The Aerial Achievement Medal is a decoration of the United States Air Force which was established in 1988. The decoration is intended to recognize the contributions of aircrew members who would, otherwise, not be qualified for the award of the Air Medal. Operators of Unmanned aerial vehicles may receive the award. One was given in 1997 for successfully flying a disabled UAV back to its base. According to a report based on Air Force statistics, from January 2009 to mid-2010 3497 medals were granted to operators, while 1408 more were given to pilots.