Staff Sergeant Yandall D. Goodwin distinguished himself by heroism while participating in aerial flight as Pararescueman, near Paktia Province, Afghanistan, from 2 March 2002 to 3 March 2002.  On that date, Sergeant Goodwin launched on Gecko 11 from alert status at a forward location, his skill and sense of urgency were instrumental in getting the aircraft airborne in 15 minutes from a 30-minute posture.  Due to the aircraft being at near maximum gross weight and using maximum power available, Sergeant Goodwin expertly pared down his equipment to only that which was absolutely necessary for the mission.  During the 70-nautical-mile low-level flight over enemy held-territory, he scanned for enemy activity and prepared the limited space in the aircraft cabin for loading as many personnel as possible.  He requested an update on status of the wounded and directed the ground mission element to prepare the most severely injured for immediate loading.  Once in the landing zone, Sergeant Goodwin exited the aircraft amidst enemy mortar, small arms, and rocket-propelled grenade fire and made multiple trips across the landing zone to retrieve the soldiers in distress.  He rapidly assessed, loaded, and secured the injured, and began to administer first aid to four wounded personnel in a cabin space configured for only one non-ambulatory patient.  During the 45-minute flight to the surgical team, Sergeant Goodwin revived a critically wounded soldier with a 90 degree Fahrenheit core body temperature and multiple shrapnel wounds.  His expert triage skills were invaluable in transferring patients to the surgical team upon landing at the transload location in full blackout conditions.  The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Sergeant Goodwin reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.