A torrential rainstorm after Christmas in 2015 caused a vehicle in Missouri to wash off the road near where Tech. Sgt. Philip Dyer was staying.

Dyer, an explosive ordnance disposal instructor with the 366th Training Squadron Detachment 3 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, was visiting his family in rural Missouri when the storm began.

The rain eventually flooded the single road and bridge to and from Dyer’s location, according to an Air Force news release.

Dyer and his brother continued to check the road and bridge to see if it was passable since Dyer’s family was stuck in the town on the other side of the bridge.

Around 8 p.m., Dyer and his brother saw a vehicle had washed off the road, becoming half submerged in the water.

“The only thing keeping it from washing away was an old barbed-wire fence,” said the airman, whose actions would earn him the Airman’s Medal, the Air Force’s highest non-combat award.

Dyer and his brother watched as the driver of the vehicle struggled against the current to rescue his wife, a double leg amputee, from the vehicle. The driver pulled his wife out and onto the roof of their vehicle.

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The brothers called 911 and were told that it would take paramedics an hour and a half to reach them because of their location, the news release said.

The driver’s wife had been in the cold water for about 15 minutes by then.

“In an hour and a half, she would be hypothermic or washed away,” said Dyer, who has served in the Air Force for 17 years.

The driver and another man who had come to their aid tried to rescue the driver’s wife but were unable to carry her above the water.

Dyer reached the wife and used a fireman’s carry to move her to an area that wasn’t as deeply flooded.

“My training helped me stay calm in a torrent of rushing water, pouring rain and darkness, not knowing when the situation could go from bad to worse,” he said.

With Dyer’s instruction, the men performed a chair carry. One of the men supported the woman’s back while Dyer and the other helper performed the carry to get her out of the current and to safety.

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Dyer then took everyone back to his brother’s house, where they waited on emergency responders. When they arrived, they said the vehicle was completely submerged by the water.

The storm would cause the water to rise another 8 feet before subsiding.

The next day, the driver and wife’s son visited Dyer to thank him for saving his mother’s life.

Dyer was awarded the Airman’s Medal on March 9 at Eglin Air Force Base.

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Martin Cortez, Dyer’s former superintendent, put Dyer in for the award.

“It is amazing to see him finally honored, and I couldn’t be prouder,” Cortez said.

Dyer said he’s glad he helped, Airman’s Medal or not.

“I am proud to be an EOD tech in the Air Force, and I know any EOD tech when put in this situation would do the same,” he said.

About Charlsy Panzino

Charlsy is a Reporter and Engagement Manager for Military Times. Email her at cpanzino@militarytimes.com.

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