Lt. Col. Derek Hoffnung with the 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., received a Bronze Star for his actions while deployed to Camp Victory in Iraq, where he commanded the 704th Expeditionary Support Squadron. His mission was to support more than 70 battlefield airmen teams at 78 locations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.
Retired Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, known for introducing the "tap code" by which American POWs in North Vietnam could surreptitiously communicate with one another, died July 6. Harris was brutalized by the North Vietnamese over almost eight years of captivity.