Airmen receive medals for heroism in face of danger

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Three Air Force Combat Action Medals and one Airman's Medal was awarded to Eglin Airmen during a ceremony at Nomad Hall Nov. 20 here. 

Master Sgt. Noel Murphy, Staff Sgt. Ryan Otero and Senior Airman Aaron Jones, 96th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal flight, all received the combat action medal for their actions in separate events. Sergeant Murphy was also awarded an Airman's Medal for risking his life to save others when a helicopter plunged into a lake in Iraq while attempting an emergency landing. 

"I'm tremendously proud of our Airmen, and I will also say it comes with mixed emotions," said Col. Eric Pohland, 96th Air Base Wing commander. "To award a combat action medal means these Airmen were very much in the heat of battle. They were encountering enemy fire and took action to repel the enemy and save themselves and their wingmen."

Sergeant Murphy was assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Nov. 5, 2004, when a vehicle in front of his was struck by an improvised explosive device. His team quickly assessed the situation, and then proceeded to disarm the original IED they were responding to. Their convoy was hit twice more by small arms fire while returning to base. No one was hurt during these attacks. 

Sergeant Otero was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat, 82nd Airborne Division, when his team came under sniper fire from anti-Iraqi forces Feb. 2, 2007, while responding to an IED call near the Jabouri Peninsula. During a break in the firefight, Sergeant Otero loaded the robotics into the Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle and established an over watch position in the turret. 

While supporting a U.S. Army cavalry unit in Iraq, Airman Jones and his team were struck by an IED. After conducting a blast assessment, the team moved on to their original objective. Before reaching their target, they were struck twice more by IEDs, which disabled their joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle and knocked Airman Jones unconscious. The EOD team engaged in sporadic small arms fire for more than 12 hours until relief could arrive. Eventually, the team returned to base to treat injuries. 

These narratives highlight how today's Airmen are fighting on the ground, as well as in the air. 

"Our (Air Force) ground warriors are encountering this level of enemy encounters," Colonel Pohland said. "Typically, if you look at past conflicts, most of the Air Force battle was in the air. Now we are contributing Airmen to the ground fight alongside Army and Marine Corps counterparts with direct engagement with the enemy." 

"These folks rarely brag on themselves," said Maj. Gen. David Eidsaune, Air Force Program Executive Officer for Weapons and Air Armament Center commander. "When you hear the citation for the first time, you hear just how brave and courageous these Airmen are." 

The Air Force Combat Action Medal is presented to Airmen whose duties take them into a combat zone or "outside the wire" on the ground or in the air. Strong, secure families back home help these warriors focus on the job at hand, the general said. 

"This is a family award too," he said. "If you are over there eye-to-eye with the enemy, you don't want anything in your family life on your mind because you are a danger to yourself, and a danger to your teammates. The fact that (the family) is taking care of business back home allows them to be courageous like (these Airmen) are." 

During the ceremony, Sergeant Murphy was also awarded the Airman's Medal for his actions at Haditha Dam Dec. 3, 2006 after a Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter tried to make an emergency landing. Sixteen people in full combat gear were plunged into the cold, 300-foot deep waters of Lake Quadisiya, the dammed up portion of the Euphrates River. 

"I lost a very good friend in the process of what earned me an Airman's medal," Sergeant Murphy said. "This medal comes with a loss." 

Seeing what happened, Sergeant Murphy ran across the helicopter pad narrowly missing the blades from another chopper that was on approach for landing. He scaled the dam to reach the banks below and dove in head-first to start extracting drowning victims. 

"I was just trying to help the folks out. They were drowning," he said. All Sergeant Murphy could think about was to "get them out." 

The first person he came to was fighting to stay above the water nearly 40 meters from the shore. The individual nearly took Sergeant Murphy under the frigid water with him as they struggled to reach safety. Ignoring his body's cries to stop and warm up, he kept swimming. Repeatedly, Sergeant Murphy dove into the water to help rescue the passengers of the downed helicopter.  

"After a couple minutes in there, your legs start cramping, your arms start cramping, (it's) hard to breathe, it was cold," he said. "There were a few times there I was wondering if I was going to make it back to the shore or not." 

Despite the frigid water's effects, Sergeant Murphy pressed on because "there were people that needed help." With the help of bystanders, a daisy chain was assembled to help rescue as many people as possible. In the end, 12 of the 16 passengers were rescued. 

"The recovery effort went into the next day and we actually lost four people that day," he said. "One of those being a friend of mine -- Capt. Kermit Evans." 

Only eight Airman's Medals have been awarded in 2007. 

The Airman's Medal was established by Congress on July 6, 1960, to take the place of the Soldier's medal which, up until that time, had been awarded to Air Force personnel. The Soldier's medal was established by Act of Congress on July 2, 1926, for award to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States, or of a friendly foreign nation, who while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States distinguished himself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. 

"That just makes you so extremely proud," Colonel Pohland said. "This young man put his life in jeopardy for others and did it automatically, without really even thinking about it -- just a reaction to a potentially deadly circumstance."