Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks earned the nation’s third-highest combat decoration for guiding his F-16 flight through a deadly barrage of surface-to-air missiles during a SEAD mission in Yemen.

Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks, former commander of the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, was awared the Silver Star Medal for his actions during a mission in March 2025. Although the U.S. Air Force statement does not reveal the location of the mission, its timeline aligns with known operations from the U.S. c

According to the U.S. Air Force, the mission took place on Mar. 27, 2025, within the U.S. Central Command area of operations. Parks was the mission commander for a package of 21 aircraft assigned to strike ballistic missile production facilities (operated by Houthi forces). Flying a fou

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