The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star with Valor to TSgt. Michael Williams, an explosive ordnance disposal technician with the 437th Civil Engineer Squadron at Charleston AFB, S.C. The Oct. 16 photo release announcing the award contained no details of his actions while deployed to Afghanistan, where Williams was critically injured by an antipersonnel landmine. (Charleston Aug. 27 release on Williams’ recovery progress.)
A U.S. Air Force F-22 shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, a week after it first entered U.S. airspace near Alaska. Officials said they took measures to prevent the balloon from gathering sensitive military information and are actively working to recover…