Flight commander earns Bronze Star Published April 28, 2006 By Airman 1st Class Carolyn Viss 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- An explosive ordnance disposal flight commander was awarded a Bronze Star medal Monday in a ceremony at the base theater.Captain Joshua Tyler, 7th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD, was responsible for overseeing all missions and planning, coordinating and supervising operations for five EOD teams throughout a 330 square mile region of Baghdad while he was deployed there with the Army from September 2005 to February 2006.“Our number-one job was to take care of improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnances,” Captain Tyler said. “We get awards like this because we are out there saving lives every day, making sure IEDs and UXOs don’t end up killing other people.”Their airfield mission was nontraditional, he said. The unit he commanded there conducted more than 500 emergency response missions, most of which were “outside the wire.” They worked to keep Army supply routes open, responded to blasts, and recovered more than 100,000 ordnance items and small arms from 61 weapons caches.“Our cache searches led directly to either the killing or detaining of insurgents,” Captain Tyler said. “We analyzed our finds and used them to collect intelligence about the enemy.”But the hardest part of the job was conducting post-blast analysis, he said. Finding the remains of soldiers and equipment that had been hit by the insurgents was always emotional.Most of the guys he worked with were younger than he was, and they were risking their lives every day to get the job done, he said.“I wish I could have gone with the guys on every mission they ran,” Captain Tyler said. “Because if something goes wrong, I would much rather it happen to me than to them.”In addition to his usual duties as EOD commander, Captain Tyler led the planning and execution of the first-ever integration of Air Force EOD forces into air assault operations in Iraq. He personally led one such mission where his six-man joint EOD team assaulted an insurgent island along the Euphrates River. He and two EOD operators cleared the only bridge onto the island of any hazards before the main force could seize it.“This battlefield Airman makes a difference, as you can tell,” said Col. Garrett Harencak, 7th Bomb Wing commander. “He did a superb job out there, but he will be the first to admit he is one of hundreds out there, working as a team, to hunt down and destroy America’s enemies. Captain Tyler was duly recognized with a Bronze Star; I wish I could give each and every one of you due recognition for your contribution to the Global War on Terrorism. You’re making a difference and bringing us the victory. You represent all of us here at Team Dyess and the tremendous work you’re doing all around the world to bring America’s enemies their due, which is death.”“Thanks to all of you who have gone and are on their way now to do America’s work,” he concluded.Captain Tyler said he credits the entire team for their success in Iraq.“It’s very rewarding because of all the great things that happen over there,” he said. “When you look at all the young guys out there, doing this kind of stuff under so much pressure, and never wavering, it’s impressive and it’s motivating and it’s humbling. It makes me realize we can’t stop.”They realize, as everyone else over there does, the importance of their job, and that if they don’t do it right they’re going to kill someone else or get themselves killed, he said.The EOD motto, “Initial success or total failure,” captures the essence of their job.“We really don’t have a choice not to do it,” Captain Tyler said. “Ask any commander over there, and he will tell you that our job is pivotal to the success of the mission. We’re the only ones who can take care of these IEDs and UXOs. If we can’t do that, the mission stops and we can’t win the war.”Captain Tyler is the second EOD member from Dyess to earn a Bronze Star medal. Senior Master Sgt. Robert Sisk was presented the medal in 2005.