EOD team leader earns Bronze Star

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Shane Dunaway
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  A noncommissioned officer from the 36th Civil Engineer Squadron received a Bronze Star Medal here Aug. 27 for providing support during Operation Iraqi Freedom from Sept. 29, 2008 to March 10, 2009.

Tech. Sgt. Mark Brady, 36th CES explosive ordnance disposal team leader, was assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. During his six-month tour, he forward deployed on numerous occasions as a key component of Combined Joint Task Force Troy-North.

During his deployment, then-Staff Sgt. Brady helped destroy more than 2,500 pieces of ordnance containing more than 3,200 pounds of explosives. Sergeant Brady supervised and mentored two EOD operators during more than 50 combat missions to exploit, render-safe, recover and destroy improvised explosive devices, weapons caches and unexploded ordnances while also performing post-blast analysis within a 4,000 square kilometer area of responsibility.

"Our job is evolving," Sergeant Brady said. "We have to be part EOD, part forensics [and] part intel. Our job is more than just blowing stuff up. A lot of people see EOD [for] the explosions and the robots, but we're a force-multiplier. We conduct post-blast investigations and gather intelligence on the bad guys who are making these IEDs."

Sergeant Brady's expertise ensured the safety of more than 41,000 coalition forces and his leadership skills enabled smooth execution of their mission, enabling his team to achieve exceptional results and earning him one of the nation's top honors.

"Typically, team leaders are tech sergeants," said Master Sgt. Thomas Allen, 36th CES EOD flight chief. "For him to step up and receive a Bronze Star as a staff sergeant speaks [volumes] about the level of quality he's able to put forth."