During his first trip to Southwest Asia, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne awarded the Bronze Star to Lt. Col. Ed O’Neal for his actions during a terrorist attack in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, on May 29, 2004. O’Neal helped rescue a family trapped in a burning apartment and aided Saudi security forces in their efforts to locate the terrorists. O’Neal was a military training advisor at the time. He is back in SWA as the US Central Command Air Forces forward personnel and manpower director.
Hundreds, or possibly thousands, of transgender service members have returned to work after two judges ordered preliminary injunctions blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ban of transgender service members and recruits. But their long-term future remains uncertain.