Lieutenant Ian Hopper and crew displayed exceptionally meritorious service in their performance of duties as the Rescue Crew of an MH-65E helicopter during the Kerrville, Texas floods and service ambassadors for the Coast Guard’s life-saving mission during the follow-on press relations. On 4 July 2025, they voluntarily placed themselves at extreme personal risks to respond to a mass-casualty evacuation at Camp Mystic, where their decisive leadership and courage were instrumental in the rescue of 180 children and staff. In the months that followed, their poise and professionalism during numerous public and media engagements brought great credit to the Department and US Coast Guard, highlighting the Service's vital functions, while inspiring a new generation of Americans towards a call to public service.

On the morning of 4 July 2025, the Guadalupe River basin experienced a catastrophic flash flood, with the river surging over 26 feet in 45 minutes, leading to widespread devastation across Kerr County, Texas. The torrential waters inundated Camp Mystic, a summer camp for adolescent girls, sweeping away cabins, stranding over 700 campers and staff, and leaving the area in devastation. The developing mass-casualty incident required a large-scale, multi-agency aviation response, which was severely hampered by extreme weather, low visibility, and the complex, congested airspace.  Federal, state, local and military air assets converged on the scene with scant information.

Lieutenant Hopper and crew showcased extraordinary heroism as the Rescue Crew aboard the Coast Guard helicopter 6553, flying 8.2 hours with an immediate reaction to the flooding event in Kerrville, Texas. The crew was among the first launched to support a national-level response, where they battled extreme precipitation, poor visibility, and dangerous terrain enroute, eventually losing all visibility and the ability to remain clear of obstacles. The crew attempted to turn back to regain visibility to no avail, forcing them to commit to Instrument Meteorological Conditions and activate an emergency instrument flight plan to land at San Antonio International Airport to reassess. After refuelling, Lieutenant Hopper filed a flight plan to Kerrville Municipal Airport where storm cells over the field forced the crew to enter a hold pattern, waiting for an opportunity to land for an hour, ultimately necessitating a diversion for

fuel once more. On the third attempt to breach the storm, they elected to follow roads to reach the embattled campground but were once again forced to divert for fuel due to weather conditions. Finally, after six hours of battling weather, fuel planning, and reformulating plans, the crew used the radar capabilities of the MH-65E to valiantly lead a formation flight with two other helicopters with lesser capabilities to reach Camp Mystic and begin performing evacuations. Demonstrating extraordinary aeronautical skill, they navigated obscured terrain through tumultuous weather in congested airspace while operating the aircraft near the edge of the performance envelope throughout four sorties to reach survivors, saving 15 lives and assisting in the rescue of 165 more from Camp Mystic.

The extraordinary heroism and in-air professionalism of the crew of Coast Guard helicopter 6553 directly enabled the safe and rapid evacuation of 180 juvenile girls and counsellors from Camp Mystic. Their decisive actions and seamless coordination with joint partners were instrumental in establishing an evacuation ‘air bridge’ preventing further loss of life; rightly earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals for the crew.  The aircrew’s performance was far beyond the scope of their assigned role as maritime SAR responders. They demonstrated exceptionally meritorious conduct by using all available tools, resources and options to lead an interagency response effort. Their courage, judgment, and sustained leadership under extreme duress directly resulted in the preservation of human life.  The crew is accordingly jointly awarded the Prince Philip Helicopter Rescue Award.

1978/79  Captain G Bain, Captain C C Bosanquet, Captain A Campbell, B Johnstone Esq

1979/80  Flt Lt R E Neville, Flt Lt M J Lakey, Flt Sgt J K Moody, Flt Sgt C M Yarwood

1980/81  MALM David Edward Bullock GC (posthumously)

1981/82  Lt Cdr H S Clark 825 Sqn

1982/83  Wessex MK3 of HMS Antrim Flight - Lt Cdr I Stanley DSO, Lt C J Parry, Sub Lt S Cooper, POACM D B Fitzgerald

1983/84  POACM John Stephen Coleman

1984/85  Joint Award to 826 N.A.S (Sea King) and HMS Endurance (WASP)

1985/86  Lt D Marr, POACMN M C Palmer, POACMN L Slater

1986/87  WO1 I D Johnstone AAC & Sgt D I Lewis REME

1987/88   Jeff Todd Esq

1988/89  Flt Sgt Vaughan Dodsworth AFM RAF

1989/90  POACM S W Wright, POACM D S Wallace

1990/91  Flt Lt D Kerr-Sheppard RAF, Flt Lt D G Gow RAF, MAEOP M R Cornes, MALM W Payne

1992   not awarded

1992/93  772 NAS Helicopter - Lt M I P Langley, POACM A Rogers, LACMN B Buggins

1993/94  Flt Sgt Chris J Wood

1994/95  The Crew of Rescue 169: Flt Lt  A Cooper, Flt Lt M Dennis, Flt Lt G Holmes, Flt Sgt P Trethewey

