The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star Medal to TSgt. Benjamin Aylward, with the 341st Logistics Readiness Squadron at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., for his actions while deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Aylward served as a convoy commander, completing more than 12 convoys during which he led 13 airmen and 12 soldiers who provided security for some 400 foreign nationals operating commercially contracted transports loaded with mission-critical cargo. (Malmstrom report by MSgt. Terry Nelson)
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.