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Staff sergeant receives bronze star for deployment with U.S. Army special forces

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lincoln Korver
  • Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --  U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Keilman, 902nd Security Forces Squadron military working dog handler, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal July 31 in correlation with his deployment to Afghanistan with U.S. Army special forces from Aug. 1, 2010 through April 1, 2011.

According to the award citation, Keilman distinguished himself through meritorious service as the military working dog handler for a special operations task force at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

According to the citation, "Keilman conducted over 100 combat operations to capture, kill and disrupt Taliban and anti-Afghan forces throughout the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province." He was responsible for ensuring all dismounted routes the detachment utilized were swept for mines and improvised explosive devices, which led to the discovery and destruction of 24 IEDs.

Before Keilman returned home from his deployment to Afghanistan with U.S. Army special forces, he heard rumors he was being put up for a bronze star.

"Being an E-5, I wasn't too hung up on it and I didn't put too much thought into it," he said. "The recognition of someone saying 'thank you' is good enough for me. I don't need a pat on the back to do my job; it's my job."

The Bronze Star Medal is a U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement. The bronze star is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. armed forces and the ninth-highest military award in the order of precedence of U.S. military decorations.

Keilman was responsible for many different tasks while he was overseas, he said. He worked with military working dogs to detect IEDs, studied information about the area they were in and briefed his team, helped come up with plans on how to combat situations they were exposed to, trained Afghan partner forces and performed vehicle searches in conjunction with many other tasks.

"It's an honor my Army team felt strongly enough to put me up for this," he said. "That was big for me. At first there was a lack of trust because they didn't know me, but my willingness to be out there on the front and take a hit if need be showed them I was willing to sacrifice my life or my dog's life to make sure they were able to do what they needed to do."