Maj. Matthew Gamblin and MSgt. Edwin Lambert were recently honored with the 2005 Gen. Lew Allen Jr. Trophy for their efforts to keep aircraft flying and munitions ready for the deployed force. Gamblin achieved a 99 percent launch rate for more than 2,000 combat sorties during his tour as maintenance operations officer at Ali Al Salem AB, Kuwait. Lambert led a team at Balad AB, Iraq, that launched 981 sorties for 2,629 flying hours and moved 410 Special Forces and more than 66,000 pounds of ammunition, resulting in the capture of four high value targets.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…