Capt. Kevin Polk, an emergency services nurse assigned to Keesler AFB, Miss., received the Bronze Star for his life-saving efforts of a fellow airman in Southwest Asia. Ignoring fire from an enemy mortar attack at Balad AB, Iraq, Sept. 11, 2004, Polk, then a critical care air transport team nurse with the 379th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar, searched living quarters for wounded personnel and found and stabilized an airman with life-threatening injuries. Officials said Polk’s actions helped save the airman’s life.
U.S. professional military education needs to be more rigorous and data-driven, and the military services need to do a better job of actually utilizing the skills service members learn through PME, lawmakers, academics, and Pentagon officials said in a congressional hearing. Summing up the concerns, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) laid…