Finance Airman from 129th Rescue Wing earns Aerial Achievement Medal
Budget analyst provides critical translations during multiple over-water rescue missions
by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman
129th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
April 3, 2022
by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman
129th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
MOFFETT AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Calif. – A 129th Rescue Wing budget analyst earned recognition, April 2, for the critical role she played during multiple long-range overwater rescue missions during the past decade.
“It’s not every day you present an Aerial Achievement Medal to someone in finance,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Jeffrey Waldman, wing commander, while presenting the medal to Master Sgt. Hong Zhou, of the 129th Comptroller Flight, for her service between March 2012 and August 2020.
The California Air National Guard wing has called upon Zhou twice to leverage her Mandarin language skills as an impromptu aircrew member providing airborne language translation between the wing’s pararescue operations and crew members of civilian ships thousands of miles off the coast of California.
In March 2012, parerescuemen from the wing jumped from the back of a C-130 to reach sailors with severe burns aboard the fishing vessel Fu Yuan Yu in the Pacific Ocean 1,100 miles off the coast of Mexico.
Zhou provided critical translation services during the dangerous link-up procedures between the pararescue team and the ship’s crew members members, who did not speak English. Once over the ship, Zhou used line-of-sight radios to confirm the patient status, and asked the ship’s crew to turn off the ship propellers and deploy boarding ladders for the parerescuemen while confirming approval for them to board the vessel.
In August 2020, the wing called upon Zhou again during the rescue of a critically-injured sailor aboard the Ocean Applaud cargo ship. Zhou delivered a calm translation between English and Mandarin to relay mission information and operational directives during another save.
As a budget analyst, Zhou had no flight training or experience before the missions. Nonetheless, she volunteered for the no-notice missions without hesitation.
“Every rescue is a pickup game,” Waldman said. “We are frequently working with imperfect information and we need to use every resource we have.”
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Hong Zhou, a budget analyst with the 129th Comptroller Flight, is presented an Aerial Achievement Medal by Col. Jeffrey Waldman, commander of the 129th Rescue Wing, California Air National Guard, at Moffett Air National Guard Base, April 2. Zhou served as a Mandarin translator on multiple rescue missions between 2012 and 2020. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Duane Ramos)
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Hong Zhou, a budget analyst with the 129th Comptroller Flight, is presented an Aerial Achievement Medal by Col. Jeffrey Waldman, commander of the 129th Rescue Wing, California Air National Guard, at Moffett Air National Guard Base, April 2. Zhou served as a Mandarin translator on multiple rescue missions between 2012 and 2020. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Duane Ramos)
“Every rescue is a pickup game. We are frequently working with imperfect information and we need to use every resource we have.”
RELATED COVERAGE
VIDEO: Master Sgt. Hong Zhou, a finance specialist with the 129th Rescue Wing performs as a translator during a long range over water rescue mission 1,100 miles off the coast of San Francisco. by Master Sgt. Ray Aquino
VIDEO: Master Sgt. Hong Zhou, a finance specialist with the 129th Rescue Wing performs as a translator during a long range over water rescue mission 1,100 miles off the coast of San Francisco. by Master Sgt. Ray Aquino
Click screen shot of Grizzly Magazine's coverage of Master Sgt. Zhou's 2020 mission to watch video story.
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