TSgt. Michael Downey II on Aug. 31 received the Airman’s Medal, USAF’s highest award for heroism in peacetime, from Air Force Chief of Staff John P. Jumper during a Washington ceremony. In October 2003, Downey, who is assigned to the office of the Chief of Staff, was on leave and walking with his three-year-old son in Boynton Beach, Fla., when an out-of-control car plunged into the Intercoastal Waterway right in front of him. He left his son with another bystander, dove into the water, and managed to get the sole occupant of the car, an 89-year-old great-grandmother, out of the car and to safety before the vehicle sank to the bottom of the waterway.
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.
