The Louisiana National Guard awarded SSgt. James Lam, a joint terminal attack controller, a Bronze Star with Valor device for his actions under fire during a three-hour firefight in Afghanistan in 2012. Lam, then a member of the Louisiana Guard’s 122nd Air Support Operations Squadron, was attached to a the 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment tasked with locating high-value targets in Afghanistan when they came under direct rocket-propelled grenade and machine gun fire on Feb. 23, 2012, according to a Louisiana Guard release. During the firefight, Lam left cover to help soldiers get ammunition for a machine gun. “I did my job, nothing more, nothing less,” Lam said at a Dec. 6 ceremony. “If we do it right, what we do as a JTAC, it brings those infantry guys home—and for me, it’s about bringing home those infantry soldiers and combat arms soldiers.” Lam is now a member of the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
Pentagon Cancels $6B GPS Ground System Contract
April 20, 2026
The Pentagon has canceled its contract with RTX to field a ground segment to manage its most capable GPS satellites, a more than 15-year effort beleaguered by software development issues and cost overages.