Page 10 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, October 2021

10 October 2021 News www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb
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and their components,” said Williams. It was through Williams’ efforts that the Afghan air force leadership were empowered to coordinate train- ing for 30 maintenance technicians, reallocate 58 personnel and identify 47 infrastructure repairs, laying ground work for a more viable, integrated and
professional Afghan air force. “[Williams] was responsible for about eight different things outside of his career field,” said Master Sgt. Bradley Smith, 62nd AMU section chief, who was deployed alongside Williams. “He was in charge of the United Service Operations, or USO, mail and manag- ing resources for the Afghan air force. [He was] the go-to guy in every aspect that had to do with building the Afghan
air force.”
His knowledge and experience was
key to the development of the 440th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron and the Afghan military, as well as the relationship between the U.S. and Afghan partners.
“We felt like a part of their commu- nity and culture,” said Smith. “When you’re in that environment, we get to see how they interact, the patriotism that they have, and it’s powerful.”
For his leadership inside and outside the wire at FOB Oqab, Williams was selected for the prestigious award. He went above and beyond in enhancing the Afghan air force’s capabilities, training practices, efficiency and oper- ability with U.S. forces as a whole.
Thunderbolt http://www.luke.af.mil
Senior Airman david Busby
Col. William Ray, 56th Maintenance Group commander, awards the Bronze Star Medal to Master Sgt. Thomas Williams, 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons loading non-com- missioned officer in charge, for meritorious achievement Sept. 1, 2021, at Luke Air Force Base. Williams earned the Bronze Star due to his exemplary service during his deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan, from Sept. 19, 2019, to August 9, 2020, while engaged in military con- flict. His efforts led to increased interoperability between allied military forces and strength- ened the relationship between the U.S. military and Afghanistan as a whole.
I returned, my chief from [Royal Air Force] Lakenheath, England told me I had been selected to go to Afghanistan immediately.”
During his year-long deployment, Williams conducted 187 outside the wire missions in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Reso- lute Support mission, mentoring the Afghan air force munitions squadron commander and three sergeant majors on munitions safety and personnel management. He also developed and implemented the syllabus for joint armament and munitions instruction used by the first all-Afghan aircraft loading and maintenance class.
“[My mission was] to train, advise and assist,” said Williams. “To sum that up, we [aimed] to train [Afghan person- nel] to work a variety of programs. As a weapons specialist and armament troop myself, I was tasked with working with aircraft systems as far as loading weapons, maintaining the systems and troubleshooting any malfunctions or faults.”
With his experience in both explo- sives and safe handling, he found even more ways to serve.
“With my familiarity with explosives, I was [appointed as] an advisor and trainer for the Munitions Command [that involved] the building, [storing], handling and delivery of munitions
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