The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star medal to TSgt. Cohen Young, a photojournalist assigned to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, for his actions while deployed to Iraq. He served as a combat cameraman, often operating outside the wire with dismounted patrols on combat and humanitarian missions. During one mission, Young helped provide emergency medical care to coalition personnel wounded by an explosion in an office building in Sadr City, where Iraqis had come to vote in a district election. The Army also awarded Young a Commendation Medal with Valor device and two Army Achievement Medals. (Hickam report by SSgt. Mike Meares)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.