SrA. Justin Frewin, an EOD technician, was awarded the Bronze Star recently for actions while deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in 2004. The Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C., airman was called along with other inspectors to look at a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device that was just outside an Army checkpoint. The Seymour-Johnson Wright Times reports that when the team showed up, they were immediately ambushed. Frewin helped shield the team leader from small arms fire and mortars during the ambush, after the team had determined the vehicle did not contain any explosives.
The Air Force ramped up operations and maintenance spending to keep its F-35A fighters flying over the past six years, but readiness continues to lag behind goals, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.