F-16 pilot receives Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in Middle East in 2025

The Air Force recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor “V” device to Capt. Nathanial “Icarus” Welch for his “skill, bravery and devotion” during a deployment to the Middle East in 2025.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of the 11th Air Force, made the presentation on July 1 at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, according to a statement released Thursday on the base’s Facebook page.

“Icarus, thanks for doing your job with excellence and valor in the face of danger,” Davis said. “I know you would go back and do it again; I know all your wingmen would also have done the same. It is rare we get the opportunity to award an airman with the Distinguished Flying Cross with the Valor device, and you deserve it.”

Welch, a pilot with the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the 354th Fighter Wing based at Eielson, was in an F-16 Fighting Falcon as part of the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron deployed to Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on April 29, 2025.

During one “Wild Weasel” mission to suppress enemy air defenses, Welch repeatedly flew into heavily defended airspace, the Air Force said.

Three missiles were fired at his F-16, which he successfully evaded while alerting other aircraft of the incoming threats. Despite coming within a few hundred feet of the explosions, Welch remained in the fight to protect coalition aircraft until they were safely clear of the threat.

“Capt. Welch exemplifies everything the nation asks for in a fighter pilot escorting other combatants into a heavily defended enemy position,” said Air Force Col. Matthew Johnston, the commander of the 354th Fighter Wing. “He selflessly placed his aircraft between enemy missile systems and the aircraft he was protecting to ensure mission success and the survival of the force package.”

The Air Force did not offer specifics about the mission, but U.S. forces at the time were engaged in Operation Rough Rider, which began in mid-March 2025 in Yemen as part of a campaign to stop attacks by the militants on the shipping lanes of the Red Sea.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.

“If I could offer any advice, it would be to truly appreciate the people you serve with and to enjoy every moment you can,” Welch said. “We spend so much of our time completely focused on the mission and preparing for the next fight, but at the end of the day, it is the men and women to your left and right who make it all worthwhile. Never take the camaraderie, or simply the opportunity to do this job, for granted.”