The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star medal to SSgt. Tom Pilla, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal instructor with the 86th Construction and Training Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany for his actions while deployed to Iraq. Pilla led an EOD team that supported Army units in Iraq, handling unexploded ordnance fired at the bases and improvised explosive devices off base. During one convoy operation that came under attack, Pilla’s team located and neutralized a second IED, while under fire, that enabled the entire convoy to move out of the attack area.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.