Two Hurlburt Field, Fla. airmen from the 1st Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron’s explosive ordnance disposal flight received Bronze Stars last week for their work as team leaders while deployed to Iraq earlier this year. TSgt. Angela Shepherd reports that MSgt. Harold Seiple’s team recovered and destroyed more than 20,000 pounds of enemy ordnance and bulk explosives. SSgt. Jeremy Gibson led a team that dealt with improved explosive devices, completing 138 post-blast analyses and played a crucial role in capturing an enemy weapons cache containing 1, 324 ordnance items.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.