AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  -

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Major Robert A. Carlson for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while serving as a Pilot with Marine Observation Squadron Two, Marine Aircraft Group Eleven, First Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. During the evening of 16 July 1970, Major Carlson launched as Forward Air Controller (Airborne) and as Section Leader of a flight of two Bronco aircraft assigned the mission of supporting the emergency extraction of a Marine reconnaissance team which had reported that its mission had been compromised and had maneuvered to an extraction site in a mountainous area in Quang Nam Province. Arriving over the designated area, he established radio contact with the patrol and was informed that the enemy had not yet pinpointed the location of the team but that hostile soldiers could be heard moving close to the Marines' position. Undaunted by the difficulty of flying his aircraft over rugged terrain in the reduced visibility, Major Carlson skillfully maneuvered his Bronco on repeated firing runs against the enemy and delivered his ordnance with exceptional accuracy, sometimes within meters of the reconnaissance patrol, that the enemy movement ceased. When two supporting Cobra gunships and a United States Air Force gunship arrived on station and he received word that the team had come under hostile small arms fire, Major Carlson, with superb skill and precision, controlled the firing runs of each of the gunships so close to the Marines that several hostile soldiers were killed within yards of the friendly perimeter and the enemy was prevented from overrunning the patrol's position. He then directed the employment of a smoke screen which enabled a transport helicopter to enter the dangerous area and safely extract the endangered reconnaissance team. Major Carlson's courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger were instrumental in accomplishing the hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Crops and of the United States Naval Service.