Goodfellow honors, mourns on Sept. 11

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carissa Lee
  • Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Three airmen with very different Air Force backgrounds were honored Tuesday for a common bond--their exemplary service while deployed--which earned them each the Bronze Star medal.

The three, Lt. Col. Will Roberts, commander of the 17th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Maj. Jonas Skinner, 312th Training Squadron Director of Operations and CMSgt. Ronald Gallegos, superintendent of the 17th Communication Squadron were awarded the Bronze Star during Tuesday's ceremony, held in honor and remembrance of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Lieutenant Colonel Roberts served as the commander of the 586th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait for approximately six months.
His job there was to oversee the transport of supplies and personnel from a staging area in Kuwait into Iraq. There, Lt. Col. Roberts ensured the mission success for more than 370 combat airmen conducting line-haul combat convoy, cargo movement and movement control operations. He said it was a unique experience for him, as a logistician, to be in charge of a combat mission, but one he was proud to have accomplished.

"People like me don't typically get to command combat units," he said. "But I was blessed with great leaders and great Airmen. The sense of camaraderie was wonderful, yet something that is hard to put into words." He added that while he was fortunate to not have any casualties on his watch, there were many nights he was awakened by a call to alert him of trouble or danger his troops had encountered while on the dangerous route from Kuwait to Iraq.

"Thank goodness nobody got seriously hurt," he said. "I really dreaded those calls...we were all very close, so it wasn't just a matter of a roadblock for a military mission--these people were all important to me."

His troops would most likely agree it was that type of leadership style which contributed to his earning the Bronze Star.

Major Skinner served as Executive Officer for the Intelligence Transition Team for the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, based out of the infamous Green Zone. He served in that capacity for a year and was an integral part in the team training of more than 10,000 Iraqis on how to run their military. He worked out of the U.S. Embassy and said each member of his 30-person team had a direct Iraqi counterpart they were responsible for training in all matters of military life. "Everything from how to acquire stuff, to day-to-day basics, we covered it with them," he explained.

One of the most significant highlights of his deployment was when he wrote and presented a briefing to the Iraqi National Security Advisor on the proposed new national security classification system for Iraq. This briefing brought the critical classification system to the attention of the Iraqi National Leadership, enabling fast tracking and improving the timeliness of intelligence sharing between Iraqi and Coalition forces.

The major said his deployed job entailed a lot of travel throughout Iraq, and while being in Iraq for the first time was an eye-opening experience, he was never in any direct danger...until his last few weeks in country. "You know they always say the first 30 days and the last 30 are the most dangerous. We got struck twice in my last three weeks there; within 100 feet from where I was eating a meal we were subjected to mortar attack," he said.

Chief Master Sergeant Gallegos served as Superintendent of the 732nd Expeditionary Support Squadron based out of Balad AB, Iraq. Chief Gallegos was responsible for the leadership and tactical oversight of more than 1,300 battlefield Airmen engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom ground combat operations. His Airmen executed a diverse range of challenging, high-threat missions ranging from generating 32 hours of finished combat camera video, taking more than 11,000 war zone photos, to arming and equipping more than 1,100 tactical vehicles against radio-controlled improvised explosive devices.

In charge of in-lieu-of Airmen at more than 45 forward operating bases throughout the country, Chief Gallegos logged plenty of time on the road and in the air. The best part--getting out to see his troops in their sometimes austere locations at Army bases. "The look on their faces when they saw their Air Force leadership coming to inquire about their missions and their safety was wonderful," he said. "It made them feel like we truly valued their contributions, which of course, we did." And the worst part--all that flying in Blackhawks. "I spent entirely too much time in those things," the chief recalled.

The chief agreed with his fellow Bronze Star recipients when the topic of camaraderie was mentioned. While, he, too, found it difficult to put into words, he agreed the bonds you make with fellow deployees are ones that last a lifetime. "Unless you have been in that type of situation, it's very difficult to explain," he said. "But I am still in contact with people I deployed with more than ten years."

Like Lt. Col. Roberts, Chief Gallegos was quick to point to those he worked side by side with for contributing to his earning the Bronze Star. "This is like a promotion, he said...nobody does it on their own."

Not only do these three Goodfellow Airmen now share the deployment bond between them, each of them are the epitome of what it takes to be a leader and of the words spelled out in their award citations--reflecting great credit upon themselves and the United States Air Force.