In January 1943 he completed navigator's courses from the 3rd Reserve Aviation Brigade based in Saratov and was sent to the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment as deputy regimental commander. In addition to serving as deputy regimental commander he served as a navigator and squadron commander on missions; the unit later received the Guards designation and was renamed the 129th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in October 1943. He distinguished himself in battles over the Voronezh and Steppe fronts and in the battles of Kursk, the Dnieper, Kirovograd, Korsun Shevchenko, Umansko-Botoshanskoy, and Lvov-Sandomir. On 14 May 1943 he rammed a Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber with his Yak-1 over Gostishchevo, Belgorod and bailed out with his parachute after running out of ammunition taking out two other German planes. In June he made his first flight on a Bell P-39 Airacobra; in early July he led a formation of four fighters in an attack on a numerically superior enemy formation of roughly 100 aircraft. All four of his squadron's aircraft safely landed after shooting down enemy four bombers and two fighters, disrupting the formation. That same day his formation made more combat missions and collectively shot down 16 enemy aircraft. For his heroism in aerial combat and his first 95 sorties he was awarded his first Hero of the Soviet Union gold star on 28 September 1943 by decree of the Supreme Soviet.