. This will go down in Air Force history as one of the greatest accomplishments of the Air Force rescue community.”

The 66th flew HH-60 rescue helicopters, while the 58th trained Air Force pararescuemen, or PJs, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. As is typical of Air Force rescue units, the flight crews of the 66th and PJs of the 58th routinely trained and deployed together.

During the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 66th and 58th Rescue Squadrons were part of the 176-strong Personnel Recovery Task Force, which was created for the Noncombatant Evacuation Operation that ultimately evacuated 124,000 people from Afghanistan, the news release says.

The group is credited with “establishing an unconventional recovery network” that rescued more than 1,900 American citizens and at-risk Afghans and setting up a safe evacuation terminal for more than 12,000 additional refugees between July 16 and Aug. 31, 2021, according to the news release.

The two rescue squadrons played key roles in the evacuation, which became chaotic and dangerous after the Taliban captured Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, leaving Hamid Karzai International Airport as the only location from which U.S. troops could operate.

“The 66th led a dual effort during the evacuations by maintaining a flying formation for the alert mission and also voluntarily assisting with locating and processing evacuees, while also monitoring ground and tower frequencies to track numbers of American citizens, Afghan refugees, and other country nationals being evacuated aboard each C-17,” Lt. Col. Michael Dommer, commander of the 55th Rescue Squadron, said in the news release.

Both units received the award on April 17 at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The 58th Rescue Squadron was inactivated last year as part of a shift in Davis-Monthan’s focus from hosting A-10 Warthogs to serving as a hub for rescue and special operations missions, a June 2025 Air Force news release says.

Other units that have received the Presidential Unit Citation for the Afghanistan evacuation include the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron; the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command, and Joint Task Force 82 of the 82nd Airborne Division and its supporting units.