Dyess Airman receives combat medal

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joel Mease
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  An Airman with the 7th Security Forces Squadron recently received an Air Force Combat Action Medal here for personally engaging in combat with terrorist forces in Iraq. 

Senior Airman Gerard Basel was on a vehicle convoy in Iraq when enemy insurgents detonated a improvised explosive device near his convoy. 

"It was just any other day of doing missions back and forth from where our security forces unit was staying," Airman Basel said. "Our convoy team had already been doing convoys for about five months and only had been hit with four IEDs. Don't get me wrong, every day we did a mission was scary because you never knew what may happen or what you might run into. You had to put that in the back of your head, so you could be focused with the mission at hand." 

However a normal day wasn't in the cards for Airman Basel and his convoy as they drove a routine supply and personnel transport headed to the Mosul Public Service Academy. 

"I was the turret gunner of a five-ton truck, when I stood up for a moment to scan the area and noticed a large pile of dirt off to the left side of the road - almost as if a dump truck had come and put the dirt there," Airman Basel said. "I got back down behind the armor of the turret, and then heard a really loud boom. Debris and dirt flew up and it was everywhere." 

The incident obviously left him a little upset, but mostly angered him on how cowardly the attack had been. 

"I was a little shook up after the IED went off, because it had gone off within five meters of our vehicle," Airman Basel said. "After the IED went off, I asked my driver and truck commander if they were OK. I then stood up in the turret and scanned the area to see if I could identify a trigger man." 

Unfortunately he wasn't able to identify the trigger person due to the dust and debris everywhere. 

"I became aggravated, because I thought to myself how cowardly that was," Airman Basel said. "(It's frustrating) because I'm in a vehicle manning a machine gun trying to keep our convoy safe, and someone either out in a field or even someone we had just had driven by could have detonated that IED. It's very difficult to identify the enemy, because it could almost be anyone." 

Airman Basel is proud of his team's seven-month deployment to Iraq, but maintains his modesty. 

"It's nice to have an award I can wear on my dress blues and be proud," he said. "But I don't feel I did anything special to deserve this medal. I was just doing what I was trained to do." 

Airman Basel will be leaving Dyess for the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron in Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. There he will be part of the training center for security forces personnel deploying around the world.