A Real Hooah Airman

Although "hooah" is an Army term not used by the Air Force, in the case of Tech. Sgt. Darrell DeMotta, an Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controller I had the pleasure to meet this week at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M., the term definitely applies.

JTACs are Air Force grunts who call in and direct air strikes and medevac missions, serving with Army infantry units or Special Forces teams. DeMotta has done three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, hauling around a load that would make any infantryman really grunt: three radios, laser gizmos, a computer, body armor, canteens, weapons, and more.

Hero is an overused word, but it definitely applies to DeMotta. During a 2007 tour in Iraq, he was credited with saving the life of an Iraqi policeman shot by a sniper and dragged a soldier out of a house to safety after three of his team members were shot during a raid of a suspected terrorist cell. He then controlled helicopters and fighters while setting up a medical evacuation of injured soldiers.

His boss at the time, Msgt. Timothy Crusing, part of the 2nd Air Support Operations squadron, said DeMotta soldiered on despite the danger during that incident. "He never stopped controlling aircraft during the ordeal, despite the ground threat," he said. "It was an extraordinary act under the circumstances."

Last month DeMotta, a survivor of six attacks by improvised bombs, received a Bronze Star for exemplary service during his 2007 tour in Iraq while he was deployed at Kirtland, where at the moment he runs JTAC missions in cyberspace.

The first JTAC assigned to the Distributed Mission Operations Center, which is run by the 705th Combat Training Wing at Kirtland, DeMotta now deals with digits like a natural computer geek, helping to spearhead development and use of simulators that replicate the JTAC mission.

During a tour of the simulation facility, DeMotta displayed in-depth knowledge of not only the JTAC systems, but also all the aircraft systems, describing each in simple and understandable terms.

DeMotta is the kind of warrior that the public unfortunately rarely meets. And I consider it a privilege to have spent time in his company.