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.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.