Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on a Feb. 14 visit to Aviano AB, Italy, got to bestow a Bronze Star medal upon TSgt. Phoebus Lazaridis, a tactical air control party airman with the 8th Air Support Operations Squadron at Aviano, for his actions while deployed to Afghanistan. Pelosi, who was with other Congressmen on a tour of various US military facilities in Italy, said, “I know I speak for may colleagues when we say nothing is a greater source of pride, nothing can surpass the privilege we have this morning. … We thank you for your service, your sacrifice, your courage, and your patriotism.” At Brooks City-Base, Tex., Lt. Col. Bradley Fishel, deputy director of contracting for the 311th Human Systems Wing, received a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service during his deployment to Afghanistan. The Army nominated Fishel for the award. (Aviano report by 2nd Lt. Brian Wagner; Brooks report by Rudy Purificato)
The Air Force has dispatched an element of its Natural Disaster Recovery Team to Guam in the wake of Super Typhoon Mawar, which has caused widespread damage on the island and at Andersen Air Force Base. The team will assess the damage and put together a recovery cost estimate for…