PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE - Air Force Tech Sgt. Paul Schultz felt unsettled, not wanting to leave Afghanistan because of his injures before his deployment rotation was up more than two years ago.

"I didn't like the way I was leaving," said Schultz, a pararescue specialist now with the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base.

But he returned a hero.

Schultz was awarded the Bronze Star with valor for helping save the lives of fellow passengers after a helicopter crash during a rescue operation in central Afghanistan.

"I've wanted to go back for a while," Schultz said.

He's getting that chance. Schultz and other airmen are prepared for a new deployment any day.

"He's been training just as hard as anybody else, preparing to go back," said Sr. Master Sgt. Mike Ziegler, a team leader in the unit. "We've just completed a ton of training, very intense, realistic training." According to his award citation, Schultz, with disregard for his own injuries that included multiple contusions and a severely dislocated shoulder, risked his own life to assess the crash scene, finding three injured but in stable crewmembers, one dead and another gravely injured.

Because of their injuries, Schultz and other members of the team were sent home just short of completing their deployment. At the time, Schultz was a member of the 48th Rescue Squadron from Tucson, Ariz. He later left active duty to become a full-time reservist at Patrick.

"It makes us proud that he got recognized," Ziegler said. "It makes us proud that there are guys like him out there doing the job."

It was Oct. 21, 2004, and Schultz was aboard an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, serving as a pararescue team leader. He was on a mission to evacuate an Afghanistan-United Nations election worker with a gunshot wound from a rugged mountainside. The injured man was in an area 105 miles east of Shindand.

Sheer cliffs surrounded the hovering helicopter as Schultz and his team prepared to drop down by a hoist from 150 feet above the canyon floor. Sand and dust began swirling below.

"The dust was so bad it came up and engulfed the helicopter," Schultz said.

The crew became disoriented in the brown-out, hitting the rock wall with the rotor, then rolling six or eight times before coming to rest 400 feet below. Schultz and Staff Sgt. Scott Bilyeu were still strapped together in preparation for the hoist.

As the chopper rolled down the mountainside, equipment spilled out. Parts of the broken helicopter lay strewn on the canyon floor. The crew also was scattered and injured.

"The doors were sheared off, so I don't know how we stayed in," Schultz said. "The flight engineer was the first person I saw and he was deceased."

Airman 1st Class Jesse Samek, 21, of Rogers, Ark., was dead. He had been assigned to the 66th Rescue Squadron from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

"My next action was to tell the other helicopter overhead that we had crashed and had injuries," Schultz said.

That helicopter attempted to rescue the crash victims but had to shear off its hoist cable when it too got into trouble with the swirling dust.

"I knew that we were going to be on the ground for a while," Schultz said.

The citation said Schultz kept his unconscious partner's airway open, prepared him for transport and prepared the crew for attack if enemy fighters appeared. When he determined that it was impossible to move without assistance, he established a security area around the crash site and prepared to defend the position.

Schultz found a drop zone and contacted a C-130P flying overhead, calling for a parachute team that was dropped at the crash site. They helped get the injured to a nearby site where a vehicle could pick them up.

Schultz said the award refreshes the memories of the events.

"The fact that I got it while doing pre-deployment (preparation) brought it back to the forefront," Schultz said of his medal.