1995/96  Rescue 25 78 Sqn Falkland Islands: Flt Lt M Dennis, Flt Lt T Gear, Flt Sgt Larke, SgtS Labouchardiere

1996/97  Rescue 193 from RNAS CULDROSE - Lt B J Nicholas, Lt J M Collicutt, Lt G P Norris, POACM P J Warrington, LACM R W McKee

1997/98  Posthumously for William (Bill) Deacon

      ALSO:  A special award to: Crews 03, 06 and 10 of Sea Flight 810 Sqn RNAS Culdrose

1998/99  The Crew of the Bell 412 Helicopter VH-CFT of Careflight

1999/2000  The helicopter pilots and crew of the South African Air Force

2000/01 Awarded twice:
      Crew of HMS Montrose
      Flt Sgt Trevor Thompson AFC

2001/02  Crew of the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter
      Peter Yates, Dr Michael Novy, Tim Thistleton, Matthew Scott, Paul Featherstone

2002/03  'Rescue 137' D Flight No 202 Sqn RAF Lossiemouth

2003/04  Rescue 193 RN

2004/05  Rescue 193 (Boscastle)

2005/06  Rescue 193 of 771 NAS

2006/07  Awarded twice:
      The Crew of 'Rescue 901' 442 Sqn CAF
      Hong Kong Government Flying Service

2007/08  Awarded twice:
      HMS GANNET SAR FLIGHT 'Rescue 177'
      'BLACKOUT 26' 7 Sqn RAF

2008/09   Crew of "Rescue 193" of 771 NAS

2009/10   Crew of R902, 442 Sqn CAF

2010/11   "HMS Chatham" Lynx - 226 Flt 815 NAS

2011/12  Crew of Rescue 193 NAS: Lt Cdr Mike Luscombe RN, Capt Martin Roskilly RM, Lt Jason "Tom" Sawyer RN, Sgt Anthony Russell RM

2012/13  Rescue 912 103 SAR Sqn RCAF: Capt Aaron Noble, Capt Jon Groten, MWO Jeff Warden, Sgt Brad Hiscock, M/Cpl Mark Vokey

2013/14  Rescue 193 771 NAS: Lt Cdr Richard Calhaem RN, Lt Cdr Paul Robertson RN, Kapitanleutnant Steffen Volkwein and  POACMN Russell Adams

2014/15  Crew OF ‘RESCUE 177’, HMS GANNET SAR FLIGHT -  Lt Cdr Charles Fuller RN, Lt Meirion Hammond RN, Lt Angela Lewis RN and POACM Michael Henson

2016  Awarded twice:
      Crew of United States Coast Guard Rescue 6033 - Lt John Hess USCG, Lt Matthew Vanderslice USCG,  AMT2 Derrick Suba USCG, AST3 Evan Staph USCG
      Crew of HMS Gannet SAR Flight  R 177 - Lt Cdr Martin Lanni AFC RN, Lt Richard Lightfoot RN, Lt James Bullock RN, POACM Alan Speed

2017  Awarded twice:
      Crew of HM Coastguard Rescue 951 Inverness  Captain Simon Tye, Captain James Livitt, Mark Lean and Scott Sharman
      Crew of HM Coastguard Rescue 912 Humberside Captain Peter Mackenzie-Brown, SFO Rob Backus,  Winch Operator Paul Bramley and Winchman/Medic Kate Willoughby

2018  The Hong Kong Government Flying Service

2019  Caernarfon Rescue 936: Captain Kate Simmonds, Captain Dave Kenyon AFC, Winch Operator Richard Taylor QGM and Winchman Paramedic Alistair Drumond

2020  Crew of Royal Air Force of Oman Rescue 01 - Ll Cdr George Thompson RN, Mulazim 1 Tay Mahmood, Wakeel 2 Jaw Yaqoob, Raqeeb Jaw Ibrahim

2021  Crew of 'Schooner 20' and Crew of 'Mako 27'

2022  Crew of Rescue 151 - Captain Rob Green, Captain Simon Hammock, Duncan Tripp, Philip Caudle

2023  Crew of Rescue 924 - Captain Debdash Bhattcharya, Co-Pilot Mark Coupland, Winch Operator Jason Bibby and Winch-Paramedic Carlton Real

2024  Crew of Rescue 936 - Captain Dave Kenyon AFC, Co-Pilot James Stewart, Winch Operator Richard Taylor QGM and Winch-Paramedic Steven Thomas 

2025  Crew of Rescue 936 - Captain Dave Kenyon, Co-Pilot Charlie Brown, Winch-Operator Mark Tomblin, Winch-Paramedic Neil Cooper and Winch-Operator under Training Geraint Morris