The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star medal to MSgt. Anthony Blackmon, an explosive ordnance disposal specialist, for his actions while deployed to Iraq. When he and other EOD team members were ambushed by insurgents, he directed returning fire to quell the attack. Air Combat Command selected Blackmon, who has also deployed to Afghanistan, to represent the command as a “warrior airman” during an orientation for new US Congress members at Langley AFB, Va. Blackmon is EOD flight chief of the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, S.D. (Ellsworth report by A1C Abigail Klein)
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.