?»?Chief Warrant Officer Thomas K. Equels was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) twice for heroism while participating in aerial combat. Mr. Equels was first awarded the DFC as co-pilot of a Cobra gunship during the NVA Easter Offensive of 1972. The NVA attacked South Vietnam with several divisions, crossing the DMZ under the cover of extremely inclement weather. The weather conditions along the DMZ were very hazardous, with a ceiling of barely 300 feet, grounding all fixed wing intelligence aircraft. Mr. Equels' Cobra gunship was dispatched on a mission seeking intelligence as to enemy troop locations and movements at the forward edge of the battle area. An emergency call was received from Special Forces advisors regarding an attack by over 5,000 NVA troops on nearby Camp Carroll. Camp Carroll was being overrun by a numerically superior force of over 50 to 1. A U.S. Army Chinook flew in to evacuate the remaining survivors, including several U.S. advisors. Mr. Equels' Cobra hovered directly between the Chinook and the enemy. Mr. Equels then accurately engaged the enemy with his turret guns, thereby blunting the attack and enabling the Chinook to rescue the trapped soldiers. At a hover, his aircraft took over fifty hits in the canopy area and large pieces of the canopy were blown out. Despite this, Equels remained calm and provided devastating suppressive fire against this large enemy force. Equels heroism and keen flying skills aided significantly in averting a near tragedy. Equels then received a second DFC a few months later for heroism in aerial combat while serving as pilot of a Cobra gunship providing close fire support for allied forces at an outpost in a mountainous area under NVA attack. During this operation, a pitched battle ensued against enemy tanks and a large contingent of NVA infantry. Equels' fire team attacked and destroyed both the tanks and the NVA troops, inflicting massive casualties on the enemy forces. After Vietnam, he was an instructor pilot and pioneered the use of high tech computer generated flight simulators for instrument and gunship tactical training at the U.S. Army Aviation Center. He also co-authored the training manual "Helicopter Gunship Tactics in a High Threat Environment" and authored an award winning article on military flight simulation, "SFT, The Shape of Things to Come."