A B-1B crew from Ellsworth Air Force Base has received the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious Air Force flight in 2008, a mission that slowed down a major Taliban attack against a U.S. outpost in Afghanistan.

The battle of Wanat remains the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, apart from incidents involving helicopter crashes, according to a Nov. 3 story in the Air Force Times. Nine soldiers died and more than two dozen were wounded in the battle on July 13, 2008.

But the Ellsworth B-1B Lancer, Bone 23, helped blunt the Taliban attack with three bombs before it had to break off to refuel.

Receiving the Mackay Award on Nov. 2 were pilot Maj. Norman Shelton, co-pilot Capt. Boyd Smith and weapons systems officers Capts. Kaylene Giri and Louis Heidema. Previous recipients include Henry "Hap" Arnold, Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle and Chuck Yeager.

Today, Heidema is back flying missions over Afghanistan with the 37th Bomb Squadron from Ellsworth. Giri, with Ellsworth's 34th Bomb Squadron, expects to deploy in a few months. Shelton attends Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Ala. Smith flies remote-controlled MQ-9 Reapers over Afghanistan for the 42nd Attack Squadron at Creech AFB, Nev., according to the Air Force Times.