Louisiana Army National Guard Soldier Chief Warrant Officer 3 E. Regan Wilson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Jan. 29.

Wilson, a member of the F Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment in Pineville, received the award for his heroic actions while piloting a medical evacuation, commonly called a MEDEVAC flight, in Panjawey, Afghanistan, to extract a critically wounded Soldier from an area where troops were still in active combat with the enemy on July 2, 2010.

His citation reads in part: “… CW3 Wilson’s actions under direct enemy fire that day resulted in the evacuation and survival of a critically wounded Soldier. The entire crew willingly exposed themselves to the enemy and continued on their life-saving mission without regard to their own safety. CW3 Wilson’s audacious performance under enemy fire and his unparalleled skills as an aviator directly resulted in the life of one Soldier saved and demonstrates the heroism which is truly deserving of the Distinguished Flying Cross.”

Wilson enlisted in the Guard in 1995 and graduated from warrant officer school in 2002. He currently lives in Prairieville with his wife, Claire and their two children, Karly and Joseph. As a civilian, Wilson flies helicopters as an offshore pilot for PHI, Inc.

This is Wilson’s first deployment and he said it has been interesting.

“Its feast or famine here,” he said, referring to the number of flights the ‘Bayou Dustoff’ pilots make. “You might not have anything come up for a day or two, then sometimes you get two or three in a day.”

Wilson gave credit to his entire crew for the success of the mission that led to his award. “I just happened to be on the controls,” he said.

F Co., 2-135th Avn., deployed to Afghanistan in May 2010 and should return to Louisiana in the next few weeks.

At the time of the MEDEVAC flight, Wilson was attached as a pilot in command to C Company, 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment in Kandahar.

The Distinguished Flying Cross was established in 1926 and can be awarded to anyone in any branch of the U.S. military who “distinguished himself by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.”