Retired Col. John “JB” Stone visits Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, to present the Capt. John Stone award for ‘Outstanding Mission Commander’ to Capt. Paul “Bullet” Young of the 336th Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, during the culmination ceremony of Red Flag-Nellis 22-3 on July 28, 2022.
At age 85 years, Stone was at Nellis AFB for two days before giving out the award. It has been an annual tradition since 2014. This was the first time Stone himself was giving the award. “I must say, I’m honored and flattered to be invited to come talk to this group,” Stone said during his speech to the participants of Red Flag 22-3. He added in humor, “I didn’t know if I was in the right Air Force when I started hearing all the stuff that you guys could do and how you do it with such ease.”
The Capt. John Stone Award is designed to highlight the exceptional contributions of one blue-force pilot to the exercise. Capt. Young distinguished himself not only among the 26 fellow mission commanders but also highly improved in salient features of Red Flag-Nellis, namely, mission planning and problem-solving. According to the commander of the 414th Combat Training Squadron, Col. Jared Hutchinson, priority items that receive training within Red Flag include “first-timers combat missions, mission commander upgrades, and flag unique experiences that contribute to the highest readiness levels.”
Its importance is attributed to Stone and this award for a gaming operation in 1966 known as Operation BOLO, which wiped out half of the North Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter force. As Stone recalled, “The idea was to do something new instead of the standard plan.” The conceiving behind this was to simulate an F-105 Thunderchief bombing formation with Col. Robin Olds leading an air brigade of F-4 Phantom IIs, annihilating a large portion of the enemy’s forces capable of taking to the skies.
The Capt. John Stone Award is the culmination of effective and purposeful planning, placing the Air Force ahead of its near-peer competitors. Having Stone himself present the award at Nellis Air Force Base gave deep meaning to the occasion.