Back at home station with the last of the explosive ordnance disposalairmen who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, MSgt. John McCoy can remember how it started, 13 years and 55,000 missions ago, and how their living conditions and equipment improved. The three-time Bronze Star recipient also remembers the dangers, such as when he discovered he was “about 60 or 70 yards” into “a field of tripwires and live landmines.” Many times the EOD teams would respond to a report of “suspicious item alongside the road, wires protruding. … That could be anything,” said McCoy, an EOD flight chief with the 5th Bomb Wing, in a release. “There’s a lot of inherent hazard, but we try to keep it as safe as possible.” Despite their best efforts, 20 EOD airmen were killed and more than 115 wounded since 9/11. “There is such a thing as doing all the right steps and still getting hurt.” But, the reward is “every time you deal with an IED, you think that could have been someone’s leg, or that was two guys who didn’t get blown up,” he said. “Each one is someone who’s not going to have to get slung out of here in a helicopter, or even die.” (See also Tyndall AFB, Fla., release on last EOD flight.)
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…