Nathan Hunter, an Air Force Office of Special Investigations special agent assigned to Luke AFB, Ariz., has received the Bronze Star medal for his meritorious service during a six-month deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. “It is the greatest honor of my career,” said Hunter upon receiving the medal during a ceremony earlier this month at Luke. Hunter is credited with collecting, assessing, and providing a key piece of counterintelligence data that led security forces to neutralize six insurgents. “I can’t take all of the credit for the award, because it was a group effort to complete the mission,” he said, adding that, “The biggest reward was the amount of lives we saved.” (Luke report by Amn. David Owsianka)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.