The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star medals to Lt. Col. Marc Cherry and Capt. Richard Glade for their actions while deployed to Southwest Asia. During a year-long deployment, Cherry served as deputy director of the combat operations division of the 609th Air and Space Operations Center, where he helped synchronize over Iraq and Afghanistan more than 74,000 sorties, including employing 48 aircraft to resolve a 64-hour troops-in-contact engagement in Afghanistan. During a six-month deployment to Iraq, Glade served as a Joint Task Force information operations cell intelligence officer. Lt. Gen. Glenn Spears, commander of 12th Air Force, presented the medals to both officers earlier this month. (12th AF photo release by SrA. Jacqueline Romero)
Americans’ trust and confidence in the U.S. military has declined precipitously in recent months, according to the results of a survey. Experts lay the blame on increasing political polarization and the fallout from this summer’s turbulent withdrawal from Afghanistan.