Air Force Reserve TSgt. David Ewbank has received a Bronze Star for his work as an explosive ordnance disposal technician with a unit of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. Ewbank, who is assigned to the 446th Civil Engineer Squadron at McChord AFB, Wash., was one of several Air Force EOD specialists working with the Army unit, whose commander, Lt. Col. Brian Coppersmith, praised for helping ensure the unit had no deaths during its deployment. On one occasion, reports SSgt. Paul Haley, Ewbank got to disarm a live bomb. His comment, “It’s not every day you get a chance like that.”
New Air Force, Pentagon, and White House initiatives aim to chip away at an issue that has long frustrated leaders and families across the military: spouse employment. For years now, the percentage of unemployed military spouses has held steady at around 20 percent, experts say.
