Master Sgt. Ivan Ruiz, a pararescueman, and his two teammates engaged in a vicious point-blank firefight with insurgents in the Mushan village area of Afghanistan on Dec. 10, 2013.
He received the Air Force Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor.
He also is one of 24 airmen honored for heroism in the Air Force's latest Portraits in Courage volume.
Air Force Times reported his actions in December.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
