Three enlisted airmen just lately obtained Bronze Star medals for valor, the fourth-highest U.S. army ornament, for defending their fellow Individuals when their set up got here below fireplace from militants in Kenya in 2020.
Tech. Sgt. Jordan Locke accepted the Bronze Star with “V” system throughout a ceremony at Osan Air Base, South Korea, on Oct. 12. Grasp Sgt. Mathue Snow did the identical at Robins Air Drive Base, Georgia, on Sept. 9, and Senior Grasp Sgt. Jeremy Mapalo obtained his on Aug. 29 at RAF Lakenheath, England.
An American soldier and two civilian contractors died when about three dozen members of the al-Shabaab terror group attacked Magogoni Airfield and Camp Simba at Manda Bay, Kenya, Jan. 5, 2020. A number of U.S. and Kenyan plane had been additionally destroyed within the assault.
“The Magogoni airfield assault traditionally marks the primary terrorist assault on a United States army base in Kenya,” the service stated in a launch.
“The Bronze Star is awarded to any member of the U.S. army for heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in reference to army operations in opposition to an armed enemy,” the Air Drive stated.
A subsequent Pentagon investigation discovered that insufficient safety total allowed the fighters to wreak havoc on the seaside base.
U.S. troops have partnered with African militaries for years to maintain al-Shabaab and different violent extremist organizations at bay. The Manda Bay complicated is one hub for overseas army coaching in addition to a launching pad for counterterrorism missions throughout the continent.
On the time of the assault, Locke was a safety forces airman with the 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron. Mapalo was the squadron’s operations superintendent.
Locke is now the 51st Safety Forces Squadron’s flight sergeant at Osan; Mapalo is forty eighth Safety Forces Squadron operations superintendent at Lakenheath.
Snow, the squadron’s flight chief, defended Magogoni Airfield and Camp Simba in opposition to rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small-arms fireplace. He now holds the identical place on the 78th Safety Forces Squadron at Robins.
Snow was on patrol close to the sting of the airfield when small-arms fireplace focused his group. The airmen retreated to security.
When preventing broke out, “Snow rushed to the Joint Protection Operations Middle, sounded the enormous voice system and shortly dispatched [security forces] to their protection towers,” the Air Drive stated.
He known as his spouse, Marlene, to let her know what was occurring — and to say what might have been amongst his final phrases: “‘We’re below assault and I like you.’ ”
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Enemy bullets narrowly missed Locke in addition to he stood watch in the course of the five-hour firefight, based on an Air Drive press launch.
Snow led troops on a number of convoys between the airfield and Camp Simba, exterior the bottom’s perimeter, the place he was susceptible to assault.
“His actions supplied logistical resupply of autos, tools and personnel, and enabled the removing of particles and plane wreckage from the runway,” the Air Drive stated of Snow.
Snow’s efforts helped the airfield return to operations inside two hours of the assault. That allowed casualties to evacuate and reinforcements to reach.
Mapalo and his group additionally partnered with U.S. Particular Operations Command and the Kenyan Navy on convoys exterior the wire.
“Whereas lively enemy fireplace impacted on and round his place, he held overwatch safety, permitting the joint operators to assault remaining enemies,” based on an Air Drive press launch.
Locke acknowledged the toll that preventing via the ordeal took on their group.
“One of many hardest elements was the aftermath, as a result of everybody’s so mentally and bodily exhausted,” he stated in a launch. “There’s an enormous distinction between saying, ‘Are you OK?’ and really sitting down and having that dialog with them to guarantee that they’re OK and to see if there’s something that I can do on my finish to assist them.”
Safety forces protected greater than 350 Individuals and $680 million in army property, the Air Drive stated.
“The exemplary management, private endeavor and devotion to obligation displayed by Sgt. Snow on this accountable place mirror nice credit score upon himself and the US Air Drive,” Grasp Sgt. Levi Hupp, 78th SFS noncommissioned officer accountable for operations, stated on the medal ceremony final month.
At his award ceremony, Mapalo mirrored on his expertise in Africa.
“We preserve fixed vigilance with weapons pointed on the enemies and property behind us,” He stated. “We now have been attacked as a result of we’re Individuals, and now we have been thanked as a result of we’re Individuals. I problem every considered one of you to be taught from these battles and discover your religion on what motivates you to achieve success in life.”
Rachel Cohen joined Air Drive Occasions as senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in Air Drive Journal, Inside Protection, Inside Well being Coverage, the Frederick News-Submit (Md.), the Washington Submit, and others.
