EOD Airman earns Bronze Star for combat contribution

  • Published
  • By Danielle Lord
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  Pacific Air Forces commander General Gary North awarded Staff Sergeant Anthony Walling the Bronze Star medal on June 27 at the Civil Engineering Squadron Housing and Maintenance Office. Walling, 35th Civil Engineer Squadron and Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician earned the medal for his contributions while deployed in Afghanistan.

The Bronze Star medal is one of the highest awards given for acts of bravery or meritorious service.

"[Getting the award from General North] is super, super intimidating," said Walling. "One of the guys with me on the same deployment got his from our squadron commander. To have General North, [give the award], that's mind boggling," he added.

Walling was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as an EOD team leader. While deployed, he commanded three EOD personnel through 87 combat explosive hazard clearance missions throughout 3,400 square kilometers in the Combined Team Zabul battle space, eliminating over 47 improvised explosive devices and an additional 1,100 pounds of explosives.

"I think the key is having a good team," said Walling. "If you have good team dynamics and a good team, it makes the deployment less of a job and more fun," said Walling.
Walling also displayed acts of meritorious service during two distinct missions during his service in Afghanistan.

Walling and his team were called for a post-blast analysis in response to an 800-pound command wired IED. The explosion destroyed a vehicle, consequently killing four soldiers. Walling worked for 23 consecutive hours clearing a path to the post blast site under complicated conditions. While clearing this route he also conducted three searches of possible IED sites. Walling's expertise led to the identification of the road repair crew that placed the weapon.

"[The explosion] was a tragedy, I mean there's nothing good that came out of it. Four people died, a truck was completely destroyed and road crew was arrested," said Walling.

On another mission Walling and his team flew to Forward Operation Base Shamulzai due to an IED disrupting vehicle movement. After arriving at the site Walling successfully disarmed the IED and collected evidence for use on future investigations.

"I love my job deployed, there's really nothing better. Home station is a little different, there's a lot more paperwork and less riding in helicopters working on IED's," said Wallace.