AIR FORCE PHOTO BY MARK BATES Col. Bill "Goose" Changose, Hickam Air Force Base commander, pinned a Bronze Star on Staff Sgt. Danny Gallegos, 25th Air Support Operations Squadron combat controller, at an awards ceremony on Friday. He and two others from his unit were honored with Bronze Stars for service in Afghanistan and Iraq last year.

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3 honored with
Bronze Star

The soldiers are from Hickam
Air Force's 25th Support
Operations Squadron

A Hickam Air Force colonel, who received his second Bronze Star, this time for service in Afghanistan, says the award gives his family some idea why he has to be away so long and so often.

Lt. Col. Kevin Cole, who commands Hickam Air Force Base's 25th Support Operations Squadron, along with three members of his unit received the award on Friday at a ceremony in the base theater for planning and undertaking air combat operations.

Besides Cole, Staff Sgt. Joseph Wojciechowski and Senior Airman Danny Gallegos were honored for their service in Afghanistan last year. Staff Sgt. Craig Lower's Bronze Star was for his combat assignment as a forward controller in Iraq while serving as a liaison officer for the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry in Iraq.

Cole, 43, said the medal helps his 16-year-old son understand "why Dad has to be gone all the time, especially when Dad is gone for six, seven months whatever at time. Now he understands what I am doing and why it's important for me to be there for my young troops."

"They now understand it's a dangerous world," Cole said of his family, "and Dad is out there trying to make it a little safer from them.

Cole, who earned his first Bronze Star controlling air combat operations in Iraq, was in command of 60 tactical air controllers, weather and support mission personnel from the active Air Force, the Air National Guard and the Marine Corps while stationed at Bagram Air Base. About 85 percent of the active Air Force controllers were from his squadron at Hickam. Cole also had some of his airmen deployed to Iraq at the same time, including two airmen who supported the Marines in the battle for Fallujah last fall.

While at Bagram from September 2004 to March 2005 Cole was involved in the planning of all major Combined Joint Task Force 76 operations and was responsible for all combat air missions in Afghanistan.

During last year's historic Afghan elections, the Air Force said, Cole "coordinated the combat air support plan to counter-act Taliban threats to Afghani voters. As a result of these plans, enemy actions were thwarted and the election was completed safely and on time."

The Air Force said that Cole was personally selected by the Pentagon's senior security official in country to lead the planning of the air portion for securing the Afghan presidential inauguration in November. Placed under his protection were the president of Afghanistan, the vice-president of the United States, secretary of defense and dozens of heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

In Iraq, the Air Force said Lower, 28, directed the air strikes of more than 70 aircraft and helicopter combat missions resulting in the capture of over 75 insurgents.

His Bronze Star citation said that Lower "was instrumental in the safe evacuation of two soldiers wounded during enemy contact." He was deployed to Iraq in January 2004.

At one point during his deployment Lower identified anti-Iraqi forces which had attacked a coalition patrol. Lower, a seven-year Air Force veteran, called in a F-16 fighter jet strike and directed a mortar team attack.

Lower is also credited with helping to locate lost convoys and provide security for 24 convoys totaling 1,100 vehicles and 3,000 miles without a casualty.

Wojciechowski said his Bronze Star represents using all the training provide by the Air Force to "successfully accomplish any mission." During training Wojciechowski, 29, said he is always focused on ways to do his mission better.

"Everyday you do this stuff in training," added Wojciechowski who has been in the Air Force for 10 years, "so that when you go to the field or combat, it's just a natural instinct."

While stationed in the central western part of Afghanistan last year Wojciechowski was a member of quick reaction force which rescued a reconnaissance unit. The Air Force said Wojciechowski directed a medical evacuation helicopter, its gunship, and two A-10 Warthog jets, to assist with the rescue. While controlling the aircraft above, Wojciechowski also participated in a firefight with the insurgents. As part of a two-man initial search team, the Air Force said Wojciechowski also guarded two wounded insurgents enemies until additional U.S. personnel arrived. "He did this while he continually controlled all air assets in the area until enemy wounded were cared for and evacuated and the quick reaction force ground unit returned to base," the citation said.

The Air Force said Gallegos, under enemy fire, controlled the air missions of 60 aircraft while serving as a member of a quick reaction force. "While under fire, he flawlessly directed combat aircraft to employ three, 2,000-pound precision-guided munitions, destroying anti-coalition militia less than 1,500 meters from friendly forces," Gallegos' citation said.

Gallegos, 26, is credited in saving the lives of 60 U. S. soldiers and 20 local police while in Afghanistan for four months beginning in April 2004.

Gallegos, under the Afghan elections, was responsible for control of 11 U.S. and British aircraft conducting low-level surveillance flights over polling places in selected districts.

"His actions deterred potential anti-coalition militia aggression at polling sites and projected coalition presence into an unstable region, directly contributing to the outstanding success of the first national presidential election in the history of Afghanistan," the Air Force said.