MSgt. Andrea Vigliotti, superintendent of the Air Force Manpower Agency’s competitive sourcing division at Randolph AFB, Tex., on Oct. 31 received a Bronze Star medal for her actions while deployed to Southwest Asia. She was promoted to senior master sergeant on the same day. Vigliotti earned the medal for meritorious service while serving in Iraq for six months as deputy of acquisition policy and evaluations at the Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan in Baghdad, the Air Force Personnel Center said in a Nov. 10 release. “During her six months in Iraq, she provided critical contracting support and regularly traveled by road, aircraft, and helicopter, often under hostile conditions, to 14 contracting centers at 12 forward operating bases,” said Col. Dan Badger Jr., AFMA commander, who presented her with the medal.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…