With that award, Hester is the first woman in the Air Force to receive the Silver Star and the 10th woman in the Department of Defense’s history. Together, the Air Force said Coffey and Hester’s squadron shot down 70 drones and three ballistic missiles.

On the night of April 13, Iran launched more than 300 ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, an attack in response to a missile strike on Damascus, Syria, that had killed a top Iranian commander. US military aircraft and naval ships went to work that night in Israel's defense,