The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star Medal to TSgt. Benjamin Aylward, with the 341st Logistics Readiness Squadron at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., for his actions while deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Aylward served as a convoy commander, completing more than 12 convoys during which he led 13 airmen and 12 soldiers who provided security for some 400 foreign nationals operating commercially contracted transports loaded with mission-critical cargo. (Malmstrom report by MSgt. Terry Nelson)
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
