- Awarded on: December 27, 1993
Rank: Major
On 15 January 1993, Major Cottingham, the crew commander of a Sea King helicopter, responded to a report that the Merchant Vessel Free Trader and its landed cargo of relief supplies were being hijacked by a group of 150 to 200 bandits in Somalia. Major Cottingham intervened with a series of extremely low passes forcing the gunmen to disperse until armed assistance arrived.
