SrA. Brad Salazar, a tactical control air party airman assigned to the 8th Air Support Operations Squadron at Aviano AB, Italy, has received a Bronze Star medal for his meritorious service in southern Afghanistan in 2009. Then an airman first class, Salazar successfully completed multiple close-air support missions and friendly extractions during his deployment to Zabul province. “His performance was remarkable,” said Col. Thomas Gould, 435th Air Ground Operations Wing commander at Ramstein AB, Germany, who presented Salazar with the medal during an Aug. 2 award ceremony in Hohenfels, Germany. Gould added, “How often do we give a Bronze Star to an A1C? It’s rare and he is certainly worthy of the honor.” (Ramstein release by SrA. Scott Saldukas)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…