AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Peacetime
MODEL:  MH-65E

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander Jacob B. Conrad, United States Coast Guard. Lieutenant Commander Conrad is cited for heroism while participating in aerial flight as Aircraft Commander of CGNR 6562 on 29 December 2023, at Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco. Upon receiving a report of two individuals stranded on a cliff, one of whom had fallen 100 feet and sustained severe injuries, and after several rescue agencies declined the case, he launched near midnight with his crew to the survivor's position northwest of Sacramento, CA. After departure, he battled severe convective activity and aircraft icing while navigating hazardous terrain in a major winter storm. When the windscreen anti-ice system failed near Santa Rosa, Lieutenant Commander Conrad executed an emergency landing in heavy fog while peering through a small, thawed portion of his windscreen for visual references. Once on deck, he learned that rescuers had ascended the valley wall, but were now also trapped due to rockslides and heavy rainfall. Launching again at first light, he overcame an internal communications failure before navigating the aircraft three miles through a narrow, fog-covered valley to locate the survivors 700 feet up the canyon wall. Maneuvering into the fog bank above, he established a precision hover over the survivor's position. While at a critical fuel state and surrounded by mere feet on three sides by overhanging rocks and trees, he overcame numerous hoist hazards and deployed the rescue swimmer to the cliff 200 feet below. Maintaining an exact position above the wall, he deployed the basket and recovered the severely injured survivor. As winds began to build over the rescue site, he again returned to the wall and re-established the confined hover. While operating CGNR 6562 within one percent of its maximum power output, he deployed the rescue swimmer three more times, recovering the second survivor and two rescuers. Lieutenant Commander Conrad’s aeronautical skill and heroism were instrumental in the rescue of four people. His courage, judgment, and devotion to duty in the face of hazardous conditions are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.