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Senior Master Sgt. Ismael Rosa, 19th Logistics Readiness Squadron Vehicle Management Flight superintendent, was presented with a Bronze Star Medal for his actions during a 2019 deployment in Afghanistan, June 10.
In support of Operation FREEDOM’S SENTINEL and RESOLUTE SUPPORT, and despite personal exposure of hostile action, Rosa led over 250 personnel and directed all logistical support on Bagram Airfield and 14 forward operating bases.
“I was paired with a great team that did a tremendous amount of work in Afghanistan,” Rosa said. “They worked seven days a week and long shifts. I was just the guy who came up with these ideas and they executed them really well.”
Rosa attributed the leadership style he developed and showcased during his deployment to former mentors and supervisors throughout his career.
“Learning from many mentors and seeing how they handle situations helped me craft my leadership style to theirs in my own way,” he said. “There were good and bad leaders, but I learned from every single one of them.”
Not only did Rosa support more than a dozen locations while deployed, he also led post-attack reconnaissance sweeps for three locations during 23 separate indirect fire attacks.
Furthermore, he guided a 13-member Central Command Materiel Recovery Element through Afghanistan retrograde efforts, overseeing over 160 outside the wire missions to 24 austere locations as part of an effort to redeployment approximately 128,000 tons of cargo in support of joint operations in the region.
These efforts laid the foundation for the redeployment of 5,500 coalition forces and tens of millions of dollars’ worth of the equipment back to the United States after 18 years of conflict in Afghanistan.
Rosa said that regardless of this personal achievement, the praise goes to the people he worked with while deployed, because without them, this wouldn’t be possible.
“Be true, always look after your Airmen and be true to where you came from,” Rosa said. “When you take care of Airmen, the mission will go. I still remember going to my first base, and my supervision always made it about the people, which is my goal when I walk into the office every day.”
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2020 13:22 |
| Story ID: | 372153 |
| Location: | LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Little Rock Airman receives Bronze Star Medal, reflects on teamwork, by SrA Kristine Gruwell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
