SSgt. Jessica Kuge, a videographer stationed at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., has received a Bronze Star medal for her documentation of 40 combat and humanitarian missions during a 143-day deployment to Iraq in 2006. A1C Erica Stewart reports that Kuge continued to document an insurgent ambush while she was under direct fire, aiding battle damage assessment and aiding identification of Iraqi policemen killed in the attack. Much of her work in Iraq supported US Army patrols and convoys.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
